Reviews for "Three Arrows to a Broken Heart"

Sat Dec 11, 2004 3:02 pm

I've only gotten to read the first two chapters and the romance is progressing well. I do have to admit that I'm hesitant to continue because you've touched upon one of my greater peeves in LotR fic, and that's the evil Denethor personification.

I know the movies give that impression, but there's nothing in the books to support it. On the contrary, Tolkien himself describes Denethor as a man who seems more noble and wizardly than Gandalf, and says Denethor is one of the few in whom the Numenorean blood runs pure. Sauron's influence through the palantir is what drove Denethor to the point you see in RotK, but the very fact that he could even use the palantir shows his strength and nobility. Also, Boromir was very devoted to his father, as was even Faramir. Denethor's split with Faramir was due to Denethor's palantir-induced paranoia combined with Faramir's like of Gandalf, not Denethor's lack of love for Faramir. Tolkien calls Denethor one of his undefinable combinations of good and bad. He is essentially a good man who was led down an evil path and has made bad decisions as a result of it. Tolkien's idea was that he didn't want his characters to be automatically sectioned off into Good or Evil, but realistic combinations of both, such as what we come across in real life.

I hate to sound like one of those 'oh my god! that's so not Tolkien!' reviewers and I know a lot of people use the evil movie Denethor in their stories and that's certainly your choice if you want to portray him that way. It's completely your decision from a creative standpoint, particularly if it's necessary for the development of the plot. Me personally, and many other books fans, would love to see Denethor given a little more depth, even as a supporting character. The story between Boromir and the OFC is a good one, and you're doing well with the romance aspect of the story. The writing is to the point, allowing us to get a good picture of the characters' personalities. Good job.

Sat Dec 11, 2004 4:13 pm

Kudos on doing a good job on developing the romance between Boromir and the OFC at a sedate pace. Too often authors fall prey to the trap of throwing characters together without spending the time to do much needed character development. My only quibble is the same as noted above by Andreth, Denethor's portrayal should have been more balanced. Certainly you did not portray him as the source of all evil in the known world, as some authors have done, but in order for Boromir and Faramir to have turned out as well as they did, Denethor had to have displayed some positive characters to be passed along to his sons. But all in all, you did a great job.

Sun Dec 12, 2004 10:28 pm

The symbolic reference at the end makes complete sense. It was saddening that she just wished to die, but it was also overjoying to know that she would be with Boromir and her son in the end. The story was short and sweet, and got to the point. Hope to read more soon.

Wed Dec 15, 2004 8:43 pm

You have quite a talent for building a story. I liked the relationship between Boramir and Lilliana. I also liked the way you characterized her as willing to take risks for her moral standards. I thought she was lovely. The one thing you need to understand is, there are a lot of people in the fanfic community who have read not only the trilogy, but the Histories, Sil, The Hobbit etc. When we review stories that have their basis in movie canon, we tend to forget that PJ had a very limited amount of time to build 'minor' characters or to explain the motives behind their actions. Because of that, we tend to cringe a little because we 'know' the characters and, to a degree, the motivating factors for their actions. So sometimes its hard for us to see Eomer portrayed as just Theoden's nephew, when in fact, in the books, he was one of Aragorn's closest friends and allies. Or Cirdan as just the elf at the docks in the end of the movie, when he was a powerful Elda in his own right. We know that Denethor was a tortured soul who had tried to match wits with Sauron at great cost to himself and his sons. That little rant aside, it is a nice story and you should keep writing. If you have doubt about a characters background and motives you can always ask someone. lots of people here are very smart and always willing to help.

Thu Dec 16, 2004 11:58 am

Congratulations on creating such an epic story; it's hard to carry through on such a large vision but you have done a good job here. It's always nice to see Boromir happy. Your language, to my ear, was a bit too modern for my taste, though, and a little more punctuation in some of your long paragraphs would give the reader a most welcome occasional rest.

Thu Dec 30, 2004 2:58 am

Alassante this is an amazing story....i just...just...just..just wow..I am speechless. Wonderful job. Bow smiley face

You made me cry!

~Christina

Thu Jan 13, 2005 12:44 pm

Truly beautiful and tragic. The story was developed well. I just really wanted Boromir to ride off into the sunset with his true love, but life is not like that - I think you captured that well. Now I have to go read your other stories.

Sun Feb 27, 2005 6:16 am

The end came as quite a shock, only because I expected her and the baby to live and everything to be happy.
But this was different and all the better for it - it makes the story more memorable.

Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:40 pm

I am simply amazed how you can change such a small thing and write a great story around it. Lillianna's fate is so incredibly bittersweet and she leaves so many behind.... Even so, you gave me a refreshing look at Boromir. To see him this caring and carefree was most certainly a treat to read!

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Reviews for "Three Arrows to a Broken Heart"