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crack_van2004-03-23 09:23 am
kraken-wakes.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-03-23 09:23 am
Entry tags:
The Night Season by Achillea Millefolium (NC-17)
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Author: Achillea Millefolium
Author website: Achillea's Fannish Fictions
Pairing: Sam/Frodo
Rating: NC-17
Why this must be read:
In this story, set pre-quest, author Achillea Millefolium creates, with almost Gormanghastian attention to detail, every aspect of Sam's typical day working at Bag End. From the moment he wakes up, Sam is devoted to each and every task - no matter how menial - infusing each with such care and attention that he receives real satisfaction from a job well done and from an efficiency so perfect that it is 'beautiful'.
Through this carefully set agenda, Achillea Millefolium cleverly builds up the character of Sam himself - perhaps slow and overly methodical to the outside, careless eye, but capable of great warmth and poetic feeling, especially when he considers the garden. He and Frodo move in an intricate dance, sometimes intersecting, other times gliding past each other, each lost in his own version of the world.
This careful and well thought out observation of Sam would make this story well worth reading to anyone with a passing interest in the character. But what makes this story stand out is that, as night falls, a totally different side of Sam's character and his relationship with Frodo is brought to the fore and the reader is abruptly forced to reconsider not only Sam's motivations preceding the fall of night but also Frodo's. And, ultimately, the precise tenor of their relationship in the events which follow; not just in the story, but also in Lord of the Rings itself.
This is a beautifully written story and the author captures the range of emotions - acceptance, anger, heartbreak, desire, love and anguish - without drowning the reader in clichés and sentiment. This is a sharply observed study of a relationship with many facets and one which is far from perfect in any of its incarnations but a relationship which is strong and true. Sam and Frodo are presented as having flaws but not for narrative convenience; rather, the author acknowledges these flaws and shows that they are not less worthy, or human, for possessing them.
Excerpt:
Sam has had three opportunities to learn that Frodo's hands and mouth have a language of their own, and can tell him how he's wanted and when, and he tries his best to listen and obey, through the deafening beating of his heart. But it isn't always easy, because this place, this dark universe, operates on entirely different rules than the ordinary one. The Frodo who says 'Very good, Sam' and who stands stiff and straight-backed while Sam fetches his coat and whose skin looks cool and smooth as bone in the stark light of day, is gone, and the Frodo that lives here is as hot and pliable and darkly glowing as iron in the forge fire. Sam feels almost afraid of his devouring heat sometimes, has to put all his will into pouring oil onto those flames. It's not that he doesn't want to, oh, he does, he is hard the moment he steps over the threshold knowing that Frodo awaits in the dark, but... it's so different, so much more than anything else in Sam's life. Sam's days are filled with responsibilities, but they are nothing next to this.
The Night Season by Achillea Millefolium
Author: Achillea Millefolium
Author website: Achillea's Fannish Fictions
Pairing: Sam/Frodo
Rating: NC-17
Why this must be read:
In this story, set pre-quest, author Achillea Millefolium creates, with almost Gormanghastian attention to detail, every aspect of Sam's typical day working at Bag End. From the moment he wakes up, Sam is devoted to each and every task - no matter how menial - infusing each with such care and attention that he receives real satisfaction from a job well done and from an efficiency so perfect that it is 'beautiful'.
Through this carefully set agenda, Achillea Millefolium cleverly builds up the character of Sam himself - perhaps slow and overly methodical to the outside, careless eye, but capable of great warmth and poetic feeling, especially when he considers the garden. He and Frodo move in an intricate dance, sometimes intersecting, other times gliding past each other, each lost in his own version of the world.
This careful and well thought out observation of Sam would make this story well worth reading to anyone with a passing interest in the character. But what makes this story stand out is that, as night falls, a totally different side of Sam's character and his relationship with Frodo is brought to the fore and the reader is abruptly forced to reconsider not only Sam's motivations preceding the fall of night but also Frodo's. And, ultimately, the precise tenor of their relationship in the events which follow; not just in the story, but also in Lord of the Rings itself.
This is a beautifully written story and the author captures the range of emotions - acceptance, anger, heartbreak, desire, love and anguish - without drowning the reader in clichés and sentiment. This is a sharply observed study of a relationship with many facets and one which is far from perfect in any of its incarnations but a relationship which is strong and true. Sam and Frodo are presented as having flaws but not for narrative convenience; rather, the author acknowledges these flaws and shows that they are not less worthy, or human, for possessing them.
Excerpt:
Sam has had three opportunities to learn that Frodo's hands and mouth have a language of their own, and can tell him how he's wanted and when, and he tries his best to listen and obey, through the deafening beating of his heart. But it isn't always easy, because this place, this dark universe, operates on entirely different rules than the ordinary one. The Frodo who says 'Very good, Sam' and who stands stiff and straight-backed while Sam fetches his coat and whose skin looks cool and smooth as bone in the stark light of day, is gone, and the Frodo that lives here is as hot and pliable and darkly glowing as iron in the forge fire. Sam feels almost afraid of his devouring heat sometimes, has to put all his will into pouring oil onto those flames. It's not that he doesn't want to, oh, he does, he is hard the moment he steps over the threshold knowing that Frodo awaits in the dark, but... it's so different, so much more than anything else in Sam's life. Sam's days are filled with responsibilities, but they are nothing next to this.
The Night Season by Achillea Millefolium
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I'm so glad you liked!