This one-shot was very good and extreamly well-written.\Grat job!

Arlome

And that was lovely. I love your shorts and one-shots. You sketch out Faramir and Eowyn so believably- you provide those scenes which Tolkien passed over but the readers yearn more of. Thank you. I especially like the use of the following lines:

"...if by leaving here I might live to breathe on the embers of that memory for one more day, then I will forfeit these stones, for the truth is I carry all that they are within me." and "But life is better – and love is best."

Beautiful imagery, wonderful wording, and I believe that more needs to be written about Eowyn and Faramir. Lovely job.

Regards,

Audrey

Beautifully written!

This is a beautiful story. You have such a way with words, it is a pleasure to read something so well written, so compelling. I have only recently began reading LOTR fanfiction, but your stories are among my favourites, only this is the first time I've reviewed one. Thank you for the many hours of quality reading, and for writing such beautiful Faramir/Éowyn, it is a relief among so many others that butcher the characters shamelessly.

I'm impressed by this story. Tolkien's depiction of the Houses of Healing episode is very sketchy after Aragorn does his stuff, and I now feel it was somewhat patronising to Eowyn. Movie Faramir seemed more humble in some ways to book Faramir, and it feels to me like you've gone more with the movie-verse here. And skillfully filled in the blanks about what E&F may have discussed during this period of the story.

I particularly liked that you highlighted Eowyn wanted to be free - as opposed to some kind of glory-seeking amazon. Also, that you plausibly explained some of her unhappiness at Edoras as having come there first in sorrow, and possibly never really fitting in, in a wider sense. I felt you paced the story well, and kept some of the stateliness of Tolkien's writing while having a slightly more accessible style of your own. Well done.

This is really beautiful. Well written, with good characterisation.

Happy writing!

Regards,

Sarah x

Beautiful and evocative. Your writing stile (sentence composition and word usage) always fills me with living memories of Tolkien's Faramir and Eowyn. You awaken them both to life in my mind and tell me about other moments of their life. Thank you.

I especially like the many unspoken words, resulting in at the same time real and dreamlike feeling dialogues.

It's such a beautiful story, I love it! Faramir certainly has a way with words but you do too! Thank you for a lovely read:)

Lovely little piece - for me you really captured the essence of both characters. Well done!

Quite beautiful; wonderful imagery.

Beautifully written, as always. I love how you capture both their growing relationship, and their different outlooks on life. They're both so brave, in their own way. Despair and hope - I really felt it!

Beautiful story. Your Faramir in this story is perfect. just how I imagine him to be. :D And I must quote Eowyn and say, "You have a way with words". More please!

That was really great! Tolkien tells us that Éowyn and Faramir had many a conversation in the Houses of Healing, but describes so few of them. Thanks so much for this lovely and poignant example of one! Great work! :D

-Crackers

Dear Altariel: Faramir casts spells with his words, and so do good writers, as you have shown here. I loved this story. You have shown the developing romance of Eowyn and Faramir; you have explored their characters, and done so in a way that stays true to Tolkien's vision, IMHO; and you have shown how their hearts and souls were reawakening to life, to hope, and to love. You have a great gift for both characterization and dialogue, and I suspect that no one writes Eowyn better than you do. Whenever I read one of your stories that features her, I find myself nodding vigorously at something she says or feels. This time, it was the line about how she has long known the rules are different for women. A man in her situation, who had done the things she had, would be praised for his brave deeds, but since she is a woman who has done such things, she is as likely to be criticized as praised. I love the final line of this story; "But life is better-and love is best." That is as true in real life as in fairy tales! BTW, did you mean to offer a quote at the end from Robert Browning's poem? If you did, the words were cut off. Thanks so much for writing and posting this story. Sincerely, Darkover