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: 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: Raksha the Demon -- Score: 10

Branwyn is a multi-talented author, one of a select few who can convey the commonplace details of life in Gondor and Rohan in a fashion that is not pedantic, but part of the flow of her narrative. Yet she also presents snapshots of various times and places that touch the heart, in varying levels of intensity. She delivers the poignancy of a fatally ill mother's interaction with her two young sons (the younger of whom does not realize that his mother is ill) and the meeting of a young bride with the spirit of her husband's long-dead mother through the discovery and examination of the latter's household items and accounts - with sweeping emotions presented through the little details, and words, of everyday life. Branwyn also can deliver the dramatic wallop of Imrahil's seething anger as he bears his wounded nephew to the father who so coldly cast him into battle, or the situation of one of Denethor's servants, after the Ring War, isolated and marked by his obedience to madness. Branwyn's minimalist prose reminds me uncannily of that of famed fantasy/SF author Ursula K. LeGuin - the mingling of the elegant, spare prose, with the sure knowledge of the detail in the times and places she chronicles, to present the effect she desires in each work.

Reviewed by: Raksha the Demon -- Score: 10

Branwyn is a multi-talented author, one of a select few who can convey the commonplace details of life in Gondor and Rohan in a fashion that is not pedantic, but part of the flow of her narrative. Yet she also presents snapshots of various times and places that touch the heart, in varying levels of intensity. She delivers the poignancy of a fatally ill mother's interaction with her two young sons (the younger of whom does not realize that his mother is ill) and the meeting of a young bride with the spirit of her husband's long-dead mother through the discovery and examination of the latter's household items and accounts - with sweeping emotions presented through the little details, and words, of everyday life. Branwyn also can deliver the dramatic wallop of Imrahil's seething anger as he bears his wounded nephew to the father who so coldly cast him into battle, or the situation of one of Denethor's servants, after the Ring War, isolated and marked by his obedience to madness. Branwyn's minimalist prose reminds me uncannily of that of famed fantasy/SF author Ursula K. LeGuin - the mingling of the elegant, spare prose, with the sure knowledge of the detail in the times and places she chronicles, to present the effect she desires in each work.

Reviewed by: Larner -- Score: 3

Branwyn's ability to express and describe the relationships between characters is excellent. Her stories are often succinct, but definitely well written and emotionally satisfying.

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: 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.