Very good.
I like how you made Shelob almost good-not many people think that way.
I may've been the only kid who read The Hobbit and thought Gollum was the hero, so I like that someone did the same to Her.

I just read your haiku's, and I'm on a roll! I really enjoyed this story, who would have thought that a reader could identify with Shelob?

One small thing, I think it would look better if you wrote "He" instead of "HE" in reference to Sauron. (As Shelob is sometimes simply referred to as "She" in LOTR, this would be consistent.)

From what I understand, you're referring to Gollum in the 4th paragraph. How is it that Gollum is closer to Sauron to understanding true Darkness? This is counter-intuitive, but I can certainly see this happening with all his long years under the Misty Mountains. I think the best improvement would be to "flesh out" that paragraph a little bit, and expand on her relationship with Gollum.

I think it's clever and interesting that you don't mention either Sauron or Gollum by name.

Keep up the good work!
Cheers, Nurvingiel

That was amazing! I loved how you ended it, and how you described how Shelob justifies herself.

Well done!

dreamingfifi

I like it and I read the mst of taken too far literally before the original story. yes I have decided, I liked it very much.

One word. Wow.

Shelob as a cat! Now I'll never look at *my* cats the same way...

I really liked this... It gives a new meaning to the word 'dark'.

PS
Thanks for the review.

As many others have said, what a wonderfully original piece! I still want to crawl up a wall when I think about Shelob, but that's 'cause I don't like spiders--no personal offense to Her Ladyship. ;)

I love how she holds Sauron in disdain. There are interesting parallels with the tales of Ungoliant and Melkor.

Beautifully, evocatively written. I like the way you use 'light-lovers' as a derogatory term. Stinking bunch of Silmaril-freak star-worshippers. Yeah.
Shelob really is daughter of Ungolinat here, and her prey, like her mother's, is the light itself. which may be less inherently evil than it sounds.

Excellent work, Bast! I'm v.impressed! Dear old Shelob...

Millikov
I am spiffy-cool
Go me!
Tolkien's World is Magic. And I love it.

Hmmm... "interesting", and orginal, and *mods head in approval* I like it very much!

Just what I needed to clear my head today (back to school tomorrow), something different from all the other fics. Well done!

Wow, Bast. I have never, ever thought of this angle before in my LIFE. And it is AWESOME. :)
Excellent work, as always!

-Penn

Sinister!

I liked it! :) It made Shelob seem more conniving, more intelligent, and yet possessing that animalistic greed, that inhuman savagery that is barely distinguishable from pure evil. I like the good characters in the books, but the bad ones no less; as well as the suboordinates that may eventually overthrow their overconfident masters. But it's not as if I didn't mind Shelob dying in the end.

i am WAAAAAAAY sorry, i realize you like constructive criticism (or maybe even flames as long as they have a point) but i can't think of NETHING that could be fixed on this. way good. this is going to sound weird since she's bad and not even human (or like a human, such as hobbit, elf, dwarf, ect) but i really like shelob. see? it's crazy. but she's cool anyway. so like i said, great work, i'm sorry again, but this is just too good!!!! and the end? great. creative great. you'll be famous soon enough!!!

luv,
~RIA~

This was a wonderful little tidbit, and welcome for a character who gets so little attention or credit. Truly she is the vilest of all the creatures Tolkien describes in LotR, and she came the closest of all to preventing the quest of the Ringbearer from being completed.

My favorite part of this was your acknowledgement that without darkness light would have no meaning, and furthermore that without death and decay there would be no rebirth. That was an extraordinary insight into the purpose of Shelob, and you are continuing one of Tolkien's main themes, I think, in that the cycle of good fighting against evil will never end. One dark lord is defeated only to have another takes his place, and the world would have no meaning or purpose without such examples of evil.

On that note, I really liked how you wrote Shelob as being aware of Sauron and his views of her. You did an excellent job of pointing out that her darkness is even more complete than his.

And of course, all her ramblings of immortality spoken just before Sam smites her with Sting. The irony was not lost, and so appropriate. Very nice setup there.

Little insights like this are so much fun to me, and I really enjoyed reading this one. Perhaps you could give Shelob more of a past someday. A real life and history that led up to her coming to the caves under the pass of Cirith Ungol. That would be very difficult, I think, but such fun, and I think you are up to thye task.

Thanks for sharing your work. It was dark but wholly satisfying.

Ooooh!! Wow very creepy. *Shudders* I hate spiders. :)
I really like your wording and they way you show how Shelob sees herself. very good ficcy!