I don't like the style of casting, at all. I'm almost certain it's a D&D thing (never played it), but having to use a wand and some booster element from a utility pack is clumsy compared to standard HP-verse casting. It's not 50Cal's fault, it's just an inelegant system of magic.

Despite that, it was still entertaining enough to read. 3/5 for now.

 

The D&D system has various ways around that, which I'm surprised that 50cal's not using.

Usually a highly magical thing like a wand would mean that you wouldn't need material components. That aside, there is a simple feat that you can take at level one called eschew materials. Which does as it's named. You no longer need materials.

Still though, 5/5

 

No updates for a minimium of 4 months- a year?

The story isn't that bad but I'm not going to be chasing it up after that long.

 

He said he's going to be posting it in arcs instead of a a chapter at a time.

 

Indeed. It's really no different than someone posting his or her rewrite with each year as a separate story. It's just less cluttered.

 

Except he's got to write a whole year before we see a word more of the story. I was excited to see those chapters with the update, and if he keeps up the reasonably short time between segments, it's all good. But if he starts going months without posting because he's writing a whole school year first, I may end up just waiting for the story to be finished to read it, since I don't want to reread the story every time it's updated.

Same reason why I stopped reading Prince of the Dark Kingdom. I'd have to reread 3 chapters or so every time just to remember what went on last, and forget a lot of earlier content.

Waiting for it to finish will waste a lot less of my time.

 

Good, regular updates of Sun Soul should always be the priority.

 

I honestly don't think long wait times should be a problem. Unless he had most of the story written beforehand, he pumped out the 80k words within just under a month, while also updating Sun Soul 2 times.

 

I really enjoyed this. Yes, Hagrid was a little off, and more tell than show (and I did skim his explanation of magic), but other than that my only real complaint was that chapter 8 felt a little rushed.

4/5

 

For those unfamiliar with the 'book rules' of D&D 3.0 stuff:


Sorcery is instinctive magic, inner-power sort of thing. The whole 'intent' thing some complain about in various HP fics. The source of it is usually explained (in D&D) as some sort of magical sentient creature being 'in the blood' of the person in question.

Wizardy is entirely based around study and work. Hence the spellbooks and 'storing' most of the spell in advance, using triggers to fire the spell later on, and prepared material components (though by the book, not all spells require these).


That aside, that's just the referencing, and things might go a different direction here, I don't know. I like what I've seen so far though.

 

It's okay, really. I think the update schedule is beyond stupid, but aside of that, the magical constructs aren't completely consistent, and the refusal to characterize Hagrid correctly rubs me the wrong way. It's readable, but not great.

3/5

 

The casting system sucks, but the story is well-written, and the small differences between canon characters and the ones written in the story makes it worth reading. It's a disappointment that there won't be any more updates until at least the next arc is finished, but you can't complain considering the fact that there will actually be a finished novel length story to read SOMEDAY, which is more than most authors end up with.

I'll say 4/5 leaning towards a 5/5. It was definitely worth the time I spent reading it.

Oh, and The Sun Soul fucking rules. I don't care if you even actively abhor Pokemon (I do), it's an awesome read.

 

I like what I've read of this so far. It's rewrite-ish without catering to the bajillions of irritating fandoms out there. And I found it rather original. Similar (at least in concept) to 'Wit of the Raven' by Japanese-Jew. I'll give it a 4/5 for now with promise to fgo up or down as it progresses.

 

Wait, how the hell is this getting remotely decent ratings?

The characterizations are inconsistent, wooden, and pedantic. The setting is an awkward fusion of DnD and Harry Potter that is really poorly thought out. The plot would have felt hackneyed even in 2004 (I mean, come on. The "Secret Sorcerer" plot is pretty much every Dungeons and Dragons novel about sorcerers. The only thing he's missing is that Harry is also secretly the lovechild of Bane and Mystara, who masqueraded as Lily Potter.)

That said, this story has its moments; the bit Pomphrey's ward with Harry and Neville comparing scars was a good laugh. It's neat to see a slytherin encouraged to make friends in other houses. He's mostly fair to his characters, in allowing them to excel and fail on their own merits. Manipulative!Snape is an idea I've never come across before, so points for that at least.

But still, this is a steaming pile of average compared to the Sun Soul.

I would rate this a 2.5/5 for the sheer amount of mediocrity expounded upon with words.