I think I'll wait for a bit longer before I read it. I dont know what the update rate will be like and dont want to be disappointed by the first chapter.

 

I won't be posting any more chapters until I finish the book; I posted the first chapter as a preview, since it's not likely to change substantially. Everything else is still subject to revision. I'm not giving an ETA as to when I'll finish, but once I do, of course, updates will be regular.

Thank you for the review, Sesc. To answer one question: no, it won't be a multiple-POV story. The first chapter was a little different, but the rest of the book will be AQ-centric.

 

Um... This got put into the recycle bin? I would have understood it if was say in other fandoms or something like that but recycle bin? Do we really give that much weight to the votes of people who couldn't even be bothered to take the time to remove their heads from their asses and read something for once?

I mean we have stories in the library that don't even deserve the two star ratings that they possess and a gem of a unique story ended up here? whatever. apparently we at Dark Lord Potter can't even be bothered to be objective about our voting. You don't see people just running around voting one star because the story has a Harry/Lilly pairing- at least not without getting into trouble.

 

Just because they rated it low means they didn't read it? Don't be such a tool.


3/5.

 

Well I'm just going from some of the things people have posted. I mean it's not so bad after the second page but you know those ratings had to hurt.

anyways I'm just saying that the writing and whatnot is remarkably high quality for fan-fiction and I'd have put in say... other fandoms first.

 

Can the people who liked it comment on the second story? Does the protagonist improve at all? I've finished the first story and I can't decide whether the major flaws outweigh the sense of wonder I get from this. It is pretty painful to read. Like meek!harry or, I imagine, gay!harry. Does the author intend to let the characters grow up? Is the protagonist going to win through sheer determination and luck, rather than learning to delay gratification and study magic?

 

I didn't say Alexandra is meek; I said that reading a well-written story about such an unlikeable* protagonist is as painful as reading a well-written story about meek!harry or about a Harry who fantasizes about Draco instead of Cho.

The improvement I wish for is learning to think before she leaps. I've been pig-headed myself at times IRL, and I know all too well how unproductive it is in the long run, despite it feeling like the right thing to do at the time. And all those times it is narrated that she thought she was much smarter and more capable than her peers - if she's all that, how about finding out how she would be tested and graded and manipulating it in a way to score an S in all her tests, instead of sulking about how life is unfair? And if she's not capable of that, then she has no reason to feel her grades are unfair. All that time in the library, practically wasted!

* unlikeable: she's cute, but she's also cringe-worthy.

 

In my opinion, she does get better in the second book. I remember the start of the first chapter as the only point in the whole two stories where I didn't really like her character.

This is one of the few stories I'm really hoping for updates for, beside Renegade Cause and Wastelands of Time.

 

Most everyone who's read both stories has told me that book two was much better than book one. (I agree -- book one was actually the first full-length story I ever wrote, so it has all the first-time writer's mistakes you'd expect.) And Alexandra does grow a little in book two, though she's still thirteen at the end of it, so she's by no means outgrown all of her negative traits.

The issue of Alexandra being unlikeable is one I've discussed at length, both on my LJ and with my betas.

She is, at times, bitchy, immature, stubborn, and arrogant. It's my hope, of course, that her good qualities (bravery, loyalty to her friends, a sense of compassion that may not always be evident but is nonetheless there, and a moral compass that, while sometimes a bit bent, always ends up pointing her in the right direction eventually) redeem her, but I can certainly see why some readers just don't like her. (I see it much more clearly now after having gotten some thorough and objective criticism from several people.)

In book three (in progress now; I'm about 85% done), she suffers a bit of regression, because she is not dealing well with what happened at the end of book two. So you may find her cringe-worthy again. There will be points where I expect readers will want to slap her, and that's deliberate.

She does grow up, of course, and a lot of what you're looking for (learning from her mistakes, thinking before she acts, and not assuming that she always knows better than everyone else and that she's too smart for her classes) is part of her character arc in book three. But she gets there only after doing a lot of stupid shit (and paying for it) along the way.

tl:dr: Book three is where Alexandra really grows up. She'll be a much better person at the end of it, but you may still find her unlikeable while she's getting there.

 

I've finished reading the second story. It's better than the first, IMHO. I wish it had a separate DLP thread so it could get a higher rating. I'm glad you're nearing the end of the third book meaning I don't have to wait too long to read it. I was pretty sure what was going to happen at the end of the second book by its middle, but

Spoiler

what Thorn did surprised me. Why would he do something which galvanized public support for the government he's fighting instead of doing something to undermine the government e.g. exposing corruption and secrets?

Seems to me Alexandra grows up earlier than Harry did. I like it.

Spoiler

Will we ever find out why Darla got mixed up in the first place? Because we know it's not just jealousy. With her not charged and still having her family's support, she might become an enemy.

 

You'll get answers to both questions in book three. (Two chapters to go...)

 

About a week per chapter. My statistical average over the past six months is about 900-1000 words per day.

Some days I crank out over 6,000 words, other days I don't write anything (or do nothing but rewrite stuff I've already written).

 

Inverarity,
My hats off to you if AQ is your first novel-length fic. I think your style is pretty near flawless. I find myself both admiring your skill and hating your guts.

 

As promised on the author's LJ, the first chapter of the third story (now finished) is posted in March.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5784632/1/Alexandra_Quick_and_the_Deathly_Regiment

 

It says semi-weekly update rate in the author's note.