Rth, I am hard pressed to know where to leave this review, here or Ao3. Ao3's format is great because you can actually see the series order. But, I chose to leave it here instead. (We have discussed why. :) )

From some of your LJ posts I could tell you had some hesitations about Peter and Mary, but I am so glad you wrote this. After following them through the whole series it was great to get some closure on their relationship. And I would love to see more stories of all of the characters as they live out their lives. I also loved Wandbreaker. It was so fun to see Peter and Edmund be great parents. What a nice reminder to enjoy and play with our little ones!

I have finished all of the TSG series and the Everybody Lives AU and being a huge fan of historical fiction (and working in Oak Ridge where they fought a different battle during the war), I loved it all! I even found the comment fic which goes along with it and it was wonderful! How great to have such a community of friends and talent writing back and forth like that. I have enjoyed this addictive and very distracting reading journey more than I can say!

It is daunting to imagine the impact the four of them would have had in Spare Oom. Perhaps Lewis was also overwhelmed at the thought and it was easier to wrap up the series with the train wreck. But, you and your community have done a wonderful job at giving us a glimpse into that alternate realty.

I also appreciate the controversial themes you have woven into your stories. Having been raised and then living my 40 years of life with a very conservative point of view, it has been surprisingly nice to be stretched and to seriously consider the diversity of thoughts, beliefs, and traditions that people all over the world experience and practice. For in all of our differences there is much beauty. It was nice to have it pointed out so clearly that the four certainly would have learned that concept in Narnia. And, it is a great lesson for all of us to take away!

While currently my own fiction will have to stay in the young adult arena since I am writing it for my children, I must say that it is great to be an adult and it has been refreshing to read in the 'not my children's Narnia' realm. Perhaps one day I will dabble in it myself. :)

So I wrap up this incredibly long multiple series review by saying thank you again for sharing your inspiring creativity with us! (Now, I am off to tell Starbrow much the same thing!)

I love Peter's flabbergasted reaction to getting married in the last chapter, as well as the subtle nod to why everyone lives, nobody dies, though it's unlikely that both Edmund AND Asim would read the timetable incorrectly. Even still, I liked it. :) In this chapter, I again enjoyed the older Pevensie family dynamic, as well as the clear reason Peter doesn't like The Sun. That was brutal, even for a gossip rag! But it is wonderful that he was able to receive his second knighthood, long overdue. And the exchange between Peter and Mary at the end is just hilarious. Great story!

What is your problem with Christian marriage? In an AU His Chosen Ones might chose marriage but not this casual behavior and certainly not His High King who is always a King in His Kingdom. Lewis and Aslan would never condone this.

How old are they? The ages of the characters? Maybe I missed it but where did Miriam come from? I read the other fics, and Robert is? Not Reginald?

So interesting. I am glad to see Peter did take on a leadership role. I feel he would be happiest trying to make a difference and see politics as a natural fit for it.

Something I've noticed in many of your stories is the difficult relationship spouses of the Four have with Aslan. Not exactly unbelieving but often very argumentative and angry. Do they believe in Aslan as the Four do, or not? Or somewhere in between?

This also makes me very curious about when and how the subject of Narnia came up with all of their spouses (and did Tebbitt ever know?)

I am not sure why it has taken me so long to read this. I adore Peter and your Mary and loved the Eustace/Jill story (and so agreed about the "happened in a hurry, if you count knowing each other ten years a hurry" line of Pole's!).

The fact of the matter is- I adore this story. The feelings of failure and contentment as well as the sudden drive to do more with life really rings true here. It is a feeling I daresay most have had and it is not pleasant exactly but as we see here spurs changes. I also like this because (reading things out of order) to me it rings very true to Peter. As much as I liked your WWII story and Peter's part, it always seemed odd to me that Peter (The High King! A clear leader) should not do more with his life, even if that "more" is not university. This shows that transition.

Also, is the old man referred to Diggory or Richard? And what are Polly and Diggory up to in 1955?

Dear Rthstewart,

I am sure you have been told this a million times before, but what you have done with the Narnia world is truly a gift to all of us who grew up reading these stories. Please keep doing what you're doing - it almost seems as if Morgan, Jalur, Mary and the rest were right in the books along with Pete, Su, Ed and Lu!

Lisa J.

Wow... This really made me love Mary. I liked her well enough beforehand, but she really shines here. I loved her contemplation of initiating the worship of legumes- I literally laughed out loud! And the depiction of Aslan, while sort of quirky, fits with this universe you've created. It definitely sets it apart from the run-of-the-mill fics. I think I actually fall a little more in love with this world every time you post something new. And I'd love to see a little more about Miriam, because I get the feeling that she's very different from Morgan... But they both work very well with Edmund. A thought for a future fic, perhaps... :) Blessed be!

I thought already posted this, but... technology fail (or maybe just brain fail - *shrugs*). At any rate, my bad, because this is long overdue.

I love AUs, and an AU of an AU offers even more possibilities for fun and enjoyment. I love how you've got the two vignettes. One with the two of them really getting it together for the first time, and making what they have real and meaningful, not just time stolen outside everyday life. That's not to say that it wasn't real to M/P before, but I sometimes think its harder to live and love when confronted with the mundanity of everyday life than it is when doing extraordinary and singular things (like chasing fossils). Then you show them many years later, still surrounded by the lunacy that is the Pevensies, still doing what needs to be done, but still with grace and humility. Love the threat of conversion to legume worship, btw - that's a hilarious touch, along with Lucy's ongoing aversion to hats and shoes.

I've enjoyed these little glimpses immensely, and I'm thrilled that you and your collaborators decided to play.

So sorry for the late review. Grading and sick kids and more grading...

Brilliant! As usual, I love the layers here Mary's conversation with Aslan, her resentment over never going to Narnia, Aslan's comment about Mary and Morgan - now that is a conversation I'd love to hear! - and I find myself liking the Mary/Peter pairing more and more.

The Sun's editorial is vile, but well written. I know little about the British press, and I would have thought that the bashing of Peter and the word "Jewess" would have been excessive, but then I remembered they used the exact same word for Linda McCartney, (among other terms) so you are spot on.

I love how Edmund's not going to issue an empty invitation to Mary; how Miriam knows why but doesn't tell Mary, how important it is for Edmund to be at this knighting. "I was a little tied up at the time." Snort. I love that line. Love it to death. Love the glimpses of the Pevensie clan - esp. Lucy and Jack. I also like the understanding we've seen develop b/w Edmund and Peter: that Peter has realized by this point that there are times he simply needs to wait for Edmund to speak and that introversion is not a handicap. So, in all, brilliant and witty and made my day.

I'm not sure I understood Lucy's situation. Otherwise, this was a delight to read.

I, for one, am glad you broke your vow. Your work is always satisfying to read.

What a wonderful conclusion to this series. I like how we have switched POVs throughout, but it still has a sense of wholeness to it, impressive when you are speaking of 3 different authors. I don't know if this was intended as such, but I see this as a wonderful epilogue to the Stone Gryphon series. We get to see how all these characters used all that they learned to make their new world better and even get to see them receive some rewards and recognition for them. It seems they have finally settled into Spare Oom now that they have been here longer than they were in Narnia and given over their loyalty to a new Queen, as hard as it would have been for royals to do. I loved the interaction between Edmund and Peter. I have always been more of an Ed fan than Peter for some of the same reasons Morgan was-Peter comes off as so perfect and put together-so this was a refreshing change to see him feeling a little unsure about himself in the first chapter. I love that Mary finally gets to be "in on it" and even gets to talk to Aslan. I agree that she and Morgan are going to get along like a house on fire.
I love seeing Ed happy again, this time with someone who can be both a friend and a sheild for him. I also enjoyes some of the 'inside jokes' that one would only get if they were a fan of this series, such as the 'no boats' and Morgan's candlestick. I also loved the references to the NPGs and would love to hear a little more from their POV like we did in pigeon story.
Finally, I just wanted to thank you for this wonderful universe you have created. I think it really adds to the original cannon in a way to make it resonate with adults, which is what we always wish as we get older and re-read our favorite childhood books, isn't it? I dearly love that you fixed the terrible mistake in the last book and let these characters live long and happy lives in Spare Oom, using the gifts and lessons that they learned the first time around. I so wish that this could be printed up and published as a sequel to the series, copyright laws be damned. Thanks so much, happy writing.

This chapter is like one of those intricate ancient carpets with many threads per square inch, and all manner of images and elements woven in...and they all fit together. It's got England and Narnia, the Four and their spouses, large issues and small details, and even Aslan both onstage and off. As with the finest carpets, there are little sections that capture one's attention and create delight, such as Jack carrying Lucy's sneakers (and later her high heels), the three siblings standing together to watch Peter get his second knighthood, the animals all rushing toward the wood because Aslan is there, Edmund being enervated by the same social events that invigorate Peter (without implying fault in either direction), Miriam getting the Sun reporter to call her Lady Pevensie, Mary getting to see Peter glow. You give each person room to show his or her personality, not just the Four but their spouses. How splendid that though the Pevensies are so tight with one another, they don't swallow up their significant others. Rachel, Mary, Robert, and Jack aren't just satellites. They have their own heartbeats and asides and enjoyments.

The heart-rending story of Edmund missing Peter's first knighting is gorgeously brought in; I guess on our metaphorical carpet, it would be woven in indigo. What a clever move of yours to end this multichapter story half a century later; the pacing is perfect. But I hope to hear more about their lives, because this stream of Narnian tales is so rich. Thank you so much for a tremendously enjoyable visit to this world.

I've read this twice through just to savor it. How wonderful that you were able to apply "Not all who wander are lost" to Peter; it works so perfectly on so many levels, including the fact that LOTR is still being released, new and fresh, as Peter and Mary are reading it. I take a moment to contemplate this AU, where Tolkien is writing about kings and has no (oh, can't resist) inkling that a real one is sitting somewhere in Oxford at the same time.

I love that Peter and Mary's place of exile is this wonderful sun-drenched southwestern ranch, and that on the way home they make a detour to Disneyland and then head across the continent. I can't help but feeling, amid the delight of reading about all the places where you and your two writing partners have set this story, that Pevensies have stepped on or near ground where I've walked. This is part of the enjoyment and wonder of a Narniad where everyone lives and goes out into the four quarters of the world. They're not too exalted for the likes of us; they've shown up among us. (And Lucy has marched for civil rights!)

I don't see how people could have lost faith in Peter. He isn't just some has-been who was boffo in armor in Narnia. He was in the War in this world, too. And then he's expected to sit at a desk and take exams? I wonder how many soldiers went through that same thing in 1946, finding that their old lives didn't fit anymore. It took some people longer to recover than others.

I love that he and Mary have found each other and are able to let each other in. I know that this is a large part of what heals them both. I don't see why you shy away from writing about them. They're fascinating and deserve a good life. In fact, I hope you write more. I want to know more about the work Peter does in this world. I love 'Wandbreaker" for that reason. I don't know whether Peter was born great, became great, or had greatness thrust upon him, but however he got it, he has it, and we Earthlings need all the help from such people that we can get. In those postwar days, at the height of the Cold War, we certainly needed it. Stalin, not long dead at that time, was a lot worse than Rabadash.

I'm excited to read whatever you write, set here or in Narnia, with any of the Friends of Narnia and any of your OC's. Just keep writing! I apologize for being so greedy, but I don't expect to get over it real soon.