Reviewed by: annmarwalk -- Score: 5

I’d like to commend Branwyn for her characterization of Denethor in the stories “By the Light of Ëarendil’s Star” and “Last Defense of the City.” Far from the cartoonish madman of the film, her Denethor is a loving and compassionate father who has felt himself forced to present a powerful, controlled persona to his people. Every parent reading “Ëarendil” can empathize with his despair when he believes Faramir to be dead; share his elation and, moments later, worry when he discovers his child alive, but severely wounded. “Last Defense of the City” presents a powerful vision of Denethor-who-might-have been, firm in his commitment to his duties as Steward, and resolute in his defense of the City of Kings.

Reviewed by: Dwimordene -- Score: 6

Another writer whose style permits distinctive atmospheric coloration. Branwyn does 'snapshots' well--she's good at finding the moment and showing it as such. She knows what effects she's aiming for, and how to achieve them. Her characterization is good, and she can evoke incredibly vivid and unique images (I think of barnacled Boromir and damp and moldering Théodred, both always dripping water, as well as the trees and the path leading north in one of her shorts) in a very short space--an enviable talent. She is also capable of condensing the heart of an alternate universe scenario into an extremely compact story, like a drabble, and thereby opening these brief, startling insights into something subterranean at work in the original storyline.

Reviewed by: Imhiriel -- Score: 4

The stories are told in a elegant, lyrical style; never stilted, while still conveying a historical feeling, even in the excellent dialogues. This is reinforced by the evocative descriptions of details of everyday living in a historical epoch, used with palpable skill, but always subtly and unobtrusively interwoven into the flow of the narrative. Good feeling for atmosphere.

Reviewed by: Marta -- Score: 10

Branwyn is one of those authors that has really captured my heart, and I mean that in both senses. Her stories always captivate me and affect me in one way or another (I like to think in the way that was intended!), but they also seem to have captured my own heart and experiences in the events she has happen to her characters. I often find myself reading her work and thinking to myself "Gee, that has happened to me!" That takes an insight into human character that not everyone possesses, and I don't think her writing would be so affective without it. Anyone who has read her in the past should not be surprised to find that she writes Boromir and Faramir in a three-dimensional and faceted way. Her shorter pieces only hint at a depth that seems to underrun all of her stories, yet they do not rely on each other so much that knowledge of all is necessary to understand one. But what did surprise me about this year's readings from her is just how many different genres she can write. I knew she wrote drama and reminiscing in a way I thoroughly enjoyed, and "Pink Oliphaunts" and "The Household Accounts" did not disappoint on this grounds, but the pacing and horror that kept me on the edge of my seat through "The Fords of Isen"... just wow. And the sensuous detail, penchant for historical accuracy, and compelling (and in-character) erotica in "Book Learning"... shall not go too far into that for a PG review, but suffice it to say that romance is not beyond the scope of her talent. This is an author that continues to surprise me in pleasant ways.

Reviewed by: Raksha the Demon -- Score: 10

Branwyn is a multi-talented author, one of a select few who can convey the everyday details of life in Gondor and Rohan in a fashion that is not pedantic, but part of the flow of her narrative. Yet she is also wonderfully skilled at telling tales of action and adventure. Branwyn writes brilliant scenes of battles, ambushes in multiple terrains, skirmishes and sieges, with a deceptively quiet tone that builds up the tension and pulls the author into the drama, pain, fear and exhiliaration of war. She has enough knowledge of weapons and strategy and tactics to craft believable battles and those who fight them, which is not often seen in Tolkien fanfiction. But though her adventure stories feature enough thrills and chills for any action junkie, their writer also laces the tales with humor and pathos and provides standout characterisation. There is humor both dry and flat-out funny; and the interpretation of core characters such as Denethor and Boromir is outstanding, and the original characters equally so. I usually do not care for OC's in Tolkien fanfiction, but Branwyn creates hers seemingly out of the fabric of Middle-earth itself, so they blend seemlessly into the tapestry of her work. Even the Orcs are not depicted as simplistic monsters, but as well-rounded sentient beings with individual priorities - which makes their fell deeds (and they are quite horrible) all the more monstrous. And the dialogue is excellent, from the Orcs' bluster and threats to the interplay between humble Rohirric grandparents and grandchild, to the light-hearted and quietly loving conversations that encircle and calm the convalescent Faramir. Branwyn evokes terror quite well, knowing exactly how long to stretch the heart-stopping moments without drowning the reader in terror. Her most terrifying scenes involve young warriors captured by orcs, though the circumstances, and the characterisations and goals differ widely, but then there is also the slow torment of a father who fears for the lives of his children and eventually comes to believe that one of them is dead. And the sense of otherness, that intangible more-than-meets-the-eye quality with which Tolkien also imbued Middle-earth, appears in Branwyn's stories, at home amidst the prosaic earthy details and the tension and swagger of brave men and despicable orcs: the Palantir and its influence is seen, foreshadowing Denethor's eventual fall in the credence he gives what he sees there, the existence of purposeful ghosts, and the use of the Tale of Beren and Luthien as both a child's fairy-tale story and metaphor of hope.