Fic Rec Fridays 2019 - part 22

The Sound Below Sound (35449 words) by Dorinda
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gimli/Legolas Greenleaf
Characters: Gimli, Legolas Greenleaf, Arod, Aragorn
Additional Tags: Trauma, Ghosts, Horseback Riding, Horses, War, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Self-Doubt, Panic, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Pining, Angst, Secrets, First Time, Missing Scene, Hair Braiding, Sharing a Bed, Eventual Happy Ending, Immortality, Mortality, Travel, Canon - Book, Canon Related, War of the Ring, Dwarf Culture & Customs, Elf Culture & Customs, Dwarf/Elf Relationship(s), Gimli/Legolas Big Bang, gigolas bang 2014

Summary:

When the Grey Company escapes from the Paths of the Dead with an army of ghosts at their heels, Legolas believes that everyone who entered the Dark Door has emerged again unharmed.

He's wrong.

Some wounds cannot be seen.

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More than an engaging gap-filler, this is a fully-fleshed-out and exceptionally well-fitting expansion of a sparsely detailed passage in the canon narrative -- a moving, insightful treatise on fear and pride and courage, of immortality and change, and also a slowly-unfolding -- while still set in the space of days -- tale of a friendship awakening to the possibility of love of a different sort. And all this is delivered in beautiful, atmospheric prose that's delightfully Tolkienesque without becoming a ponderous pastiche.

Also, for someone as ignorant of equines as yours truly, the loving depiction of Arod and co. deserves a special mention for fascinating detail.

But now: make a pot of tea. Take out that box of chocolates. Or beverage of choice. Have a comfy seat. You'll want to appreciate this one in one sitting.