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| What's left behind by perelleth | 77 Review(s) |
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| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 12/15/2005 |
| I wish I weren't so tired right now and could give this chapter the review it really deserves, but it's the bitter end of the semester, and I'm just hanging on. I like the tension that seems to be developing here between Legolas and his wife. They're each in a place that they love and want to live in forever, and they're each imagining having their beloved spouse at their side. We know whose vision will ultimately win out, yet Laeriniel is such a character that it's hard to imagine that this is going to happen smoothly. I am very much waiting to hear how Legolas convinces her to move. Especially since she's fought so long and hard for Mirkwood. Very nice to see Legolas crop up. We've been hearing from him and about him, and it is indeed time to see him. I like this look at him. He's both romantic and clear-eyed at the same time, and he deals with Celeborn as with an equal. It really looks like he has a solid understanding of how the world and the relationships between the various species are working out. Clever Elf, that one. I also enjoyed seeing the tension between Haldir and the Mirkwood guards. It brings home the fact that these are two long-sundered nations with different perspectives and priorities. It also emphasizes how isolated Mirkwood was for so long, and how their world has been turned upside down by the battle and the improbable victory. Thranduil's speech is great. It's the kind of oration you want a leader to make. Dwindle and fade shall we before the Secondborn, if that’s the fate Eru appointed to us. Although, talk like Yoda he does on occasion. Wise he is. Author Reply: Whoa! What do you mean by "give this chapter the review it really deserves" It's more than that! ANywy, I undersetand you only too well. I´m at the end of my "term" here, too, and I find it very hard to put coherent thoughts together... thankfully the sotry was written in the earlier part of this year, and redheredh is kindly and most patiently helping me with the loads of mistakes, and as you see there are many that remain. The end of the year is not a good time for doing intellectual activities I fear... I'm glad that you liked the contrast. It was it. So many different views on the same facts are always at war in every thing, and it is hard when it comes to such differences between husband and wife! A difficult thing, none of them has stopped to believe that the other may be thinking differently! There are somany good stories about LEgolas out there that I was truly afraid of having him here... i'm glad that you liked how he came out. Throughout the books he seems a very self assured, even character, not shy or unsire of hmself, and that was what i wanted to come out here... Although, talk like Yoda he does on occasion. Wise he is. LOLOLOL! great point! Wise father, clever son, though.... Thanks for your kind words, FP, and get a good rest as soon as you may! | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 12/15/2005 |
| This is very sad.. I admit, it did not occur to me that Legolas's people would blame him for being gone during this time or blame him. Yet, in the way you have laid this out, I can see where their limited perspective could make it so. How sad and how hard for them all. I can see Legolas's desire to move with his wife to this settlement will be very hard. Author Reply: I supposed that to the elves in Mirkwood this was another bitter battle, as they could not see the after effects of their victory as clearly as they did in the south. They have suffered deeply, and we all tend to be a bit sel-centered in suffering... YEt it's not a permanent thing, as BOrgalas points out. Yet I found it interesting to explore the different takes on the same events as seen with different points of view and different amounts of information... Pain is the main after effect of a war, I fear... Sad as it may seem, it will end in hope, I promise! :-) | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/30/2005 |
| You really do have quite the cas of characters here, Perelleth! I had to consult the list a few times, but I think Im getting everyone down. The devastation to the lands of the forest were profound and well shown. I hadnt thought of the winter as being terrible, since the war had sort of ended the previous spring, but I can see where all the displaced orcs and so on might like Mirkwood. Are you going to flash us back to the destruction of Dol Guldur and the splitting of the forest between Thranduil and Celeborn? Author Reply: Oooops! I tried to address everyone by charge to avoid that, but the family alone is a great deal of new people, and to make matters worse, I had that mad idea of giving monikers to Legolas and his wife...so apologies there for the extra concentration needed :-) You are right that the war occurred in spring, so it meant that new sprouts, forest berries and fruits, as well as new litters and probably crops must have been devastated, and they do not grow nack so easily! The soil, too, muust have been terribly affected , as well as the seeds and granaries, which in the case of Rohan and Gondor must have been burnt and ruined, so all in all, even if they had all summer ahead, there was little chance of recovery to the normal levels that would guarantee food supplies for the population ... Fire regenerates, but at its own "elvish" rythm... The splitting of the forest is hinted at in Chapter three... :-)Thanks for reading and commenting, Nilmandra! | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/29/2005 |
| Yep, that council sure has their work cut out for them. The problems they face seem very realistic, both in duration and scale. I love the way you even manage to make bureaucratic council meetings sound interesting. I also liked seeing the Queen and the princesses together. The ladies are quite the crew, and it's nice to see them all giving each other much-needed emotional support. I wonder what is keeping Legolas in Minas Tirith. He seems so eager to see his wife, and he must be crazy for his daughter. One would think he'd come right home. Author Reply: love the way you even manage to make bureaucratic council meetings sound interesting LOL! I'm glad you were not bored! I enjoyed very much picturing the whole situation, so glad that it came out as interesting for you, too! As for what kept Legolas in Minas Tirith.., this is how I see it: first, Aragorn had asked them to wait. Second, Theoden was still unburied and not fully honoured, and Legolas had served under his banners and arms, so it wouldn't have been proper to slip away without honoring that lord. Third, it wouldn't have been very smart to undertake that long way home alone, knowing that Gimli would be back in the same route, and fourth, as I see it, he's releasing all the emotion building up in such difficult months, yet, as Luinil points out, well, it's been less than a year right now, and that's but a whisper in elvish reckoning :-)... But, of course, that's how I see it, and surely influenced by my own experience with partings and long periods abroad... Glad that you wondered! | |
| elliska | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/29/2005 |
| Hehehe! Wonderful. I love a good council meeting! This was great and Thranduil was wonderful. Prestolon was someone anyone that has ever attended a meeting has seen and loves to despise. I really liked Legolas's letter too. It really sounded like something he would write and I think capturing his thoughts on the Quest is a really tough thing to do, so great job there. And I thought it was really cool to see Haldir appear at the end there. I hope we get some glimpses of his experiences and interactions with the Fellowship. Great chapter. Author Reply: Good to read you back on your keyboard, elliska! Are you feeling well? Hope so! Prestolon was someone anyone that has ever attended a meeting has seen and loves to despise. LOL! exactly. Anyway, he's a victim of his own attitude, so he (his type) is easily maneouvred into making such mistakes! I even felt for him! :-) I'm glad that you liked Legolas letter, and delighted that you think it according to the chracter. It wasn't easy to sum up waht he would of would not put down at that situation, yet the whole story popped out from that "plot bunny" and so I could not resist throwing it in. I would love to receive such a letter! Thanks again | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/29/2005 |
| I just don't have time to read and review properly today, so this is really just to say that I will get back to you when I can spread myself! But - just to let you know how much I like Laerîniel. She is a worthy partner for Legolas, just as Gaildineth is for Thranduil. I cheered when Thranduil bit the head of his crabby advisor Prestolon to defend his wife's decision to feed them pastries. Although Prestolon probably has a heart of gold, he has a mouth full of vinegar. And I am so impressed by the detail of what the forest and the nearby lands have suffered - and the thought that has gone into how difficult it will be for the people to survive the following winter. More later. Author Reply: Thanks, Bodkin! Well, poor Prestolon did deserve a good scolding, and Thranduil didn't want his vinegar falling in the midst of the meeting... so he was a bit wicked there! :-) He just put the rope around his neck in his eagerness to be grumpy... I must confess that I enjoyed guessing the kind of damage the forest must have suffered and what troubles that would mean. I drew maps and listed the species and ... well what not! (back in a time of the year when I had far more spare time of course!) I don't know if anybody's ever written a story about that winter of 3019, but I've frequently shuddered to think of it. All the homesteads, farms and crops in Rohan burnt while the Dunledins marched to Helm's Deep, Gondor's lands devastated... that must have been a very hard winter for the lands East of the Misty Mountains, indeed! I'm glad that you like Laerîniel! | |
| Redheredh | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/28/2005 |
| Well, you already have my comments on this chapter. I just wanted to say again how much I am enjoying the story. ;) Author Reply: I'm surprised that you´re still able to enjoy it ;-)(bows deeply) | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 11/28/2005 |
| My favorite part of this was the council meeting. You show a powerful, clever Thranduil. I love all the hints of politics around the table and the way Thranduil manages them. I also like the tension between the king and his heir. They may have plotted to run this meeting, but they're not in perfect accord. I even like the way the king, his heir, and the commander entered the room! Author Reply: Yes, the Prince has the right to disagree and the freedom to obey! :-) TO be honest, I enjoyed writing the council and guessing what the situation could be. Even if they would all stick together in such tough times, there are always disagreements and someone has to be in charge of setting the priorities. I'm glad that you liked Thranduil! His leadership must have been seriously needed in this situation... | |
| elliska | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/15/2005 |
| I am going to love this. I like Legolas with a wife and child and it really will make some of his actions more complicated. And the characters in this are wonderful as is everything you have set up in the forest. I really enjoyed this and I am looking forward to reading it again when I'm a little more alert and reading more as you post. Author Reply: I'm glad that you find the setting appealing :-) Kind a heresy it seemed to me, so it's been sleeping in my computer for some months now! Each of us has built her own backstory, it seems, and this of married Legolas has been with me for many a year now! :-) when I'm a little more alert and reading more as you post. Are you not feeling well, elliska? Hope you get better soon. I'll be posting as I can...but the closing of the year is quite busy... this is the first story that I'm writing while posting, although it's wholly drafted... | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 11/10/2005 |
| This is lovely, Perelleth. The initial assumption that Legolas is long married and the father of an adult daughter is so different and delightful - and I must say I like his taste in wives! Laerîniel is a very good illustration of the reasons why elves could remain happily married for thousands of years - and her response to Legolas's letter is just . . . very understandable! (I wonder what she will think of the Ithilien idea. And his friendship with Aragorn. Interesting times!) And then - the whole set-up of the Wood in the wake of the battles is just so beautifully drawn. Everything! The burning trees, the injuries, the roaming orcs, the grief for those lost, food shortages - it's all there. Complex webs of emotion and action. I am very glad that the lost prince - Borgil - died before the beginning of the story, but the effects of his death on the remaining family are interesting - and heart-rending. I hope his mother manages to find a way to deal with her loss. The characters, too, are intriguing - and I am looking forward to learning more of their lives. This is most enjoyable. Author Reply: Well, thanks for double reviewing, bodkin! I was still smiling at your super- mega delightful! :-) The elleth just appeared out of thin air, yet I kind of guesss that had Legolas been actually married, she would be a match to him, as I see it, at least! :-) We´ll see how she takes the rest of the things, the move and his new buddies, once she overcomes the shock of his letter... I am very glad that the lost prince - Borgil - died before the beginning of the story Me too! :-) I began this story back in February, and then I had the cheek to berate daw soundly when she "killed" Sinnarn! LOL! Sincerely, I doubt I could have gone through that painful writing process... yet I agree that Thranduil´s family would not have very likely escaped unscathed of such terrible ending of the age... It was sheer loss for everybody, and it is very painful to thnk about that, I think... I'm glad that you liked the characters. It took me long to round them, this is quite a new process to me, yet I enjoyed it a lot, too! I'm truly glad that you liked the setting, bodkin, I had to place the warning, because of the uncommon situation, so I'm happy that you made it through it, as now I'm looking forward to your insightful reviews! Thanks! | |