Reviews by Aganuzir

The Circles: Book One: The Triumph of The Shadow · Mon Aug 15, 2005 6:27 pm

I see no problem with the chapter and the sequence of events. The mother started wailing as she saw her baby cold and unmoving and understood he was dead. But understanding and accepting are different things. And yet another step is to give her dead baby to the orcs for the pot. No wonder she denied his death, what else could she say to defend the body?

But I have a question that probably belongs more to the "Hunger" chapter. Why didn't Elfhild think of the possibility to ask the Easterlings about the outcome of the Pelennor Battle? They still had no idea what had happened to Rohan army, to their menfolk. Wouldn't the possibility to learn their fate be a much stronger motive to join the Easterlings than the sweetmeats?

The Circles: Book One: The Triumph of The Shadow · Thu Aug 11, 2005 4:21 pm

Angmar,
You must be right about the necessity of stress relief in dire situations. Very interesting are your examples from the American Civil War. Thank you.

And you have enlightening info on leeches and ticks, though the subject may be disturbing to some gentle souls... Smile smiley face

>I have had experience removing ticks by using still-hot match heads
>and applying them to their rear. In a number of those cases, the ticks
>died before they ever backed out and I ended up pulling them off
>with my fingers***
Speaking of ticks (Ixodes spp.), here, unlike with leeches, I do have personal experience. There is nothing better than putting a drop of oil on them and waiting. Needing air, they detach quickly.

Elfhild,
Thank you for replying to my other questions. Sorry, I have forgotten the Fourth Chapter. I had to re-read the story before asking, but having read SD, I now tend to mix what I know from SD and what from the Circles. My fault entirely.

>At first I was going to be very vague and mysterious about the war for the
>story was going to be told from Elfhild/Elffled's point of view. However,
>since then we decided that was not the best idea and that we should branch
>things out a little with multiple plotlines, much like what Tolkien did in Two
>Towers and Return of the King.

It is an excellent idea, IMO. Personally, I always prefer things to be stated explicitly. I like them to be poetic, but I don't like them vague. Smile smiley face

Of course it is just my personal taste, no more. Many others may think differently.

> (Of course no Elf was present at the Music of the Ainur and still
>somehow the Elvish loremasters were able to tell exactly what happened.... hmmmm.... )

No big deal, there were lots of maiar present. What were they doing in Aman for more than 6000 years? Bored to death, they were having tea with the Elves, Smile smiley face

telling them enlightening stories about the Music and the Creation of Arda.

>I have submitted changes for Chapter 18 that should better clarify this matter.
Yes, it is much better now, I think. Thank you.

Best wishes,
Aganuzir

Why · Thu Aug 11, 2005 3:00 am

Actually if you look at a map of Middle-Earth,
you will see that to go from Rauros to Isengard one has to head almost due WEST.

Please, check the map.
http://www.jrrtolkien.org.uk/Images 4/middleearth2_c.jpg

So the sun was OK, as was Gimli. It was Peter Jackson who got everything wrong. Smile smiley face

Cierre, Min Heorte (Turn, My Heart) · Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:47 am

I liked the story very much. It is refreshing to see someone turning to obscure Fallowhide history. I believe it would be a nice idea to expand your drabbles into a big story.
Special thanks for date entries!

The Circles: Book One: The Triumph of The Shadow · Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:38 am

Chapter 18

It is nice to learn that the Riders of Rohan have not perished. Eomer is still around, but not Theoden, Merry or Eowyn. That leaves the readers wondering what has actually happened at Pelennor. Was it as in SD? But, as the Circles stand on their own, I think it would be nice to learn about the battle from one of the survivors. Has no one seen Angmar-Eowyn fight? If they did, they should be haunted by memories.

I liked the portraits of Osric, Oslaf and Swithulf. However, I would have expected their mood to be not so cheerful.

Strange that Swithulf, the simple miller's son, seems to know about Rivendell and the Elves dwelling there (as compared with Eomer's, as well as Boromir's and Faramir's, ignorance of the place in LOtR).

And another thing, as far as I know, the best way to get rid of a leech is to touch it with a burning twig. It would be easier than to waste precious salt on it. Smile smiley face

The Circles: Book One: The Triumph of The Shadow · Fri Aug 05, 2005 4:44 am

Of course you should include the Flying Corps emblem in the Circles! It is 100% Tolkien's own, so it is priceless. Also it will make readers to expand their knowledge, as few of them have ever seen it, I bet.

The Circles: Book One: The Triumph of The Shadow · Wed Aug 03, 2005 4:55 pm

Thank you for the next three chapters. I liked our first close-up on an Easterling camp, with men not so very different from the men of the West.

"Blue eyes" chapter is outright brilliant. I read almost to the end trying to figure what was it about, Smile smiley face

before I understood at last that it was Doungha's dream.

And the "hunger" chapter. It is much more realistic than what we encounter in Tolkien. Indeed, an empty stomach helps to change one's views, if not one's loyalties. Tolkien's writings are either an epic or a chronicle. Such details are lost there.

As there was a discussion on the Prologue in the previous posts, I reread that part.

I can't say that it was off-putting, but puzzling, surely. Yes, the Prologue is beautiful and surreal and mysterious. Perhaps too mysterious. I tried hard to understand who was Lady Pharazani, but I failed. A Ruling Queen of Numenor? that means Tar-Telperien? - hardly. Names don't fit even if one is Quenia and the other Adunaic. Why then was she discussing war and politics? Why was her great-granddaughter called "a princess"? I sincerely believe that some hints could be great, at least as a foot-note.

>The Mordor Special Mission Flying Corps was done in a doodle by
>Tolkien and is included in "J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator."
>A picture of this emblem can be found at
http://www.forodrim.org/gobennas/heraldry/heraldry.htm

Thank you for posting the link. It seems so strange, so inappropriate for nazgul with bright colors and insect appearance! Really curious picture.

The Circles: Book One: The Triumph of The Shadow · Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:15 pm

Thank you for updating so soon, Angmar and Elfhild!

Angmar wrote
>The "demons," of course, are the Nazgûl but the captives have no idea what
> they are. I always like to think of them as the "Mordor Special Mission
>Flying Corps" as Tolkien called them. He even drew an emblem for them.

How very interesting, I have not heard of it. Where was it, in the "Letters"?
And what was the emblem like?

>Captain Kourosh was a Variag from Khand

That makes him a Southron or an Easterling?
Was Khamul from Khand as well? (the names seem similar)

>Sauron came up with the "Directives" after the fall of Minas Tirith.
>None other would come up with such rigid control.

Too rigid for mortals, IMO. Perhaps a maia Sauron could not understand human nature very well? Afrer all, when he was abroad in the wide world in the First and the Second age, he mostly dealt with evles and orcs…I felt the Directives were not enforceable, and really Ch. 14 proves that all too well. I hope poor Sergeant Daungha will not be punished too cruelly… I can't say he was a nice guy, but he hardly deserves to be castrated. After all, he did no great harm to the girls. Actually, I am surprised that his Captain has chosen to arrest and denounce Daungha, instead of scolding him in private and covering up for him.

Awesome kisses, by the way! Smile smiley face

I like your writing! Poor Elffled, it must be only the first of many similar experiences.

Best wishes,
Aganuzir

The Circles: Book One: The Triumph of The Shadow · Tue Jul 19, 2005 2:38 pm

Ch. 12.
I mostly agree with Tourniquette, this chapter was a bit too retrospective and uneventful. But I appreciated further insight into Rohirric language and customs. All in all, it felt like a last glance back, before one accepts the new life and stops pondering the past.

Ch. 13.

A very interesting chapter.
I like how you managed to render the feeling of desolation in Anorien. The dismal landscape, burned homesteads. And demons flying overhead… Scary. Even the few wild strawberries, that could still be found, just stress the abnormality of the present.

And, of course, I liked Captain Kourosh, the first kind-hearted Easterling philosopher in all the fandom! Smile smiley face

(or was he a Southron?). I completely agree with his words: "Are we not all savages, covered only by a slight cloak of civilization? We look across a battle line and call the other 'savage' whilst at the same time the enemy looks across at us and says, 'Barbarians!' Under the skin we are all the same. The only thing that separates us is political philosophy." Very, very true. Indeed there are no bad nations; every one displays a variety of types and personalities.

Easterling culture and learning might be superior to that of Rohan, if not Gondor. That reminds me of the Crusades, when the warriors of the West, who though themselves to be the only civilized people on Earth, first met with superior Arabic culture and philosophy…

Interesting to me was the interaction between the Easterlings and the orcs. Normally in an army of men, a captain from a totally different division has very little authority over men of another division. (Or so I think, I can't really be sure). Here, it looks like the visit of the Easterlings was intimidating for the orcs. Were they that far down the social ladder? After all, in LOTR, Shagrat was the Captain of a large fortress…

And, lastly, the Directives… a real gem. Smile smiley face

Who was the author: Sauron or the Morgul Lord? A very wise order, no doubt. Almost too perfect for any army. But was it sustainable? I believe that after a battle and a sack of a city, no such orders could be obeyed, at least by men of the states vassal to Mordor. Orcs, perhaps, could be intimidated, although I doubt even that. Were the Directives followed during the sack of Minas Tirith? Of course, when a battle is over, the men become more manageable. We shall see what happens, I guess.

Best wishes,
Aganuzîr

And in the Darkness Bind Them: Vol I · Mon Jul 11, 2005 3:15 pm

Wow, you have updated! So the principal characters meet at last. Please, continue, I am eager to learn what happens next.

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Reviews by Aganuzir