Title: Raven Chronicles: Lost and Found.
Author: Serafin982. (the name is good enough or should we bully him for a change?) *Look at nonjon pointedly* ^_^
Rating: T
Genre: General
DLP Category: The Alternate's.
Pairing: none so far.
Status: WIP.
Summary: When a young Harry is abandoned in London he is rescued by a mysterious old man with a penchant for books, cigars and the future.
Link.

I was kind of depressed that nothing new appeared in the DLP Review section since a long time so I decided to find something nice!

And I stumbled on this little story, seven chapters so far but he/she seems to have great ambition because he/she plans to write an eight story series to cover Harry/Raven's years through school and the year previous to the start of school. The author seems to like independent and intelligent Harry so good news for us.

So far I like it, the beginning is a little cliché; Harry is abused by the dursley, they decide to abandon him in London then here he is found by a wizard. Oh! I forgot to tell you that this mysterious wizard is the heir of a famous magical family (hope it's not too much of a spoiler). Not really encouraging isn't it? But please don't lose hope!

Because in spite of this the story manage to catch my interest for multiple reasons:

• first, the strange and short relation between Harry and the wizard who rescued him. Here we don't have any fluffy style of bonding and Harry isn't all angsty about his beating, yes he seems to have difficulty trusting other but he doesn't curl in foetus position when people are around him.

• Then, the use of divination in a story is more than rare and I am looking forward the repercussion of it. No we don't have here a Harry!Seer who was rescued by a bohemian and read your love life in crystal ball. Just read to understand! ^^

• The fact that Harry seems to be a being capable of brain utilization, shocking isn't it? We have here an intelligent and independence set Harry.

So... yes I recommend this story even if all story rewriting his school year tend to never been finished.

Hope you find this to your liking.

 

Strike one, His name is Raven.

Strike two, He's somewhat crippled. (Apparently)

Strike three, Length. 7 chapters and only 19k words.

Strike four, Update time. 7 short chapters with a slow update rate for such short chapters.

awww.. no more strikes. That makes this story a 3.5/5

 

Hmm. Not too bad on the whole. I started to worry a bit when Harry began reading the journals, but it seems the author handled the foreknowledge with enough of the normal headache causing timeline concerns. The cliches are a bit yawn-inducing, but at least they've got a slightly different spin on them...very slight.

I'll got with a 4/5 on this one. It's got potential, but it could also turn for the worse very easily.

Edit:

The name issue I can agree with, but at least it's not some blasted Anime-ish name. I can handle "Raven" a lot easier than I can a name I can't even pronounce.

I agree with you that the 19k at 7 chapters is a bit short, but again I can live with it. The fic on a whole doesn't have the "epic" feel so I don't expect it to have 10k words per chapter. As to the update rate I didn't notice the publish/last update dates so I can't comment.

When it comes to the crippled issue I'm of two minds. On one hand I think it adds to the story in a humanizing effect; on the other hand I think it can detract if it's constantly used as a "oh poor Harry" device. At this point in the fic it hasn't appeared out of context, or even in context, enough for me to get a feel where the author's intentions with it fall.

 

Frankly, I can't rate it now because as you said the chapters are short and to few to really have a good gauge of the quality that the story could have later but it's enough to compel me to wait for more.

And I found nearly all your reasons kind of "light" argument wise.

I mean length isn't so much a problem concerning the quality of the writing, yes it's annoying for us writer to have so little to read but it's not important when a story is completed. Yes I am aware that I kind of seeing

I could say the same about update rate, it's annoying but doesn't really impact the story quality. Some of the best fiction around here has horrible update rate... *cough*LT2000*cough*Nine Tailed Serpent*cough*.

But yes when it's combined with short chapter, it's even more annoying.

The handicap thing, doesn't really bother me so far because, well the author nearly never mention it and I can't imagine magic being unable to heal it.

The fact that he is named Raven is annoying and so fucking cliché that it hurt. But well I can bear with it.

You argument are completely sound, but in a nit-picking kind of attitude.^^

So fart this story is promising but can quickly completely destroy all our (my) hope.

 

I can handle an author who updates rarely with very good, long and epic chapters like LT2000.. but this guy writes short non-epic chapters.

I suppose the cripple thing is nit-picky, but its just my personal taste in not having the hero with some sort of physical disability like that.

Basically my rating is tentative too.. this could easily turn into something good, or into a crap-fest.

 

Cry me a river. No, seriously...my update rate isn't any worse that most other authors who write chapters as long as mine on average. Probably better than a lot of said authors.

 

I read a couple first chapters. The story is very well written. Although I'm not much into reading about the "younger Harry" and going through his earlier school years. I like to read the ones where he's 6th or 7th year usually. Otherwise it's just boring to me re-reading his already canon version. I give the story a 4/5. For those of you who like the stories of Harry being rescued or reading his earlier years, this is probably for you.

Richard.

 

i quite like it. The chapters were too short, and the name thing pissed me off at first but in his letters, once he realises who he is, he uses Harry Potter.

As for the disability thing, It is only temporary. It is a lasting reminder of his time at the Dursleys and Dumbledore said that the school nurse could fix it.

3/5

 

Seemed pretty cool, though he has a problem with correct grammar. The name thing didn't bother me at all, considering the guy who was 'protecting' him was called 'Old Crow', kinda makes sense.

I just hope this doesn't fall onto the long list of canon rewrites that have been abandoned. Cause I don't think I've ever read a fic just like this before. Meh, maybe I have, but who cares, its pretty good.

Aekiel

 

This story might not be so bad were it not for the fact that ff.net seems to have lost chapter 2.

The link goes to a dead page, and refreshing doesn't help.

I'll comment properly once I can actually read more than just 1 chapter.

 

It has been updates, a little short.

Nothing major here, but the story seems to evolve in a Political!Harry.

The good news is that he will stay independent or so it seems.

 

This one is only 25k words and it hasn't been updated since January 08. The premise is that the Dursleys abandon Harry at age six and he is taken in by a mysterious wizard from a very old family. Said wizard dies when Harry is 10, leaving Harry access to his vault and several others.

Harry soon rejoins the wizarding world and meets Dumbledore, and that's where the story ends. The story had potential, but Harry isn't even in Hogwarts yet and there's no semblance of a plot. The fact that he has been renamed 'Raven' is also a bit annoying.

2.5/5