Yeah I read the first 4 out of boredom. They're not good. Not only is the whole story one big wank over the author's OC, nothing else happens. It follows the worst traditions of canon rehash.

 

I followed it into book 5 and then gave up, largely due to the incredible wait between updates. I see he's updating again, but I really can't be bothered to re-read it all. I enjoyed it at the time, but there's better stuff out there. If he actually finishes it, I might give it a go.

 

Here's a new one:

Stumbled across this using JordanL's amazing new fanfiction rec engine. It's a slightly cracky timetravel/reboot story that doesn't take itself too seriously, and is far more enjoyable because of it. It falls into some common first-year-rewrite pitfalls, but it's varied enough (or vague enough) that it remains interesting. And the author has heavily implied that this is an Anti-Partially Kissed Hero, so I'm not so concerned that this will devolve into retarded redo word-vomit.

I debated for a while about put this up in For Review, but I don't think it's quite up to that level yet. Maybe in a few chapters. It's only just starting to get into the meat of it, even though it's almost 24,000 words in.

I'd give it a 4/5, and I look forward to more.

 

The first few chapters I didn't like. The prose didn't flow well and it was a bit too crack-fic like. But the tone stabilised after a few chapters and there have been a few fun moments.

That said, we really need more backstory. We don't even know from what era Harry's future memories come from, or why he came back. Nor does he really apply his knowledge to its full extent, nor is he being very proactive - like so many re-do fics, he's just sitting around Hogwarts and reacting to events, rather than determining them himself. He doesn't have a plan.

If it were put in For Review, I'd give it 3/5.

 

I agree with Taure. I think it is enjoyable, but it needs to have a bit more of a backstory. Also, I think some of the changes were pretty funny, though not very new. All in all, in my opinion this story will make or break depending how pro-active Harry will be and how much the plot will diverge from canon.

Loved the Marcus Flint duel, even I don't rightly know why. As it is, it is on my story alert list.

 

I agree, it has potential, but it's too soon to tell for sure. It looks like it will be an original twist on the general theme, though, and it has gotten a bit of depth that wasn't there in the very beginning. I definitely want to see where this goes. No rating yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it became solid Library material.

 

Fuck off. Grey Maiden is second only to the Stranger Trilogy as my favorite HP series. It is hardly a wank over Daphne; the focus is on Harry, as it should be. It isn't a simple canon rehash, although the first four books follow the same general storylines as canon. I find all of the characters well written, the conflicts engaging (rather akin to the Stranger Trilogy, in fact, if less detailed), and the magic interesting. Personally, I think the whole damn series should be in the Library.

Oh, and 500th post.

 

Grey Maiden was all right a few years back, but back then I had different tastes, so I don't quite know if I'd like it now (And I don't quite feel like putting it on the bottom of my reading list at the moment. Still gotta read Wastelands before I get to the more average stuff).

Also, I've been reading Soul Thief, the story samkar linked here, and it's... good-ish. It's like the Strange Disappearance of Sally-Anne Perks in that I'm going to keep reading for the mystery aspect more than anything. It's a layered political murder mystery and I do like them, so that's a plus. The Harry/Hermione stuff is probably not going to win any points for potential Library addition, but it's not the worst romance bit I've read (or written), so combine that with a great update rate (One six-thousand word chapter a day) and the fact I want to see the mystery through to the end, and it's a good enough read.

 

Like you Matt, I'm reading Soul Thief, although I'm sort of bogged down in chapter 8 right now. I like the premise, at least as far as it being a mystery to be solved, and I very much hope the culprit/conspiracy doesn't turn out to be who I think it might be, because unless it were done very very well, it would be a big letdown. Don't want to say more without spoiler tags and I'm in a hurry.

My main beef(s) with the story are the HHr moving too fast for Harry only being back about 2 days, the fact that I'm 8 chapters in and No One has seen fit to cast the first spell, and the original reason for Harry leaving the magical world seems pretty outlandish, at least to me. Yes, Ron is killed and all that, but come on, wouldn't Harry be far more inclined to go apeshit and start killing Death Eaters than to puss out and just leave?!?

Oh, and Harry's reasoning for never being able to be with Ginny, that Ron's death would always be there between them? Wouldn't that be at least as much reason for never being able to be with Hermione? And for fuck's sake, I'm a *fan* of HHr and this jumped out at me...

 

Yeah, I had those problems too, and now, by chapter eighteen, the Harry/Hermione stuff has gotten really damn overshadowing and just a little too much (Harry's internal monologue saying stuff like "Why? Because I want to be near you, that's why. Because whenever I'm not with you I don't feel whole." is coming up). The mystery is slow going, too, but I suppose I'll read to the end (Probably not that long to go) before deciding if it's Library worthy. I'm thinking no at this point; maybe Recycling Bin.

 

The complete fic is on portkey so you can skip forward I agree with your review of the story. The romance part might not be in the line of DL's agenda but let's be honest, what really high quality romance is out there actually?
If we don't mix up romance with promiscuous cool Harry "Stag" Potter, Harem smut or corny valium Harmony style this is probably quite close to the best you can expect to read in such kinda story setting. The only valid critic here I think is that you just might not be able to stomach a bit romance.

 

Curious but compared to any other fics how about specifying good romance? In this specific case I think it was beyond average to what's out there.

 

There are plenty of fics with well-written romance as more then a minor part of the story - try Ella's work (deadwoodpecker), Worldmaker, jbern, and there are authors who write decent romance-focused fics as well.

 

That one Harry/Romilda fic had decent romance.

 

Do you mean Amortentia? The one where Harry and Romilda hooked up within a day? I don't think that's a good example of romance centered fics. I found it rather terrible to be honest.

 

Have you been to high school? Most relationships start very quickly and progress from there. Most people ask strangers on dates, or people they've just met. Not long time friends. As long as they aren't confessing there love for each other within a day(Although its not terribly out of place in high school) it's fine.

I did love that story, and was greatly disappointed that the author went back to slash.

 

The problem with that story was that they DID confess their love to each other in the same day, and meant it. So, no good in romance for me.