Burn me at the stake if I should not have posted this, but I am dying due to a lack of good fiction these days.

I am looking for HP fics of an epic magnitude, ie. something along the lines of the work of Captain Joe, Jbern, etc.

Something truly epic, hold the FAIL!status please.

And thank you.

 

The only similarity between Joe's and Jbern's stories that I can see is that both dedicate a lot of screentime to places outside the conventional HP world... aside from a kickass!Harry of course. What, exxactly, do you mean by epic? I've read a lot of Epic Fantasy in my time, and Jbern's story doesn't fit any of the criteria for "epic"-ness.

Do you mean popular stories? Do you mean powerful protagonists? Exactly what the hell is "epic" supposed to mean?

 

I think means epic as in epically long. Longest series I've read is Joe's trilogy but it seems you've read that. So... Try Luna the Moonmonster's Amulet of Time series. It's H/G but it's well done - one of the few to gain approval here - and it's so fucking long that you'll be reading for the week. Last time I checked it was on book 4 of the series (not a canon remake) but that was ages ago so it may be further now.

Aekiel

 

Try some of Shezza88's work and Harry Potter: Knowledge is Power by SerpentSannin is not to bad.

 

Mirada Flairgold
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/100447/Miranda_Flairgold
"A Second Chance at Life" and its sequel, a WiP. They'll eventually be a trilogy.
They are long, intense, and creative. Harry grows up and becomes Powerful, and the HP universe is tremendously fleshed out. Lots of growth on JKR's framework.


Aspeninthesunlight
http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=5036
"A Year Like No Other" Most DLP'ers hate this one because Harry is adopted by Snape, and Snape is a stong, complex character. I find it interesting, with well developed, consistent and intelligent characters, and it develops some nifty (and reasonable) traditions, spells, and governmental bodies.

I just noticed, most of my favorite long stories are non-shippy. Hmmm...

 

Joe's hero trilogy is practically the definition of epic (and it's complete). Something like bellerophon30's Brave New World is just long (and it's complete).

ksomm814 rewrote the last five years of Hogwarts. I've never gotten into it, but there wasn't anything awful about it either. Regulus is in a similar boat but he's put his own twist starting from year one and so far only through part of 6th year (I think).

Louis IX's story Mastermind Hunting might be the sort of fence sitter between epic and just long. What I read of it a while back was very different. It got a little too different and updates stopped interesting me.

Jono (a.k.a. serpant-sorcerer) is nearing halfway through a definitely epic trilogy. First fic is done and second one is about a half dozen chapters (which in Jono-sized chapters means about 200,000 words).

If you can fight through the slash and wish to waste a significant portion of your life, I suspect Lightning on the Wave's series is about as epic as they come clocking in the neighborhood of 3 million words for all 7 years.

I'm sure there are others that feel epic either due to the sheer volume of detail or amount of time covered, but these are all I've got off the top of my head (not counting some other series like the goofy Not Myself, Luna the Moonmonster's Amulet of Time fics, or sloth's five fic series).

Probably Joe's and Jono's are the ones most like to find a very receptive audience among the typical DLP crowd.

 

Lightning on the Wave's Series
"Saving Connor"
http://lightning.ffstories.net/browse.php?type=categories&id=2
I've only read the first 1.5 books, but the characters are interesting. Snape starts out a jerk In Every Conceivable Way, but he grows up. It's billed as Harry/Draco slash, but I haven't seen any sex - they're little kids, still.
The creativity is an unending marvel.
The grammar, pacing, and structure are easily among the best stories I've ever read, including Tolkein and Austen.
The depth of description is intense but doesn't take over.
The characterizations have real depth and colour.
I could go on. And on.

The problem is, I can't seem to get into it. When I read "Mutiny on the Bounty," I had the same trouble. To this day, I don't know why I couldn't finish that book. Every time I picked up "Mutiny," I loved it, and didn't want to put it down. When I did stop reading it, however, I didn't want to go back. "Mutiny" and "Sacrifices" have everything that I love in other stories, and no obvious turn-offs. Why they didn't work for me is truly confusing.

 

Luna the Moonmonster's Amulet of Time was acturly the first fanfic i ever read.

 

Circular Reasoning by Swimdraconian

Summary: Chance and Fate are two very similar beings with very different outcomes. Due to circumstances beyond his control, Harry ends up in his thirteen year old body with a war and a troubled future on his mind. But what if Voldemort was a bit smarter this time

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2680093/1/

WIP. Great, dark writing style. And the author expands on the HP world so that it becomes epic, in the same way joe6991 does in his most recent fic. Uber Unspeakables, slight Dresden crossover (but you don't need to read Dresden to get it; I don't), Dark Harry. The thing I like best is that this fic has the old pattern of great wizarding houses/families coming with great powers, but doesn't overdo it imo.



Only Enemies by leave this world

In the aftermath of the Final battle a misplaced spell sends HP and Bellatrix to an alternative world. It holds everything each of them have lost to the war and yet they find themselves inexorably drawn back to each other. HPBella done right.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2896398/1/Only_Enemies

WIP. Legit (seriously legit) HP/BB. The battle scenes in here are among some of the best, and Harry has gone completely dark (can't use a Patronus anymore). Lots of angst, but it's written decently. Expands on the magical world much like joe6991. Features cool, original things such as Mad-Scientist Hermione and Corrupt Amelia Bones.


Harry Potter and the Litany of Blood by jon3776

The brother wands had a farther reaching affect than anyone could have predicted. Harry's fifth year will be a time filled with vampires, ancient magics, new love, and the most dangerous thing in the world-a woman scorned [my note: that's Ginny]...HFleur and HGirl!blaise

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1894696/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Litany_of_Blood

WIP. Much like the previous two fics, this has epic battle scenes, a greatly expanded wizarding world, Dark Harry - who's becoming a necromancer, and angst (which always seems to come with Dark!Harry; guess you have to pay a price for that.) It adds romance, and jon3776 is well-known for writing romance effectively.

At least read the third and fourth books of that series. The author gets into this interesting Vates thing, and there's a gigantic conspiracy involving the Potters and Dumbledore. And the pureblood culture ramps up. And the climaxes are the best I've ever read in HP fanfiction.

After that the fic goes downhill.

 

Wow, thanks everyone for all the recommendations! Am reading A Stranger In An Unholy Land right now, and am liking it very much, even though it feels like a Jason Bourne plot.

I should have lots to read for a long (a week or two) time to come!

 

Nonjon's 'A Black Comedy' may not be Epic as in long, but it is Epic as in awesomeness in the Parody/Humor field.
Read it NOW,
Ahsun

 

Hmm, if you're into crossovers of the Final Fantasy kind there's a somewhat epic fic called Defying Fate: Journey of the Offworlder. It's about 320,000 words and it's pretty well written, incorporating the different magicks and worlds (that's all the worlds from FFVII-FFX) into a very epic plot. Hasn't updated in a few months but it's been going so long I doubt it's abandoned.

Aekiel

 

Heretics! How dare you not mention Reign of Power!

That started to cross that vital Epic vs. Long divide, but instead was finished up rather sloppily. Still, I loved it. Makes Indy!Harry stories shake in their boots.

Speaking of Indy!Harry, Power of Time by RossWrock is average, but some say it started the genre. I wouldn't recommend it, though, for two reasons. Its medicore, and H/G, and I don't want to be lynched.

 

Power of Time was perhaps the original Indy!Harry story - it definitely spawned a fair amount of cliches. Its epic as in long, and I'd like to see how it plays out...

For all that matters its been abandoned for the last few years, but I hear (from Ross on his yahoo group) that he should have the last few chapters posted by June. I'd go back and read it again, and I'd recommend it if you're looking to write a post Order of the Phoenix tale, as its pretty much what you should avoid to be original, but meh.

Cheers,

joe