Reviewed by: Branwyn -- Score: 10

Ann’s pieces are so true to life and fresh that it seems as if she is there in Gondor or Rohan, scribbling in a notebook, recording events as they unfold. She often draws her subjects from the fleeting, everyday moment, revealing beauty and meaning in what might otherwise seem commonplace. A workbasket, a salamander, an artist’s unsigned sketch, a toy pony—all become touchstones. Servants, children, and women, the unheard or rarely heard characters of Tolkien's world, are given a voice. Her work shows deep insight into human nature, and she seems to take an unflinching but kindly view, realistic but not unsympathetic. As a person interested in history, I love how her pieces incorporate the details of material culture, details which are carefully researched and deftly woven into the narrative. In her writing, the natural world is sensitively portrayed with a naturalist’s keen eye. Her command of sensory imagery amazes me. Visuals are drawn with a sure and graceful hand, and light and color are used to great effect. Sounds, tastes, and touch are vividly described. Many of her pieces have the concentrated force of a poem, and not a word is wasted. Her love of Tolkien’s universe and his characters (and one in particular *grin*) infuses all of her work and makes it shimmer with joy.

Reviewed by: Dwimordene -- Score: 6

Annmarwalk is very good at describing a single scene or moment. Depending on her aim, the characters' interior feelings may be the object, or it may be some particular, lushly described thing in the world that comes into focus, prompting a character's reaction. Her 'palette' as it were is bright--I find her at her most vivid describing the profusion of color (emotional or physical) that surrounds joy and lingering over it. But she always adapts herself to the character, too--we can see this in her dwarf-centric stories very clearly, which brings out another thing that seems to be important to Ann--craftmanship or craftwomanship, as the case may be. The productive arts seem to show up in key places as something more than simply coloration.

Reviewed by: Raksha the Demon -- Score: 4

Annmarwalk always manages to bring out beauty, in places humble or high. Her command of language is wonderfully fresh and lyrical. And, as another reviewer has noted, her interest in craftsmanship, of stone, of fabrics, sewing and other womanly arts, adds a patina of grace and elegance to stories written about a place and time that is far away, but brought closer to our hearts by her words.

Reviewed by: Imhiriel -- Score: 3

Annmarwalk has a marvellous touch for vocabulary - how to use the right words in the right place, and how to leave things unsaid - and so paints characters and scenes evocatively in a style that is always suited to its subject matter.

Reviewed by: Larner -- Score: 2

If only I had the gift Ann exhibits of saying so much about the folk of the world of Arda so well in such intensely satisfying short stories and drabbles.

Reviewed by: EdorasLass -- Score: 5

Ann has a unique, wonderful talent for evoking startling depth of emotion with only a handful of carefully chosen words. Whether the story is happy, dark, warm, chilling, poignant or simply recounting an incident of day-to-day life in Middle Earth, she never tries to wring the emotion from the moment, and therefore brings even more feeling to the piece. Her work is never overblown, but is often somehow imbued with a sense of magical realism, the impression that there is so much more at work beneath the surface.. A deft phrasing here, a sly smile of a sentence there, and the whole thing comes together with beautiful, delicate precision that is a joy to read and re-read.

Reviewed by: Marta -- Score: 10

It's a little hard to know how to describe Ann as a writer, because if I *just* talked about what she writes then I would be ignoring the encouraging affect she has had on so many authors, myself included, because she is a world-class beta and reviewer. It's a truly rare combination to find someone who can do all three effectively, but Ann definitely qualifies. If I had to choose which of the three she's best at I would probably choose betareading because she has it down to an art, and I have never felt like I was losing control of my story. Anyway, back to her writing, I do not want to underemphasize that aspect. Her writing is always crisp as one would expect from a fine beta reader. The mechanics are all there and her word economy i such that her pieces never feel rushed (even in her non-drabbles, though this really stands out in her drabbles). But what I love most about Ann's writing is the quiet humor that seems to invade her writing, will she or no. If there's anything I hope Ann never writes it's angst. Her stories just all have this very natural feel to them of everyday life. From the hawt quality of new love to the comfort of a long-stranding relationship to the gentle jostlings of siblings to the tenderness of new parenthood -- it all feels so like real. And that makes for a very three-dimensional world she writes.