Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards

Raksha the Demon

2006 Author Award Category: Genres: Humor - Third Place

Stories nominated in 2006

Birthday Kisses : Times: Late Third Age - First Place

Fire and Flowering : Genres: Romance: Incomplete - First Place WIP

Gaiety in Gondor : Genres: Humor: Fixed-Length Ficlet - First Place

Great Heart : Times: First Age and Prior: Fixed-Length Ficlet - Third Place

Legend : Times: Fourth Age and Beyond: Gondor - Second Place

Lord of Werewolves : Genres: Humor: Parody - Second Place

Luck from the Ashes : Races: Men: Post-Sauron's Fall - Honorable Mention

Rest and Recreation : Races: Cross-Cultural - Second Place

Roots and Branches : Races: Men: Other Fixed-Length Ficlets - First Place

Seeker of Shadow : Genres: Romance: Fixed-length ficlet

Stewardship : Races: Cross-Cultural: Fixed-Length Ficlet - Third Place

The Falcon and the Star : Times: The Great Years: Gondor - First Place

The Tracks of Time : Races: Elves: Fixed-Length Ficlet Featuring Legolas or Thranduil - First Place


Reviewed by: Imhiriel -- Score: 3

Her characterisations (no matter if it's about Dúnedain, or about First Age Elves) are tremendously believable, vivid, and insightful. Her writing style is elegant, smooth, gripping, affecting, regardless of genre; descriptions and introspection are particularly well-handled.

Reviewed by: Dwimordene -- Score: 3

Raksha is an unapologetic Faramirist, and she brings him to life in a variety of situations. She also writes a number of other characters well and often with good humor. But Gondor is certainly her home field, and she gives a number of portraits of Faramir, interacting with other characters, in a variety of moods and situations.

Reviewed by: Linda Hoyland -- Score: 5

Raksha is a very gifted author with an extremely wide range as he stories are inspired by all of Tolkien's canon, rather than just one period in Middle- earth history. This writer obviously knows and loves tolkien and her love and respect for him shows throughout her stories, whether they be comedy, drama,angst or tragedy. It is obvious that Raksha has an especial love of Faramir,but she also depicts Aragorn well, not to mention, Eowyn, Boromir,Legolas, Huan, even Sauron ! Raksha is also skilled in writing stories of very diverse lengths.

Reviewed by: Marta -- Score: 4

Raksha is one of the few authors who have made Aragorn approachable for me. As I mentioned in another review I found him too perfect before fanfic, but through her stories I have seen him warts and all, presented in a way that makes him seem to have more in common with me without becoming less than the king Tolkien wrote. It’s a very thin line to walk, but Raksha does it well, providing us with a character who resonates emotionally but still feels tied to the canon character.

Reviewed by: Branwyn -- Score: 10

Raksha is equally at home in a number of genres--writing drama that is moving without being maudlin, romance that is sexy and sophisticated, and humor that is beverage-snorting funny. Her work always shows a painstaking attention to craft. Though her diction and structure vary by piece, they are always perfectly suited to the subject matter. Details of canon are carefully researched, down to the choice of a particular word. Though she will swear up and down that she can’t write poetry, her short piece “Seeker of Shadow” reads like a poem. The language is rhythmic, beautiful, and more than a little disturbing, which is very appropriate for the tale of Eol and Aredhel. Anyone who reads Raksha’s work will quickly notice a certain *fondness* for Faramir, but she writes with great insight about a wide range of characters. Her characterization of Boromir in “Rest and Recreation” is affectionate but also realistic. His flaws are evident along with his more admirable traits. In her fics about Eol and Huan the Hound, she skillfully takes the viewpoints of obscure characters. She writes Eowyn very believably, showing a woman who is contented with her married life but hasn’t been lost her sharp edges. Raksha’s respect for Tolkien’s characters, as he wrote them, is combined with an understanding of human nature; the result is very credible characterization that does not violate Tolkien’s worldview. She also catches the feel of his writing, which is often poetic in style and is ultimately optimistic. All of her strengths come together in “The Falcon and the Star,” a gapfiller about Aragorn’s healing of Faramir in the Houses of Healing, and the piece is in agreement with Tolkien’s own work in style, theme, and tenor. Not only is this story beautifully written, but it has a great deal of heart. I do not think Tolkien would be displeased if he read it.