Title: The Right Hand Path
Author: Sophiax
Rating: T
Genre: General/Drama
DLP Category: General or Alternate Universe.
Pairing: None
Chapters: 19
Words: 90,252
Updated: November 8, 2012
Published: October 30, 2006
Status: WIP
Summary: Merope Gaunt survives to raise her son, Tom Riddle. AU.

Link: The Right Hand Path

As you can tell from the summary, this fic is Tom Riddle-centric, so if you can't stand anything that isn't Harry-centric, you might want to give this a miss.

The fic largely focuses on the following plot bunny: How different would Tom Riddle be if his mother had not died after giving birth to him? The answer is, from how the fic seems to be progressing, not very much so.

Tom Riddle here is still the same commanding, ambitious lad he is in canon, albeit slightly more mild. The desire to be wield power and be in control, not just of the situation, but of other people, everything, is still there. Same for the great importance he accords to bloodlines and heritage. He quickly becomes the leader of the Slytherins, and the charming persona who entrances everyone, be they Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs or the teaching staff.

So what is different? For one, this Tom Riddle does actually have emotions. Unlike canon Voldemort, he also seems to know how to love, for there is genuine affection for his mother. He does socialize, though he has few true friends in addition to his lapdogs, and the line between friendship and subservience is slowly blurring as he ages.

On the whole, the fic is gripping and solidly written. I detected few grammatical and spelling mistakes, nothing which would disrupt the flow of the fic. Some might find the beginning of the story a tad boring, when the focus is largely on Merope Gaunt, but things get better when Tom grows up and progresses through his Hogwarts years, amidst the backdrop of Grindelwald's rise and the Blitz of WWII.

Definitely a fic with the potential to reach the level of epics such as The Broken Victory and I Am Lord Voldemort.

4/5 (Might have the chance to hit 5/5)



Checked by Minion, June 20, 2013

 

Strangely capturing, I actually enjoyed it thoroughly. My only problem is that Merope Gaunt plays a vastly large role, but that's to be expected. It's nice to see the subtle changes as TR slowly heads down a darker path.

Overall, a great read that has the potential to become a very good piece. Not Harry-Centric, but offers an excellent preview into the mind of young Riddle, and still expertly signifies the influence of Grindlewald in TR's life.

4/5

 

Despite my usual dislike for non Harry-centric stories, I really enjoyed this.

Tom is done well, and Abraxas manages to be Malfoy without being the three fandom Malfoys (idioticPureblood!Malfoy, secretlyGood!Malfoy, and Deviant!Malfoy) which seem to be the only ones we've ever seen, except in Of Blacks and Malfoys.

Dumbledore was great too, and Meriope was surprisingly likable, for the woman that pretty much destroyed the wizarding world in canon.

4/5

 

I don't really like fic's that aren't Harry-centric, but I decided to give this a shot anyway. Putting aside the lack of Harry, it's a pretty good read.

It's got surprisingly good characterizations, and gives a good view into the mind of a young Riddle.

4/5 from me.

 

As much as I enjoy this story, I'm putting off giving it a rating until I see the plot develop a bit further here.

 

The plot development is interesting enough for me to rate it 4/5.

Although I fail to understand why would anyone be averse to reading non-Harry stories.

 

Minor English issues but great read overall. Tom is humanized but retains enough of himself you could see how he easily might have turned out to be Lord Voldemort. On my alerts but hasn't updated in a while. I think there's a substantial amount of plot so far. 4/5.

 

I don't find this story very enticing. I gave it a 3/5 because to me it is very difficult to read the dialogue since the author uses this 'speaking' instead of "speaking". It's actually quite annoying to me.