Hi all,

I recently stumbled over "Promises of Power" https://fiction.live/stories/Promises-of-Power/W3yTMsk9etbwebh5D/home
The format is unusual but the story is somehow really interesting:
The protagonist is a... at least partially good person (so it is possible to emphasize with her, she is not utterly evil or sth like that), pragmatic, rationalistic... who advances on power by pacting with demons. They grant her power but also have their own agenda - an agenda that she does not really understand.

So it is about... cunning, negotiating. Gaining power, evading demon-hunters, staying at least somewhat moral, trying to maintain human relations and not becoming extremely lonely etc.

Really interesting.

Can you recommend other stories along these lines (rationalistic! not utterly evil!)?
I think the author of HPMOR also planned something in that area but I don't think he already started this.

That would be great!

Thank you so much!

 

The Denarian Series by Shezza, HP/Dresden files crossover sounds like what you're looking for. Outstanding trilogy.

 

Hi TMD;

thanks for the reply. I am very, very familiar with the HP fanfiction genre and who could not known the Denarian Series!
It is certainly awesome (although here the focus is a bit more on action, "awesomeness").

Anyone knows other stories? Also outside HP fanfiction - I am definitely also looking for original fictions, webnovels?

 

There's Pact by the author of Worm, Wildbow. Don't recommend it, but it might still be up your alley.

 

tried it, did not really like it. Still, thanks for the suggestion.

 

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6166553/1/Breach-of-Contract-Twelve-Signs

 

Well there’s the Bartimaeus books, where demon summoning sorcerers rule Victorian England. That might fit the bill, although they’re pretty lighthearted.

 

Thanks. I might check those out but what I really am looking for is something more gritty...
Decisions having consequences etc pp

 

Well, there's always the classic Elric of Melnibone. He's got a variety of pacts with demons and dark gods, including his sword. He's basically an albino drug addicted Conan in with ties to Hell. Good times.

-edit- Also, here's something a little fluffier that's still all about the consequences of demonic pacts: http://www.avasdemon.com/

 

Hm. I will have a look at those suggestions.
What I really find interesting is the rational / rationalistic approach. Like for example in "Practical Guide to Evil" - that one is not about pacting with demons but still: using "evil" means to reach what might be the more ethical end result.

And I'd just really be interested in stories where a "good" guy (girl) somehow is forced to / happens to make a deal / deal with demons.. and has to make the best out of it.

The idea is not new - i.e. Goethe's "Sorcerer's Apprentice", "Faust" etc. Though in the classics, this kind of way always leads to tragedy. It's not about a rational way of optimizing the results etc pp.

Anyone understands what I mean and knows good stories in that direction?

Best,
Frank