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| A Perilous Journey to Lorien by LadyJaina | 41 Review(s) |
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| MFantasia | Reviewed Chapter: 13 on 9/11/2021 |
| LadyJaina, let me start telling you this is a wonderful story. I just found it. I used to be an avid reader of this site way back of more than 16 years ago. I just came back to re read some of the favorites during the pandemic and now I’m reading the new ones. Like you character descriptions. I like your portrait of Boromir, I think the movies didn’t make him any favor as a character, but Sean Bean was such a wonderful actor that he eclipsed Aragorn for a while. You show him as a real human being, he was great with the hobbits and did his best. The other ones, they are great! Legolas and Gimli POVs are just perfect. Thank you for writing and keeping the fandom alive. Keep posting!!! Author Reply: Thank you so much for your thoughts! Writing Boromir has been such a surprise to me. In the movie, he was my least favorite character, and in the books he seems so argumentative. It turns out, thought, that writing a prickly character is actually a lot of fun--and as a writer, I get to think about the motivations behind it that we don't see in Tolkien's original work! | |
| Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 7/23/2021 | |
| Thank you:) that’s an intriguing story! Please, continue!!! Author Reply: Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed! I hope I continue to keep your intrigued all the way to the resolution! :) | |
| quodamat | Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 7/12/2021 |
| This is wonderful story! I really enjoy your nuanced depictions of the various characters. Boromir: grumpy first, sorry second; a bit sheltered and xenophobic, but keenly observant; torn between hope and fear. Pippin: determined to be cheerful no matter what, but feeling very young and insecure; aware of his own reputation and hoping not to be misunderstood; impulsive and irrepressible, but deep down concerned about everyone but himself. I could go on. Just such good characterization! I also like the way you insert little character moments that really enrich and round out the main storyline. In this chapter, for instance, there's Pippin's very t(w)eenage discomfort at being without his clothes, and Sam's silent "help me out, why don't you??" to get Boromir to comfort Frodo (dear Sam!). Finally, I really like what you did with Pippin's encounter with the Ring. It's telling that in his state of mind, the strongest temptation is to despair: what he wants most is for the past to not have happened. The idea of the Ring stirring up guilt is an interesting one. It reminds of of how, in Christian tradition, the devil is understood to be not just a tempter but also an accuser. (Not saying you did or should intend that parallel, just a resonance I noticed.) I'm looking forward to continuing to read. Thanks for sharing your work! Author Reply: Wow! What a review! Thank you so much for all your kind words! As for the Ring stirring up guilt, my intention was that the Ring wanted to be found by any means necessary--maybe that is getting Boromir to take it, or allowing Saruman or the orcs to find it, or by driving away those who care most for Frodo--making them ineffective so that Frodo is isolated and alone. He does this both by tempting, and accusing. That said, I don't even think I realized that's what I was having Sauron do, or the parallel of Satan as the accuser. So often our beliefs shape our worldview, and, in this case, I think they bled over into fanfiction. Amazing job picking up on something so nuanced that I barely noticed it! I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters just as much! | |
| Legolass | Reviewed Chapter: 10 on 7/9/2021 |
| What a gruesome task Aragorn had to take on, but how devoted he was to saving his friend! He may have been just in time. Looking forward to what happens next. Great writing! Author Reply: Thank you so much! Chapter ten is definitely my favorite chapter so far--and the one that took the most drafts to get right! | |
| Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 6/27/2021 | |
| Please, please don’t kill him off!!! Estel has to help him somehow! Author Reply: On my honor, I promise not to kill off Legolas, but to get him as close to death and despair as I possibly can. *Evil grin, sheepish shrug.* | |
| Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 6/27/2021 | |
| I like your story very much:) it’s well-written and the plot naturally intertwines with canon! Thank you for sharing! Author Reply: I'm so glad to hear that like what you are reading! Sometimes I wonder if I'm getting things just right--I'm a bit of a perfectionist! I really appreciate your kind worse! | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 4 on 6/13/2021 |
| I love how you portray Merry's talent for observation and consideration. (But then, Merry has always been my favorite hobbit since the first time I read LOTR...) Author Reply: Merry is also my favorite hobbit! I confess, I've reimagined him as the plotting, calculating, and slightly more hotheaded hobbit of the group. The Merry in this story is angry. As I'm typing this, I'm realizing that maybe some of that anger is the ring and perhaps I should have thought of that earlier, haha. At the time chapters 1-11 were written, Merry's anger is mostly because he's tired of being underestimated. Lots more of Merry coming up, and I hope that you continue to enjoy my portrayal. | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/12/2021 |
| This story remains on my reading list, though my reading (and writing) stopped for more than a month due to circumstances beyond my control, so I'm just picking up the threads again. I was just glancing through the reviews to this story before jumping in again and saw demeter_d's comment on this chapter. I wanted to reiterate the news that the Stories of Arda site was recently renewed for three years. That's heartening news for authors and readers alike! It is so nice to know that this little oasis of comfort will remain for some time longer. (And I have reached the end of my lunch break, but I am looking forward to reading the next chapter after the last one I reviewed in this story when I return again. If that's not too confusing. The coffee I just finished is zinging through me, jumbling my typing somewhat.) Author Reply: Woohoo for three years! And thank you so much for choosing MY story to read with your limited time! | |
| demeter d | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 6/12/2021 |
| Lady Jaina, welcome to Stories of Arda. The recent flurry of new authors gives me hope that our beloved site administrator intends to keep going for at least a while longer. I am familiar with at least four - creators, authors and reviewers associated with this site who have gone, as they say here, "beyond the circles of the world". I am always glad to hope that things can go on, at least for a while yet. I have seen the passing of four fan-sites I liked. But this one has always been my favorite. Here it seems not JUST to be about enjoying Tolkien's world, although they do. Here there is an over-arching sense of light and hope, as if this world is not all there is for us, and we will endure beyond it. Now to your story. I think the thing I enjoy so far in this story is how beautifully your narrative blends in with the italicized quotes from the book. Your text feels like it could have come out of the book. The focus of the chapter is Frodo. We flash from seeing and understanding what Frodo is seeing to just looking at Frodo. The actions of the rest of the company we are looking at as he sees them. I will be interested to now see the scene from the other side, as it were. Author Reply: Thank you so much for your kind review. I, too, have seen many a site come and go. I've been reading on Stories of Arda since my Sophomore year in high school--18 years ago (incidentally, when I wrote the original and VERY poorly written Perilous Journey to Lorien. It was so bad that I finally scrapped it completely so that I could write a story more worthy of that point in the Fellowship's journey)! I'm so pleased this site is still around and, like you, I hope that it will stick around a long while longer! | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 3/17/2021 |
| Nicely done. I love Merry's problem-solving, and that Gimli would know which rocks were true. And here is the "hobbit-skin" I was just wondering about! Ack, poor Sam and poor Frodo and poor Legolas! I hope they can get that arrow out soon, and I hope it's not a poisoned wound. | |