The Far Side of the World by SurgicalSteel

Wow! You did it! You really had your sailors circumnavigate the globe!

The jewel strewn beach, the freaky weird Hall of Fui (Someone had taken bats’ wings and attached them to the cave roof. :D ), the sneaking suspicion that the Valar might not be omniscient after all...

Heresy at its finest! I love it.

Wow what an adventure!  I'm wondering if the Valar did know they were there or if they were allowed to enter on purpose.  I like how you fleshed out the elusive Númenoreans.

Oh what a magnificent fic, it felt like a short movie that I was able to see through your male characters eyes. The ponderings, the rocking of the boat, the excitement to go ashore, but also the missing of his wife. Then I already had an inkling of an idea that they must have stumbled upon something which has Nienna's mark and just the whole conversation that followed, the not willing to speak out that they might have violated the ban (that reminded me of sailors or pirates who were so superstitious that even speaking a name of a curse might bring it upon them). The last line is just precious, I think if they noticed it, they would have been pleased by the respect they showed and that they left as soon as possible so that none else would find out that whoops, one can sail east hehe.

This is fantastic.  I absolutely love the story of their circumnavigation; it's so very well done.  You manage accomplish a great deal in a relatively short piece. I do have the sense that they've travelled a very long ways, seen many unusual things and met many different peoples.  I also can sense the excitement from the adventure and discoveries they made as well as the feeling of uncertainty that would have accomplished such a voyage.  

Also,  I love it that the ban does not account for sailing East rather than West (I assume that it does not account for the fact that Man or a man might have known it was a round world.) and/or that the Valar simply might not have known.  Brilliant.

I loved the idea behind this story: why not go East? Very interesting.

There is a whiff of Patrick O'Brian's novels, isn't there? I read Master and Commander centuries ago and it has a familiar ring.

You used the bat-wing cave! I totally squeed when I saw that! I really liked this--not only the heretical intriguing use of details from the texts but the writing is superb; it is very suspenseful and chilling in all the right places. 2000 words passed way too quickly! :)

Hello,

I read your story last night and I just wanted to say I thought it was such an original topic, with so many questions to explore in it, and you did a marvelous job with it. I loved your naturalist, Cullasso, (Maturin was my favorite character too!) and how glimpses of his life show within the fabric of the story at hand. The whole situation you set up was a fabulous topic of exploration. Thanks for such a great story!

I followed the discussion thread that spawned (or encouraged?) this concept. I was so delighted to see you actually wrote it. If the incorporation of geekish canon elements (combined with heresy) weren’t enough to hook me, you adding all of the wonderful nods to Patrick O’Brian would surely have finished the job. (I’m a huge fan of his, sea stories in general and C. S. Forester as well.) I loved the part of Cullasso gathering up his sketch book and his broad-brimmed straw hat (that elf, of course, will forever resemble my image of Stephen Maturin—who, over time, has grown to look a great deal like Paul Bettany in my mind--very nice piece of casting IMHO). I adored the references to medicine and the scientific method. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am pretty ignorant about hard science, but I do adore popularizations. Thanks so much for sharing this story. It pushed all my buttons.

I love this. I adore round earth tales, and don't think there's enough of them. I also love the bits of science you wove in-- too many people forget Middle-earth is our world.

And then another thought had occurred to Cullasso, another notion for which neither man had an answer. “Do you think the Valar even noticed that we were there?”

*snickers* This is my favorite line. I think that if they did, they were amused that someone managed to figure out the loophole and glad they didn't stay.

Wonderful story!

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see this heresy come to fruition and furthermore, how it sets a foundation -- carved in smooth basalt -- for more tales which I dearly hope to see.  I have fallen hard and fast for your Middle-earth equivalents of Aubrey and Maturin (such a natural fit) and the historical underpinnings for Dol Amroth and -- most intriguingly -- Umbar.

The sly nods to BoLTI are fantastic, e.g., the abandoned caves (and concepts) of Ve Mandos and Fui Nienna, as are the beach of jasper stone and the salty rain, both, well, odd.  And the animals of every kind.  Heh.  That should be a tip-off, Cullasso!

Love the tie-ins to your 'verse!

...the notes taken by Tar-Aldarion’s naturalist.

I'm hoping Gandalf's Apprentice and I can bring this naturalist  to life later this year.  Stay tuned for more heresy! :^)

Tolkien knew that his later writings on the round earth concept (which, as you well know, I embrace) would require reconfiguration of his mythology.  He didn't pursue this extensively, but the essays in "Myths Transformed" provide fertile ground for the imaginative fan fic writer to address the consequences of an earth that is, in an imaginary sense, our own.  You have taken this concept and planted your creativity into it like Captain Hendinaer planted the laurinquë tree in Umbar.  May this story arc with M-e's history (with the Steel spin :^D), and its characters flourish just as much as the tree did!  Oh, and speaking of the laurinquë tree, what a cool concept as a defiant symbolic counterpoint to Gondor's White Tree. >:^)

The writing is superb, and the story is captivating from the first line to the last. I enjoyed reading it immensely.

(I kind of think that the Valar were so busy doing nothing that they didn't even notice ;)).

Thank you so much for sharing!

This was brilliant! :D The describtion of Aman is fantastic - very alien and exotic. But also the characters and of course the round earth. I've always had trouble imagining middle-earth as actually having been flat because it's is...well, just imagine what those Numenorean explorers would encounter then! The actual edge of the world. Which works in Pratchett's work, but is harder to imagine with less comical, more realistic characters and cultures. This was wonderfully done.