When Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, art changed forever. Her transcendent smile's profoundness, ingenuity, and hitherto unseen qualities captivated humanity, from the greatest kings of Europe to her ten million yearly guests. Only one other popular work could rival her cultural and artistic impact — a tale concerning hobbits.
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A/N
I was going to include further explanation here, but I'm going to hold out on a full review for bookclub! Feel free to meet me in the comments in the meantime.
About the Creator
Matthew J. Fromm
Full-time nerd, history enthusiast, and proprietor of arcane knowledge.
Here there be dragons, knights, castles, and quests (plus the occasional dose of absurdity).
I can be reached at [email protected]
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Expert insights and opinions
Arguments were carefully researched and presented
Eye opening
Niche topic & fresh perspectives
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Keep reading
More stories from Matthew J. Fromm and writers in Critique and other communities.
Prologue - The Scourge
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. There should never have been dragons in the Sacred Valley. Those cursed dragons swayed in the calm night wind, swooping and twirling as the sun disappeared beyond the mountains and the twin moons rose over Lurra. May Auras doom you in the afterlife! May you find no salvation there. Their quiet monastery had long been protected from the dragons and horses, swords and spears which descended upon them, destroying his tranquil home with their war.
By Matthew J. FrommExclusive • 2 years ago
Standing While Falling
Quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche "He who wrestles long with monsters should beware lest he himself become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Man is not destroyed by suffering, but by the meaning he makes of it."
By LUCCIAN LAYTH5 days ago in Critique
A Jerk and an Idiot Meet in a Bar
A Jerk and an Idiot Meet in a Bar Well not in a bar, per se, social media. After all, it is the bar of our modern times. It’s where we hook up with friends, family, dates, or trysts. Places like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and others, all designed for social interaction with anonymity and limited consequences, for bad behavior. Often these entities dole out consequences to parties that are not causing a problem, and give a blind eye to serious problems.
By Alexandra Granta day ago in Critique
Comments (9)
Very good comparison - and will you look at that, we both used the same cover image 😁
Wow! that was pretty concise for only being 50 words. Excellent critique!
Excellent
This is fantastic. Like a good trailer, you gave enough information to whet our appetite.
This is, imho, a perfect critique. No spoilers. Only a hint about the content. It just says, "Go read it." Really well done, Matthew!
Really well done.
This was so brilliant of you! I loved your approach!
This is genius. I will tell you why. I like doesn't mention anything about the plot or anything - because if you don't know, you don't know and probably don't wanna know. I love that you spend half the time speaking about the Mona Lisa too because the meandering (mean that incredibly positively) sounds how Tolkein would have done it...big long winded explanations with beautiful use of the English language. This is by far one of my favourite critiques and Lord of the Rings will forever be one of my favourite pieces of art...So yeah, bravo!
I love this! It's so artfully done and gets the point across incredibly well. Great entry