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| The River by Indigo Bunting | 317 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| lovethosehobbits | Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 9/23/2007 |
| I loved this tale. Thanks so very much for including us on the journey, Tree Author Reply: Thanks, lovethosehobbits (or is it Tree?). I'm really glad to hear that you liked the story! We can't ever really get enough, can we? | |
| cookiefleck | Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 9/22/2007 |
| And so it ends, one of my most favorite stories. Thank you for a wonderful read! You know, I love Sam h/c but this story gave me that plus so, so much more; there is so much depth to your writing, and insights to be gleaned. In the final chapter, I really like the way you wove in Legolas' realization that he no longer wanted to wound Gimli with essentially the same words that Garan had used to hurt and intimidate Sam. I also liked how you included Frodo's thoughts of separation... feeling Sam's distance due to recent events, and then reflecting on how carrying the Ring causes him to be perceived by the others. I look forward to reading your next story (hope that Sam is in it!). Also, I have been wondering if you have any other stories posted online; all I have seen is The River. Many kudos and thanks to you! Author Reply: Many thanks, Cookiefleck. I’ve always been very flattered and encouraged by your comments. Yes, I knew this story might categorized as h/c, but I have to admit that I never really saw it that way. I’m not a big fan of the genre (no slight intended to those who do enjoy it!), mostly because these stories can get too sugary-sweet for me. The characters get put through hell, Aragorn/Elrond works a miracle of medicine, and the afflicted ones get smothered with love and sweetness until all wounds are forgotten. It doesn’t feel real to me. People with strength of mind, will, and character can persevere after enduring awful situations, but there ought to be some scars afterwards. Sam’s obviously one of the tough ones. He’ll make it, and live a happy life, too, but he’s not unchanged by his misadventure. Oh, and in answer to your question: no, I don't have any other stories posted online. I have got some other ideas and am working on one or two of them. What I don't know is how soon I'll start posting. It might be nice to wait until a whole story is done before putting it up, one chapter at a time. Less pressure on me that way. :) | |
| GamgeeFest | Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 9/21/2007 |
| Bravo, Indigo! This was a truly poignant and lovely ending. I'm just as curious as the others to know what transpired between Legolas and Gimli, perhaps you could do a little ficlet about that. (Feeding the bunny never hurts.) :D I've greatly enjoyed this story from beginning to end and I hope to see some of those ideas of yours come to fruition also. This is easily one of my favorite stories I've read in a long time. You do such an amazing job with the characters and the details, you pull me right into the story. Thank you for sharing this wonderful tale! Author Reply: Thank you for your generous comments, GamgeeFest! It’s always heartening to learn that readers have liked the story. Sorry for not showing the conversation between Legolas and Gimli, but I wanted the last chapter to be from Frodo’s POV, and they would never have held their first tete-a-tete in front of the rest of the Fellowship. Frodo started the story, and it seemed fit that he should end it. Besides, I think some things are better left to the reader’s imagination. Writing through Frodo’s eyes allowed me to view Sam’s and Legolas’ reactions to Brund as an outsider, which is really what everyone else in the Fellowship becomes when those two are dwelling on their memories. I wanted the ending to have a bittersweet tone: the immediate danger has passed, but too much has already been lost for the event to be a joyful one. | |
| Periantari | Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 9/21/2007 |
| Amazing last chapter! Was so excited to see an update yet so sad to have this wonderfully exciting story come to an end! I love all the insight of Frodo thinking and appreciating Sam's presence in the beginning part and also here: In the absence of speech, Frodo found that he drew great comfort from Sam’s familiar presence. He had once heard that you couldn’t truly appreciate what you had until it was gone, and Sam was the proof of it. He’d never taken Sam for granted, but now that he’d nearly lost him, he felt keenly just how dear a friend he was. I appreciate my Sam too! He's indeed grown so much over the course of this adventure he had and he's grown stronger because of it. It'll be different, a bit of distance between Frodo and Sam now but i'm glad that you wrote that Frodo would be there for him whenever he needs it. ANd i liked that bit about Frodo having a lot of responsibility for Sam and his cousins too. And the Gimli and Legolas exchange seemed so fitting to have something come out of the adventure. The finding of Brund's body in the river is a shocker.. imagine if you had left him alive how many of us would beg for a sequel? ;) And the ending part when you described how Sam and Legolas felt is right on.. indeed Sam would feel a bit of pity and sorry and revulsion... Thanks so much for this wonderful fic! Indeed i enjoyed everytime i saw an update and i would be soooooooo excited and hyperventilate and just read and read until i finish and then have to reread or await a next installment. I hope you write another story (short or long) soon! This has been a joy to read and thank you so much!!!! ♥ Author Reply: Thank you, Periantari. It’s great to hear your thumbs-up for the story as a whole. Part of me is sorry it’s over, but at the same time, I’m ready to move on to something else. With luck, I’ll like one of my other ideas enough to develop into something worth reading! | |
| ziggy | Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 9/21/2007 |
| Indigo- you know, this has to be one of the most complete endings ever. The loneliness of Brund's death really quite tragic, and that is reinforced by Sam and Frodo's reaction to him, but also the hardness of Legolas' reaction. I love the distinction you make between the hobbits and the warriors. You pointed this out so eloquently in the last chapter in the conversation between Legolas and Sam ( I had to go back and read it again just for the pleasure of it- I appreciated even more the details I had not noticed enough in the first reading, particularly this bit: ' He blinked several times in rapid succession and looked away. .... Legolas smiled off in another direction, '.) Actually, this chapter I felt was very visual- it is easy to see the overhang, the gorge and the colours, the water and drowned trees etc. I never feel overloaded with details- just enough to imagine the faces and movements. The scenes between Legoals and Gimli are just wonderful- I am glad you do not let the fellowship know what passed bertween them- much more beleivable, and humourous.Their staring competition before Legoals offers his aplogy is hilarious becasue we all know they both have to give up their bickering... well, perhpas not quite as far as that- but go some way towards understanding each other. I love the firece intensity of their decdions to be honourable- made me laugh. There is so much that I enjoyed ,not only about this chapter, but the whole story. It has been wonderful to see updatea and to know that this would be well writtne and carefully plotted. It has been a terrific tale and so faithful ot the characters. I really hope you write more.Thank you. Author Reply: Ziggy, I’m glad to hear that you’ve enjoyed the story as a whole. Personally, I’m very happy with the way it turned out. Nice to hear you pointing out the distinction between Legolas and Sam; Sam’s reaction to his situation (as he’s not accustomed to violent conflict) has been the thickest thread in this story. As for writing more, I’m hoping that at least one of my ideas will germinate. Working on this story has been a great pleasure, and I’ll miss it. | |
| Bakoneko | Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 9/21/2007 |
| I'm so sorry this story is over! I've checked my e-mail daily, sometimes several times daily, just to see if it had been updated, and it always made me so happy when it was. Now I guess I'll just have to read it over and over, while waiting hopefully for whatever you write next! Thank you so much for sharing this with us! I've genuinely loved it. Author Reply: Checking email daily? Yeesh, I'm sorry. Some of those updates were pretty far apart. You know, before I even started posting, I had about four chapters written (and the rest outlined). I didn't want to write myself into a corner or forget to include some bit of crucial information in the early chapters. Now that I've gone through the process of writing and posting an entire story, I can see the attraction of having the whole thing done before publicizing any part of it... yet the lure to post can be very strong. I had planned to write even more chapters before starting to put this story out there, and in the end, I couldn't resist. I really wanted to know what other people thought. I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed the story so much. I do plan to write something else; the question now is what. I've got a few ideas, and I need to decide which one to focus on. I don't know if I'll be as fond of them as I was of this - everything just came together so well, in my opinion - but I'm sure I'll enjoy the process. I really like writing about the Fellowship (and Sam and Legolas, of course, both of whom have become real favorites of mine over the last two years). Thanks again, and I hope to see you a little later on! | |
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 9/20/2007 |
| I have much enjoyed this and am sorry to see it end. Looking forward to your next story - sooner rather than later I hope. Author Reply: Thank you very much, harrowcat. If you've found the story to be satisfying and engaging, then I've met at least one of my goals. And I hope that some of my new ideas develop enough to fashion something interesting out of them! | |
| Althea | Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 9/20/2007 |
| This has been a great story. Not only did you give us action and suspense, but your characters were well-rounded and alive. It was refreshing to see a story prominently feature Legolas and Sam as a team. It was interesting to witness them bond as well as grow in understanding of themselves, each other, and the other members of the fellowship. I I've enjoyed reading The River very much and I hope you will treat to to another of your stories one of these days. Author Reply: Thank you so much, Althea. You've been an incredibly faithful reviewer; there are certain people that I always look forward to hearing from, and you're one of them. I'm very happy to hear that you found the story to be satisfying, because that's just what I wanted it to be. I'm always wishing I could find more stories that satisfy me as a reader, and while there are definitely some good ones out there, there aren't enough. It's impossible to slake the thirst. I'll miss writing Sam's and Legolas' budding friendship, that's for sure, but it feels right to be finished with the story. Besides, I can always revisit them in the next one. I hope I can come up with something good; I've got a few ideas, but only time and a couple of chapters will tell how well they'll pan out. | |
| RonaLena | Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 9/20/2007 |
| Aw, I am sad to see this end. Let's hope the muses strike again, Indigo. :) Now I have nothing to look forward to. I'll just have to start at the beginning and read this all again. Thanks so much for this wonderful, totally original story. :) Author Reply: I am sad to see the story end, too. It's my 'creation', and a great deal of effort went into it. Yet the story has been finished in my head for a long time now, so it's a relief to finally have it all out of there and onto some paper. Besides, I haven't been able to focus on coming up with new ideas while working on this (too distracting), and I'm looking forward to that. Please, do read the story again! :) It will probably feel different when read all at once as opposed to piecemeal. I tried to put some layer-ish touches in, which may not be very apparent when each chapter comes in such episodic fashion (and with such long breaks in between). I do plan to write more LOTR stories, and I hope that you find something else to read. I know what you mean about wanting something to look forward to... and having a hard time finding it. Thanks again for all your kind comments. It's been wonderful to hear from you so often. | |
| Elflingimp | Reviewed Chapter: 18 on 9/20/2007 |
| I know I hav'nt reviewed much if ever I don't remember but I wanted you to know I enjoyed this story and if you have another floating in your head I'll be there to read it! Author Reply: No worries - I don't remember, either. I recognize your name, but after a while it's hard to remember who said what and where. Thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed the story! | |