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| When Winter Fell by Lindelea | 172 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Inkling | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 6/15/2005 |
| So why am I reading this, and not the gazillion MEFA stories I should be reading? Well, it’s very quirky and appealing. And there aren’t many stories featuring young Bilbo and his parents (that I’ve seen, anyway). But it’s probably because I couldn’t resist the chance to get in on one of your tales at the beginning for a change, rather than having 30 or so chapters to catch up with! ;) I really like Isengar…for a looney, he seems pretty sharp to me. I suspect he will get to be heroic during the Fell Winter… p.s.—And *ahem* if I may just offer my own humble opinion, cuke sandwiches ROCK! Author Reply: O I know, and I ought to be reading MEFA stories as well, but my eyes are tired, the past few days, and so I will go early to bed and hope for better tomorrow. And I know that the "writing mood" will pass. It always does. And then, with the writing dried up for the moment, it'll be good to spend my computer time reading and commenting. One story, for sure, that I want to re-read and vote on is Thundera Tiger's "When the Ring Went South". That was one of the very first pieces of fanfic I ever read! I tried to vote on it last year, but it hadn't been nominated. LOL! And is your story in the pool? I think it is, but I forget. There's another good reason to move it up on my want-to-read list, besides the poignant sound bite clipped from the second Epilogue that I read on an email loop. My goodness, you have very good instincts. How did you know? Isengar is pretty sharp, even with his eccentricities. Or maybe he's eccentric because he's so bright? Thanks! Author Reply: p.s. I like cuke sandwiches if the cukes are very very fresh, the bread is sliced thin and the butter is unsalted. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 6/14/2005 |
| I love the entry that we finally get from Bilbo. Of course it consisted of the most important thing: what he had for tea. And I like your Bungo very much. He sounds like a good father. Author Reply: I figure that whatever else he may be, Bungo has got to be likeable. And I think he must love books. I'm still feeling my way, looking at Bilbo's character and position (What must it be like, for Bungo as a Baggins, to marry the daughter of the Thain of Tookland? The Thain could be just a farmer working in his field, bearing an honorary title, but not the way I've set up the Shire in my stories. Sometimes I want to go back and re-create it all over again, just for fun, without the elaborate society. Wonder what it would be like?), and trying to discern more about his parents through... what is it called, induction? or deduction? Something like that. Thanks! | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 6/14/2005 |
| I have a very strong hope that Bilbo gets over his fear of poor Uncle Isengar - who seems to me to be a very lonely hobbit, in great need of an affectionate nephew to listen to his tales and look on him as an interesting person in his own right. Bilbo could have become an Isengar - except for a few lucky breaks. His own smial for one. Plenty of dragon gold for another. Good health for a third. Bilbo is a smart hobbit, though. He managed to keep his secret - I liked the by-play about setting up a profitable trade in journals - and still get his tea before he had to write his journal entry. Unsurprisingly food based. This is a fun story - although my heart is bleeding for Isengar. Author Reply: I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I'm afraid Isengar is a tragic figure, though he will have his moments to shine, and he will have some comfort along the way, and at the last, in his ending. But that's a long time in coming, and there will be some very rough parts along the way, I'm sorry to say. I wish the story had written itself in a different direction. I have to look forward to the end, and certain bright spots that happen before the end, or my heart would break for the hobbit. Still, Bilbo's mum loves her little brother very much, and Bungo is a practical hobbit with pity in his heart, and generosity of spirit. Things may be looking up for Isengar in the near future. You never know. | |
| Elena Tiriel | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 6/14/2005 |
| *Barbara checks her refrigerator:* No bacon, nary a single mushroom, no scones, no strawberry preserves and *definitely* not any clotted cream (this being America), no salmon, no eggs, no seed cakes (whatever they are)... Reading your stories makes me feel terribly deprived... though you can keep the cucumbers, thank-you-very-much... - Barbara, with grumbling stomach... ;-) Author Reply: *Lin pats the poor, bereft beast and hopes for better fortunes in future* We can buy clotted cream at the nearest British market, or Cost Plus World Market, in little tiny jars at fiendish prices. (Or you can make your own approximation, I forget how, but I think the recipe involves sour cream and powdered sugar. Or you can buy raw milk, skim off the cream, let the raw cream sit on the counter overnight and then beat it up. Yum.) Perhaps our city boasts enough people from the UK to make those little jars worthwhile to carry on the store shelves. I know workplaces here that have afternoon tea, and a tea cart that comes around on breaks! Cucumber sandwiches aren't too bad. I do try to include them where I may in deference to "The Importance of Being Ernest". *g* Seedcake is disgusting stuff, unless you like caraway. But Bilbo seems to like it. And it has been fun to give Pippin a taste for the stuff. Makes him more contrary, in my mind, somehow. Thanks! | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/12/2005 |
| Now *why* do these journal entries remind me of *another* Took? *giggle* Author Reply: Chuckling along with you! Thanks. | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/12/2005 |
| I don't know, Grandfa! How to turn your Fortinbras against journal-writing: make him write out corrected spellings therein. The sort of journal entries that are very amusing to read in later years, though. I have a feeling Grandfa is going to win this battle of wills. He's been in training for longer. Author Reply: Yes, have based these journal entries loosely on an actual journal I read once. Have you ever seen that coffee cup that says "Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill"? | |
| Inkling | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/11/2005 |
| It seems that young Fortinbras and his Grandfa are well-matched opponents in this battle of wills: funny, stubborn and intelligent. I love how these first journal entries convey so much about them both, and I like them already! Author Reply: O good, I was hoping that their similarities and the affection/exasperation between them would be evident. | |
| Anso the Hobbit | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 6/10/2005 |
| Here we have the possible cause for Bilbo getting fond of books and reading and writing! I hope you`ll continue with this! :) Author Reply: Could well be the possible cause, you're right! Am hoping to continue with this one as well. Think good thoughts! | |
| Inkling | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 6/6/2005 |
| Your synopsis sent me scurrying to the Appendices…I’d forgotten there were two bad winters: the Long and the Fell. And what’s more, I’d forgotten that Bilbo was even alive during the Fell Winter, let alone 21 years old! Herein lies the start of an interesting tale, methinks…or two tales (another Thain/Thorn parallel structure?). I’ve always wanted to read more about the Fell Winter and the White Wolves… And Isengar…I’ve always wondered about that cryptic comment in the family-trees…just how does a hobbit “go to sea,” anyway? It’s not like he could join the Merchant Marine or something! Tolkien certainly left us no lack of great material to work with! Author Reply: something like Thain/Thorn or Healer's Tale, yes, with two stories going at the same time, though one will be told mostly through journal entries, I think, unless I feel too constrained and break out into omniscient narrator mode. Don't know yet. We'll see! You're right about Tolkien; what a wonderful gift! Author Reply: p.s. for years I thought Isengar went to sea and never returned, but then how would they have a death date for him? So finally worked out this scenario, where he went to sea in his youth, but returned, or was returned, to the Great Smials. Have figured out an entire "history" for him, now just to see if it works on paper as well as it does in my head. I see you finished Frodo's story, and here I am with no time to read! (Computer going in the shop and so we are all feverishly completing what projects we can, while we can...) | |
| Elena Tiriel | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 6/6/2005 |
| Well, this is a promising start... I like Bilbo's mad uncle already! (So, are you ever going to write what happened to him? Seems like an interesting plot thread... but your stories have so many already! LOL! You make the Shire an interesting and intriguing place!) - Barbara Author Reply: The way the outline looks, we'll learn something of what happened to him. Not sure how detailed it will be, or if the Muse will be moved to write his story... His fate, however, is entwined with Gandalf's impressions of Bilbo, and so, I suppose, that will make all the difference in the future of Middle-earth. But doesn't JRRT seem to like to work that way? Chance encounters turn out to be guided by a master "hand". Interesting perspective. And thanks! Layers upon layers... JRRT certainly created a wonderful world to work with. | |