Reviews for "The Circles: Book Two: Journey of Sorrow"

Sat Mar 10, 2007 1:53 pm

Very nice new chapters, Elfhild and Angmar.
Ahh... those quarrelsome sisters... Instead of making good time back to Rohan they find nothing better than to quarrel and to frighen each other with ghost stories. It looks a bit childish... but then, after all, they are hardly 14.
I wonder when they will be finally caught. *evil*

Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:15 pm

Agan,

There are so many dangers facing the girls... the Mordorian army, the slavers, the orcs, wolves and wargs, and their own imaginations.

Stay tuned for more. > Smile smiley face

Angmar and Elfhild

Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:11 am

Oh, my! What a wondrous chapter, Angmar and Elfhild! Incredibly captivating! And ending in a cliff-hanger...

I know now what you meant when writing "Stay tuned for more"!

I guess they met a nazgul there somewhere at the banks of Anduin. Am I right? The mysterious stranger can hardly be anything else with his talk of eyes and his sniffing and his mind-games. But what was a nazgul doing there all alone - resting his Fell Beast?

Now that I think about it, I have no idea what the date might be. It is what - July 3019? Or later? I guess the battle at Helm's Deep had already been lost and the nazgul had to be recalled to Barad-Dur for punishment? Or was the poor wraith right on his way there taking his last breath of fresh air?

And the description of the Moon was very well written and quite appropriate to the theme.
I am so very grateful for including this stray nazgul. Love them, as you surely know.

Cheers, Aganuzir

Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:11 pm

"Oh, my! What a wondrous chapter, Angmar and Elfhild! Incredibly captivating! And ending in a cliff-hanger...
I know now what you meant when writing "Stay tuned for more"!"

Agan,

Thank you. When readers are happy with our stories, this makes the eyes of all the red-eyed creatures in Middle-earth grow brighter. Smile smiley face

"I guess they met a nazgul there somewhere at the banks of Anduin. Am I right? The mysterious stranger can hardly be anything else with his talk of eyes and his sniffing and his mind-games. But what was a nazgul doing there all alone - resting his Fell Beast?"

Indeed, he was a Dark Rider, but his intentions must remain veiled for some time to come. Since the war was going so badly, perhaps he just wanted to get away for a while and forget everything. After all, it is very close to Midsummer Eve and Night. *grins* Perhaps it was a chance meeting, or maybe not...

Tolkien envisioned the Nine with the potential to be very timid with a tendency to procrastinate and shirk their duties. The below Tolkien quote is dated April 2, 1936.

"...the great captain, was actually dismayed. He had been shaken by the fire of Gandalf, and began to perceive that the mission on which Sauron had sent him was one of great peril to himself both by the way, and on his return to his Master (if unsuccessful) and he had been doing ill, so far achieving nothing save rousing the power of the Wise and directing them to the Ring. [...] Escaping a wound that would have been as deadly to him as the Mordor-knife to Frodo (as was proved at the end), he withdrew and hid for a while, out of doubt and fear both of Aragorn and especially of Frodo. But fear of Sauron, and the forces of Sauron's will was the stronger." - "A Knife in the Dark," The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, p. 180

Timid and fearful, yes, even afraid of Frodo. This is similar to the gradual giving over to cowardice by Melkor in the Silmarillion. He was terrified to face Fingolfin and only did so to save his reputation. After that, he refused to come out and the Valar had to drag him.

Remember in Book One when Udu was convinced he was going to die because his amulet had been damaged? In our portrayals of the Nazgûl they are timid but not total cowards.

"Now that I think about it, I have no idea what the date might be. It is what - July 3019? Or later? I guess the battle at Helm's Deep had already been lost and the nazgul had to be recalled to Barad-Dur for punishment? Or was the poor wraith right on his way there taking his last breath of fresh air?"

The Battle of Helm's Deep was fought on June 14, 3019. The army of Mordor withdrew totally on the night of June 15th. (See "Requiem for Heroes," Book Two.)

"Games Played by Moonlight," the second part of a three part series, takes place on the night of June 18, 3019. The Army of Mordor would probably be almost 30 miles away from Helm's Deep at this time. However, the Nazgûl can fly just about anywhere.

Here is a list of chapters which take place on June 18:
Descent; Knights-Errant; Blighted Spring; The Aftermath of the Storm; The Barbarians; How the Ignorant Grope; Cup of Kindness; Land of the Dead; Two Healers, One Harlot; An Argument Between Sisters; Mists along the Anduin; and Games Played by Moonlight.

"The Nazgûl received their own summons that day in July, but therein lies another tale." - Book One, "Requiem for Heroes." So the Nazgûl still have almost a month of freedom left.

"And the description of the Moon was very well written and quite appropriate to the theme.
I am so very grateful for including this stray nazgul. Love them, as you surely know."

There will be more Nazgûl appearances along the way. You can expect amorous encounters from them, but not too much heroism. Smile smiley face

Angmar

Sun Apr 01, 2007 1:37 pm

Wonderful chapter, Angmar and Elfhild!

Wauu.. what a delightful nazgul... He is quite hot .. I mean cool... I mean... whatever. Which one is this - I wonder?
This one is a sort of a vampire, it seems. But at least he will leave them alive, I hope... No harm done.

Elfled surprised me though - in this Chapter. I thought she was the shy one, why Elfhild was more brazen with men. Here their roles are reversed.

Thank you for answering my questions so fully, Angmar. Now I know where we are.

Agan

Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:05 pm

Agan,

We are glad that you enjoyed this chapter. It seems that this mysterious stranger will leave them alone... for now. But will he be back when they are no longer what he considers "little girls?"

No, Elfhild is really not brazen at all. While she is the more outgoing of the two girls, she is actually very modest. She has her fantasies, yes, but they are mostly innocent.

"She had always tried to maintain her purity, both in mind and in body. Dreams and daydreams of an intimate nature both embarrassed her greatly and aroused her curiosity, for she was but a maiden and knew little of the secrets of the physical expression of love. She did not like to let her mind dwell upon such matters, though, for maids who thought of naught but flesh and frolic were wanton and simpleminded, dull-witted and uninteresting. ... Though she often admired the lads of her village from afar and took great delight in their attentions, anything more than a kiss or an embrace was reserved for maidenly conjecture and the marriage bed."
--Book One, Chapter 10

Elffled is the quiet one. So far, we don't know much about what she thinks, except her opinions of her sister and the escape attempt. We do know that she has developed an intense dislike for the Easterling who kissed her (what girl wouldn't strongly object to such treatment), but she also has had amorous dreams about him.

In real situations where people are captured by the enemy and taken away from their homeland, they will change and adapt. If they don't, they might end up like poor Breguswith, who went mad, or simply be killed. Even people who are not faced with war or horrible tragedies change over the course of time.

We might wonder what effect this strange interlude will have on the twins. *grins* No spoilers.

Blood is always so useful when formulating spells... *grins*

Angmar and Elfhild

Sat Apr 14, 2007 9:55 pm

OWW, now we meet an ... Ent! That was unexpected! I wonder will this one be helpful?
Very interesting twist,
Agan

Sun Apr 15, 2007 5:22 am

Agan,

An ent, perhaps, or maybe a huorn. You will just have to wait and find out. Smile smiley face

Angmar

Tue May 22, 2007 4:41 pm

ATTENTION

We decided to divide Book Two into two parts. The third book, "To Escape a Dark Destiny," has just been added to OSA. Chapters 25 to 43 of Book Two can be found there. Many of the reviews in this section apply to chapters in the third book.

Here is the address of "To Escape a Dark Destiny" -

http://www.openscrolls.net/fanfic/story.php?no=3450

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Reviews for "The Circles: Book Two: Journey of Sorrow"