I love these characters, They are both so real to me. I flip back and forth between which one I love the most. I guess backed up against the wall it would have to be Erestor. If, for no other reason, and there are plenty of others, his cursing is so wonderful. (A little too much identification here, as I am notoriously foul-monthed among by family and friends). My favorite Erestor curse is: "Well, I'll be a dead stinking orc." He is just so convincingly pissed off when he says it too.

It wasn't just for the cursing. I love that it picked up from the previous story which I enjoyed. The eroticism sizzles and is convincing. The interplay between the two is such fun and, awww, it's all that much more romantic because of their realistic struggles in attempting to adjust to one another.

People have written essay about lack of cursing in Tolkien's writing--fine. If Tolkien had written everything I had to say about these characters then I wouldn't bother to write this stuff. I write a lot about Finwe's grandchildren and no one in the world will ever convince me that they didn't curse. And the curses are very hard to write--well done they can be very effective. (And Erestor has such a strong voice here--I love it.)

Very interesting about Glorfndel's backstory--I have a whole theory about why characters start to write themselves like that. But I won't take up space with it here, just to say that it usually means you have really gotten inside of their heads very effectively.

A thoroughly enjoyable sequel. It was so great to spend some more time with these two. 

Glorfindel and Erestor together are one of my favourites, and this depiction of the give and take of compromise and love they feel for each other is just fantastic.