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| The Bitter and the Sweet by Cairistiona | 23 Review(s) |
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| utfrog | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/8/2010 |
| Utterly beautiful. You caught this fateful meeting better than anyone else has. Excellent view of both characters. I also love the meeting with Halbarad. Thank you. Author Reply: Thank you, utfrog! So very glad you liked this. I'm always relieved to hear that I've captured the characters well. :) | |
| Vilwarin | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/8/2010 |
| It's been a while since a story made me cry so much - but in a good way. The reunions were so heart-warming! Your choice of POV is a very interesting one and bears great potential. Isildur's guilt must have been profound as he slowly began to understand what eveil this one decision had caused, as he watched generation after generation of weary Dúnedain arrive. And it feels very good to believe that he finally received forgiveness. Author Reply: Thank, Vilwarin! I'm glad this moved you to tears in a *good* way. That was my hope, as I wrote this. I think Isildur likely carried a sense of guilt over his actions far beyond the forgiveness of the Valar... I see him as a man of great quality, and being such, he would be far harder on himself than anyone else would be. That his error created so much heartache and loss would be very hard for him to bear, I think, and forgiveness of himself a long time coming. Thanks again for your kind review! | |
| Silivren Tinu | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/8/2010 |
| Aww, that was so beautiful! *sniff* It really needs a tissue alert, though. ;-) I made it through the reunion of Arathorn and Aragorn, but when Aragorn spotted Halbarad I was a goner. *bg* The next time I'm going to read a Halbarad deathfic, I know exactly what I'll read afterwards. :) I also loved that you wrote this story from Isildur's POV. Somehow, it seemed very fitting. Do I need to mention that I loved it? :D Author Reply: Aw, thanks, Almut! I would have put a tissue alert on it, but um, I hate those kinds of spoilers! And hey, Tolkien didn't put any warnings at the front of his books so there's my out. *g* I'm glad the story moved you to tears (hopefully in a good way!), and yes, I did sort of want to create a bit of a "sorrow antidote" to Halbarad's death. That it ended up in an Isildur-driven fic sort of surprised me, because I wanted to write one eventually that's strictly between Halbarad and Aragorn, but it seemed to fit. Halbarad would, in my mind, be one of the first people after Aragorn's parents that he would want to see, simply because of the way Halbarad was ripped from his life, and the sheer number of years they'd been apart. I imagine Aragorn also had quite the reunion with Faramir and Eomer as well... but those just didn't fit into the scope of this story. I think I could probably do an entire series on everyone Aragorn finally sees again! LOL Thanks for the review! | |
| Mirach | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/8/2010 |
| Oh, thank you for redeeming Isildur! It seems that the one mistake he made is what everyone remembers about him, and condemn him for it. But he is the one who stole the last fruit of Nimloth, risking his own life, and Aragorn is Isildur's heir - not Elendil's or Valandil's - and he carries that epithet proudly, not with shame. I was thinking about writing a story about him myself to show this other side of him, but you have done it here perfectly! It is fitting that Aragorn doesn't have his own ship - death makes all equal, there are no kings and subjects. Only the nobility of the spirit is left, and that is visible here, also. It is beautiful to imagine Aragorn meet his parents and Halbarad again. And soon Arwen will arrive with the same ship... Ah, I have tears in my eyes, it is so touching. Bittersweet indeed! Author Reply: Thank you, Mirach! You've touched on exactly the things I wanted to show with this: that Isildur was a worthy man who made one massive mistake, and that in the end, kings and commoners all end up as equals, with Eru as the "king", so to speak... although that analogy doesn't exactly fit perfectly. I like your term "nobility of the spirit" as all that remains... that *does* cover it perfectly. And yes, soon, at least to Aragorn's eyes, Arwen will come. In the meantime, he will have many joyful reunions and first meetings to keep him occupied. Thanks for the review (and yes, go and write your own Isildur story! We need more Isildur stories!) | |
| Inzilbeth | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/8/2010 |
| As I've said to you before, I feel this is the best story of Aragorn's arrival beyond the Circles of the World that I can ever imagine. It's just perfect in every way. Congratulations! Author Reply: Thanks! And thank you so much for the help... it would have been shot through with holes had you not guided me so well through the canon on Isildur! I'm glad you enjoyed the end result of your labors. :) | |
| Elena Tiriel | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/7/2010 |
| This is heart-warming, Cairistiona! I guessed Isildur's identity as soon as you mentioned Aragorn's resemblance to Elendur.... Did I mention how much I love obscure bits of canon tucked into stories? And his musings seemed so real, so perfectly appropriate. Aragorn is completely in-character, in his own regal but unassuming way. And I really choked up at the end! Isildur's guilt is so intense, and Aragorn's words were so perfect... and Isildur's relief so overwhelming. Beautifully done, Cairistiona! - Barbara Author Reply: Thank you, Barbara! I'm like you in that I like to tuck in those bits of canon to anchor a story well into Middle-earth (or in this case, the realm beyond the circles of Arda). I'm also very glad you liked Isildur's musings... this is the first time I've tried to write Isildur, so it was a bit of a challenge to get into his head. I'm far more used to getting into Aragorn's! *g* I'm glad the story moved you, and thank you for the lovely review! | |
| Estelcontar | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/7/2010 |
| Yay! You've posted it. As I told you before, I loved this story of yours very, very much. It is the best Beyond the World tale I've ever read. I love it because you managed to make it totally plausible, believable, very touching, and not maudling at all. I liked the use you made of ships, an image so rooted into Tolkien's legendarium. I love the way you managed to give Isildur his due; the way you grounded it into reality with such details as At sea, the boat shakes. On land, the legs. Even here, there was no difference; I love the way you portrayed Aragorn's meeting with his family and kin; I absolutely loved his arriving among his people and their spontaineous homage. It was very telling and very touching. I especially loved the way Aragorn greeted Isildur. To my mind it was spot on. Thanks for writing such a fine version of what awaits Men beyond The Circles Of The World. Author Reply: Thanks, Estelcontar, both for these kind words and for giving it your usual test-read before I posted it. In many ways, I'm rather glad that Tolkien *didn't* give us much detail about the ultimate fate of Men, because it leaves it very open to interpretation. I definitely tried to make it seem real, and that of course meant a lot of detail about the ship itself. And yes, I had to give Isildur, that much-maligned fellow, his due. Thank you again for the help with this and for this lovely review! | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/7/2010 |
| So beautiful, and so appropriate! Excellent characterization of them all! Yes! Author Reply: Thank you, Larner! I'm so glad you liked this... and always glad to hear I nailed the characterization. If I can't get the characters right, then I need to be writing elsewhere, is how I see it, and I would hate to write elsewhere. *g* Thanks again! | |
| Radbooks | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/7/2010 |
| A very moving tale. I liked seeing all of it from Isildur's perspective, I do imagine he would have had that sort of guilt! Nicely done... thanks for sharing this with us! :) Author Reply: Thank you, Radbooks! I'm so glad you liked this. It was unusual for me to think about a story from Isildur's perspective, since I'm far more comfortable writing from Aragorn's, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew it needed to be told by Isildur, not in small part to better show that guilt. Thank you again for your kind review! | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/7/2010 |
| This is stunningly beautiful! I love the use of the ship! The imagery of a ship is so integral to all the history of Arda: the ships of the Sun and the Moon, the ship of Earendil, the ships of the Numenoreans, a ship carries with it so much in the way of connotations. Wonderfully evocative and touching, dear! Author Reply: Thank you so much, Dreamflower! I'm so glad you liked this... and yes, ships are everywhere in Tolkien's world, aren't they. They're symbolic of so many things: rescue, escape, watchfulness, hope, and most of all, going home. I'm glad this moved you, and thank you for the lovely review! | |