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| An Act of Desperation by Shieldmaiden of Rohan | 28 Review(s) |
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| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 28 on 11/27/2006 |
| Faramir faced him steadily, born of slightly lesser blood but no less noble, with a strength in his gaze that showed he could match the Northern Dúnedain. Aragorn who? Faramir is well-written here, strong and noble and high-born, but not as remote as Aragorn, and more suitable for Eowyn. Good chapter; the only flaw being that neither you nor Tolkien described what Faramir wore to the coronation... Would it be possible to take this story to Faramir and Eowyn's wedding, with some of the passage of time noted by letters or just skipped? Or have the wedding as an epilogue? Keep writing! | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 29 on 11/26/2006 |
| Poor Eomer; things are moving a bit too fast for him. His uncle who was also his king and liege-lord is dead, he's going to be king, Rohan and the rest of Middle-Earth is saved, and Eowyn's being seduced by the Steward of Gondor when just a few weeks ago she was moaning about Aragorn. I would think that Aragorn has guessed, or been told by hobbits, about at least the possibility of attraction between Faramir and Eowyn. He's probably delighted not to have to feel guilty about Eowyn anymore, particularly now, when he can actually think about marrying Arwen. Good chapter! Author Reply: I do feel a bit bad for Eomer-- it's a lot to take in all at once. It'll probably be rough on him for a bit longer too-- I decided to at least make it consistent with "The Best-Laid Plans", if not a more blatant tie-in at some point, so he's not going to be happy with this for awhile yet. ;) Still trying to work out the Aragorn thing in my head-- I know that he and Eowyn probably need to have a little chat, and most likely in the next chapter. So we'll see how that goes. :P And thank you. It's nice to finally have another one done. (I'm feeling rather silly- the previous chapter has been done and up for about two months, but I forgot to take it off of "hidden". Oops.) | |
| demeter d | Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 9/27/2006 |
| As your new pieces arrived, I determined to go back and read and review some of your older works. This one is so good I am sorry I did not find it before now. Your Eowyn and Faramir feel as if they stepped right out of the books. In this chapter she finally meets the man in her shadowy dream after the battle. I look forward in the rest of this story to seeing how they help each other back to the light. I hope that your return to fiction after almost a year's absence means that your real life is treating you well. Best Wishes! Author Reply: That's actually one of the highest complements I've gotten, that they're so close to the books. Since that was my intent, it's very good to know. Thank you! Truth be told, several of these "new" pieces are actually older ones-- when I went to put up the most recent chapter of this and its spin-off one shot last night, I'd realized that I had several old stories on my hard drive that I'd never gotten around to posting here. So the only truly new one besides the addition to this is The Steward and the King. But yes, real life is going well. My career's finally starting to really pick up, which leaves me with less time for writing, but I think my muse has finally decided to stick around for awhile, so hopefully I'll be showing up here on a more regular basis now. | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 26 on 9/27/2006 |
| Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. And Squeeeeeeeeee! Finally. She's in love, he's in love, they can start to be happy. But what will Eomer say? Good chapter. Author Reply: But what will Eomer say? Good question... | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 9/27/2006 |
| Eowyn's not the only one wondering how Eomer will react to her and Faramir's new relationship - hurry up and write it, please! Good to see more of this story. Author Reply: I'm trying to get to it! I was hoping it would happen in the chapter I'm currently working on... but since I'm going back to stricter book canon with Aragorn's coronation, I think it's going to be too long if I get into that so I might need to delay it another chapter. Just as well... I'm still trying to sort out exactly how to approach it (especially if I do tie it in with The Best Laid Plans, like I'm leaning towards.) | |
| phyloxena | Reviewed Chapter: Author's Notes on 9/23/2006 |
| I'm surprized there are so few reviewes for your story. It's so nice. I like the way you stayed with canon (alas for the movie-verse grabbing by Aragorn :)), and the way your Eowyn is so much in character, clever, almost rational and able to think for herself. "The Steward and the King" chapter from TRoK -- of course< one of the favorite, etc. -- always seemed to me uncomfortably straitforward, it's hard to believe that gentle Faramir could be so rush in his courting. You gap-fillers made it so much likelier. Author Reply: Well... when I first started this story, it was partially born out of annoyance at the portrayal of Eowyn's reason for going to the Pelennor in the movie version, so earlier chapters did end up more movie-influenced than I would write now. I do have to admit that this particular scene between Aragorn and Eowyn was one that I was pretty ok with, since with the way my portrayal of Eowyn had been shaping up thus far, it was hard to envision her standing by coolly while all of this was going on with Theoden like she does in the book. I will say, however, that once I finish up the last few chapters, I am planning on going back to the beginning and cleaning up some things, and that section is one of the ones I'm strongly considering reworking. (I'm also considering changing up some of the Theodred stuff, since at the time I started I don't think I had Unfinished Tales and so I'm not entirely certain that his funeral and all is strictly canon. But changing that might take too much from the beginning. I'm not sure yet.) While I love the "Steward and the King" chapter (obviously), I do have to agree that it seemed like a shockingly fast change of heart on her part, as well as what you mentioned about Faramir. So I'm glad to hear you say that the filler helps with that. :) | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 25 on 8/26/2005 |
| Faramir, dear, I have a great idea on how you might renew the old friendship between Gondor and Rohan - Gondor's Steward should marry the King of Rohan's sister, and then live happily ever after with her. I thought you might like that. Seriously, good chapter. I liked Eowyn's sudden relief that the young lady talking to Faramir was his cousin. Author Reply: ...unless the King of Rohan takes a disliking to Gondor's Steward, and causes all sorts of complications... oh, wait, I already wrote that one. (But yes, I did enjoy your idea.) And I couldn't resist the opportunity to make Eowyn jealous. ;) | |
| Raksha The Demon | Reviewed Chapter: 24 on 8/26/2005 |
| You're obviously getting over your writer's block in fine style - great to see the updates! "Faramir was never one to openly oppose Lord Denethor, but neither would he blindly follow his will, particularly when it came to giving orders in battle. I remember one time after we had lost a battle in Ithilien, and Lord Denethor rebuked him harshly for giving up that land to the enemy. We had been sorely outnumbered, and so the Captain responded by saying that had we not retreated, we would have been slain to the last man, and given the choice, he would rather give up a plot of land that could be recaptured later than to sacrifice the lives of so many of his people in order to defend it." Hmm. Interesting. I didn't have the impression, when reading the Faramir chapters of TTT, that Faramir and his Rangers had given up too many plots of land to the enemy. I'd have thought that if he retreated a hopeless battle to save lives, he would have come back later to retake the land, or that it was not an area of great strategic value. The incident with the dying soldier was touching; Eowyn is learning the down side of healing. And sleepy, overworked Faramir - big "Aw" - someone needs to tuck him into bed. I'll happily volunteer! Author Reply: I also don't think he would have given up much land to the enemy, though I seriously doubt even he would have won every battle there. My intent was more to make that an isolated incident (with leaving it open for later recapturing). | |
| BKB | Reviewed Chapter: 23 on 7/24/2005 |
| Welcome back! I hope that your recital and everything else went well. I've followed your story from it's being and it has become one of my favorites. Naturally, I'm anxious for another installment. Thanks again for all your efforts. BKB | |
| insignia | Reviewed Chapter: Author's Notes on 7/22/2005 |
| Hi Just to let you know how much I have enjoyed reading this fic. I had forgotten how good it was and am really grateful to you for updating. I liked that you made Eowyn out to be more than just the usual tomboy: you gave more background about shield maidens than most fic authors (e.g. Theodwyn's knowledge of swordplay and active role in defence). I think that many fic authors can be quite irritating when they try to make you believe that it was natural in JRRT's ME for women/girls to take on the same roles as men vis-a-vis combat. But that does not mean that I think that ME women should only focus on their embroidery and what to make the menfolk for supper! Faramir too was well drawn, more than just the reluctant soldier who would rather be with his books. How he found out about his father's death and his conversation with Eowyn afterwards was very moving. Your Eomer was good too, but I thought maybe a little bit "card board". But I really enjoyed the "discussions" between brother and sister, especially when he told her about going to Mordor and she couldn't come, e.g. the bit about why he went to fight the orcs ("for the good of their people") while she could not say the same about why she had gone to the Pelennor. I am curious about how her actions were/are going to be justified to the people of Rohan, given that she disobeyed a direct order. I liked the scenes that you seemed to insert in passing, such as the one about the horses becoming intoxicated after the children got hold of the cask of ale! These little snippets add fluency to your story line and help to flesh out the sorts of relationships between your major characters. The colour and shading provide a strong background for your actors to perform against. I thought that your dialogue was excellent, especially Eowyn's thoughts and thought processes. So thank you! Incidentally, is this finished now? It could stand alone, as we all know what happens. But I would like to see how all the reunions work out in your version. regards insignia Author Reply: First of all, I apologize for taking so long to reply to this review! I'm not exactly sure what happened there-- it's been awhile since I'd been on this site but I still feel terrible about it. Secondly, it's not done. I actually do have another finished chapter that I can go ahead and post (I really should do that soon), and am getting close to finishing another. My estimate based on the current outline is five or six more chapters till the end. As for Eomer, he might end up getting altered a bit in earlier chapters, so hopefully I can inject a little more life into him. (Since this fic was really my first writing effort, I'm sure there's several things in the first couple of chapters, at least, that need polishing.) And thakn you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful review. | |