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| The Cursed Queen of Angmar by khazar-khum | 54 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: Prologue on 10/19/2003 |
| I have been eyeing this story for weeks now, trying to decide if I want to read it because I am so far behind. But I have finally decided to take the plunge because I've heard such good things. And I have to say the opening is scary. On to the next chapter. | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 36 on 10/19/2003 |
| I am afraid that the Witch-King's vigilance (I don't want to call it paranoia, as that is an unjustified fear) is affecting how I read the story. I find myself wondering about the motives of the cobbler, how someone might use the young children against Ariashal, and even Herumor (who is established as trustworthy!). I worry about Herumor taking them to the grotto, although he is one the Witch-King trusts to keep them safe. How I would hate to live with such fear all the time! | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 35 on 10/5/2003 |
| I love what Ariashal did to her grotto - I am a gardener and love to landscape so I fully understand what she was doing, what it meant to her in recovering a memory and seeking to share it with her family. I must admit to both being at a loss and admiring her for wanting to meet the other Nazgul. I would not wish to meet them, but if I try to put myself in her shoes, I understand that because she loves her husband she wishes to know more of his life. I think of the fear they caused in others, but I have to remind myself these are different times than what we see at the end of the third age. The comments about Gil-Galad's reaction really made me think. Could they know the Witch-king was sincere? How do they know when he is under Sauron's control? I enjoy stories that make me think of both sides of a story. Thanks, very good and thought provoking again! Author Reply: Thank you again...I am a lousy gardener; I have a black thumb. I'm wanted for murder all over the plant kingdom! :-D Ariashal has met them once before--they were at the wedding. But this time, of course, the situation will be more personal. She does want to know as much about him as she can, and they are irretrievably bound up with him. Gil-Galad and the others assumed that their guest was not sincere. Besides, they have a lot to answer for over those rings--they *could* have destroyed them, after all. And they don't like reminders of their failings coming to visit. | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 33 on 9/29/2003 |
| I am begining to have a sneaking suspicion that Ariashal dies a terrible death....that she doesn't make it to old age, doesn't die with the Witch-King at her side, peaceful. She is his achilles heel - a way for Sauron to hurt him. These two chapters were intense and horrifying, even in the retelling, and I dread to think of what could be in store. If I were Ariashal, I would be afraid to leave the castle. Nice building of suspense... Author Reply: Ariashal has one thing going for her: she has so far managed to manipulate me into making this way longer than I had planned! Sauron is still weak, which also helps her cause. This last section really worried me; I didn't want to make it into pure horror. I am a firm believer that your imagination is worse than reality. But no one should be under the illusion that Sauron is a nice guy, and no one should believe that he treats his captives with anything even remotely resembling compassion. | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 31 on 9/8/2003 |
| That they are a family and love each other comes through very nicely in these last chapters - really throughout the story. You see the Witch-king trusting Ariashal, and you see the delight he takes in his children. He is such a strong person - if those torture scenes were indeed accurate, he has withstood much - more than it seems any of flesh and blood should be able. Because he is strong, one can see where he dares love a wife and children. Yet, I wonder deep inside, if he fears for them? Or if he is comforted, perhpas, by their mortality - that he will enjoy their natural lifespan (which he seems to believe he can protect them through) and know that if Sauron does rise to power again, it will not be within their lives. I eagerly await the next chapter. Author Reply: I sincerely appreciate all your kind words. It is very encouraging to know that someone else is enjoying this! ;-D He is extremely fearful for their safety. He's had a long time to learn all about Sauron, and what that twisted mind can create. This is why he is staying as far from Dol Guldur as he can--Sauron can't exert much pressure on him. Sauron may be disembodied and ringless, but he's still a force to be reckoned with. To address some of your earlier comments: Ariashal is still rather confused, lost and vulnerable when she has her first serious disagreement(chapter 6). She does not want to spend the rest of her life in a palace, her role reduced to ornament for display on special days. She has begun to hope that she might have a real marriage, and she doesn't want her clumsiness to destroy that. As for Good/Evil: Tolkien himself said that the stories were not as cut & dried as some wanted to believe them to be. I find it hard to believe that all Nazgul would be identical in terms of personality or biography. To me it seems likliest that at lest a few of them would claim the rings in the hope of improving the lot of their people. Of course, this is a rather disturbing thought--how many of us, I wonder, have said to ourselves--Heck, I could take that ring & not screw up! | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 29 on 9/7/2003 |
| My apologies for racing along these chapters with nary a word, but I could not stop reading. Wow - how much more can be said? The brutality of Sauron and the evil of Khamul; the heartbreak of Herumor and the Witch-King. I am reminded of Gandalf telling Frodo that he would not take the ring to keep it safe, for even in his desire to do good, great evil would result. Some of he Nazgul fell to temptation where they thought they would do great good. Some fell for the desire of a power to do evil. How richly you paint their lives - how much trust Ariashal has that her husband would protect her and the children, but how much fear she must have after seeing the torture and brutality the enemy is capable of. This is very powerful - it is a romance, but it is so much more than that. | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 23 on 9/7/2003 |
| I will admit at times to wondering about the nine that were enslaved by the rings - wondering if some were decent men, snared and entrapped out of a desire to do good. You have put a person behind that ring - one that can be empathised and sympathised with. Wow - suddenly the Witch-King is a real person, with a real background, family, triumphs and failures. | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 9/7/2003 |
| Ariashal's last words are so interesting: "I? I am evil? You would have me slay my husband, the father of my children, and I am evil?" It is so easy to see the Witch-King as evil, but is he entirely evil? And are others less so? Of course there are a million examples of this in every day life and throughout history - but you have taken a situation and brought it to life. You do not make me question what is evil, but you make me look to see if the pot is calling the kettle black. And you do it without preaching or explaining what you meant or 'telling' me everything you have just stimulated me to think about. I love a good job of 'showing' and this chapter is doing that - but more imporatantly I see it growing throughout the story. | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 9/7/2003 |
| This chapter leaves me pondering (forgive my ramblings) Ariashal's feelings for the King. In him she has found someone that seems to value her - for he if he only wanted sex he would not care, perhaps, for her needs or for her pleasure. She enjoys the physical intimacy and she trusts him. Adzuphel says that the King does not love her, is incapable of loving her. She doesn't react to that. But then he comes to her and asks if he is forgiven. Whether she is dependent on him (for companionship, physical intimacy etc) or loves him at this point is not entirely clear. If she loves him, what about him makes her love him? Trust, respect, care - I guess it is more than she got from the other men who had been in her life, inlcuding her own family. | |
| Nilmandra | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 9/5/2003 |
| I am trying to imagine the sensory overload of seeing a red castle, seeing all these people come to greet you, finding out that some attempt was possibly made on your life and that your husband is a mighty sorcerer. THEN, you see wealth beyond comprehension - and all you can think of is - I will kill him too. She believe she is cursed, though she possesses no magic. It is actually a very naive and rather egotistical conclusion for her to reach that she could cause the death of this mighty sorcerer. Author Reply: I think that she is convinced that the curse is so potent nothing can possibly escape its grasp. To me she has always bemoaned her fate--she cannot undo what someone has done to her. | |