Interesting, interesting...

It looks good so far. I like it. Keep writing. I want to know what happens!

If I'm not mistaken (which I very well might be, seeing as it's been a while since I looked into anything Tolkien), any elf who defies the call of Mandos (a sign of some darkness of spirit) becomes one of the Unbodied, doomed forever to wander, subject to be called on by the dark lords. *shrugs* Just a thought.

Otherwise, this was really good-better than the first chapter, if that's possible. The alternating idea probably will work-it seems as if it's a good idea. Good luck!

Facinating. *Sigh* I'm so jealous. I'm trying to write something to this effect, but I've seen several like it before and all of them (including this one) have been so much better. :( Write more please, I want to see how it turns out. :D

Also, two little nitpicks - "Middle-earth" not "Middle-Earth", and I *think* that this is actually the 6th age - that's what I read somewhere, anyway. Unless Maglor died (snif...) in the 5th age? Oh, and if he was dead, how could he have written that? .

I am intrigued! The way the dig site is described seems perfectly real to me. All the details you put really give a thorough picture. I love the way you put in the big Fire so as to leave some room for any liberties you want to take further in the story (like digging up the cathedral!).

*smiles* It's nice. Really, it is. It's hard to tell from a first chapter whether or not something is going to be great, but it seems as if you've really got something here. The idea of Arda having a fifth age is one that hasn't been explored before-I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

Just because something is nice, however, doesn't mean it's perfect-there are a few things that you could fix/look into:

1). Your note at the end says that you know very little of archaeology or Latin-two things that are stressed in the chapter. If you don't know about them, use an internet search engine, use a library to look them information. The more informed you are, the better chances are that you won't make silly mistakes that take away from the quality of the work.

2). Your wording is, in some places, awkward. For instance-"Occasionally they came across a letter that looked something like something someone – usually Mary – half remembered seeing in some book, somewhere"-you use the word "something" twice in the same sentence, along with a plethora of other words beginning in "some", creating an effect that is altogether confusing.

3). This is not so much a criticism as a request-you have set this into the not-so-distant future. Please, describe this futuristic world to your readers. We *want* to know what's going on there. *smiles*

Overall, the effect is quite lovely. I'll look forward to the next installment.

Hmm... intriguing opening. I like the style it's written in, very... I dunno. It's good *shruggles*

Keep writing though, it's definitely sparked my interest.

*wishes she could write better reviews*