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Best Independent Harry FanFiction

Winner: A Second Chance at Life by Miranda Flairgold
Runner Up: Shadow Play by Thor Nairda

 

Agree with the winner 100%.

The runner up is good too, but it's coming out of focus lately - 5000 words / month are just not good enough for a story shooting for the top.

 

Never could get into Second Chance. Way too far AU for my tastes. The near-slash is a negative also.

 

I can't stand Second Chance. New order and Black's War were the ones I liked.

 

I like Miranda's AU. She put a lot of work in making new magic, characters and setting, while still staying HP compliant. You are all bitching how you're sick of Hogwarts & same all clishes. So here's a story that's introducing something new. What's wrong with that?

Oh and I wouldn't have even noticed semi-slashness if she hadn't announced a slash version after this one is done. I actually apploud her for putting in the effort of removing any romance from her story, if she already can't write het from a guys POV.

Shadow Play would have gotten my vote 5-6 months ago, but it went stagnant and the plot started getting repeative. Harry's leaving but returning, Orion is dead but it's not, Harry's against the Ministry or not... seems like the author is planning only the next 2 chapters in advance and he's doing it acording to his current whims and not to some grand plan of his. Bigger and bigger pauses between updates don't help too.

 

I disagree. I don't see some fic about some guy named Rakhesh going to school in Canada and fighting against Incas being anything near canon compliant.

 

I think this category is one of those can be so broad, that none of the nominated ones seemed quite like what I wanted Independent!Harry to be. Probably most Dark but Lightsided fics I would have thrown in this category, like IP82 and Fayr Warning's, and I would have preferred. But even still almost all the nominated ones are decent fics, even if none jumped out at me. I may be enjoying The New Order by padfootjr24 the most of these currently, given how far off Miranda's story seems to have gone from the Harry Potter world, and how slow Thor Nairda's story has gotten (and update schedule too). Don't even remember what I voted for. Some decent interesting stories here. None that felt like excellent award winning though.

That and I don't think any of the ones nominated are finished or just about to be.

 

Full on gotta say i love "second chance" i've stuck with it so im pretty sure it's easyier for me to get into then starting again!

 

I agree, for all the rave reviews I'd heard, I read a good chunk of it, and wanted to smack most of the folks who were nutting themselves over this story. When a fic reaches the point where it's far removed from Britian and the normal HP universe stuff, it has no right to be called HP.

Bitching about overused cliches, and keeping canonish compliant are totally different things. Renaming Harry, moving him to a different country, and coming up with basically everything new? You'd be better off making it a damned crossover with something, b/c the only thing that stays Harry Potter... IS Harry Potter... oh n/m sometimes he's also <insert random name here>

 

I was thinking more about Rowling's canon - muggles & wizards, areas of magic etc... stuff like that - she kept all that and then built on top of it.

But yes, I also didn't like that Inca part. Too long & boring, not to mention that characters suddenly forget all about apparating & portkeys. The rest was great, though.

Nonjon: I agree about Independant & Dark often getting mixed up. My story is the perfect example - it's pure Independant!Harry at the moment, with only glimpses of Dark Arts being shown. There should be some action later but I think that Independant! will always be my main genre.

 

meh i never really like second chance. . . .so much au. I mean a little hear and there is fine. But when i read like 20 chapters and barely anything from canon besides magic/muggles is mentioned it just kinda gets to me.
but thats me.

 

both of the fics lost me at some point so....o'well

 

It might be, can't remember quite a bit about it as I've just read multiple chapters of different fics and my brain is mush, lol. I know that given the company it was in I liked it better then the others.

 

I disagree with the winner, the story is good but got bored of it after the first twelve chapters. Shadow Play, in my opinion, was one of he first real good harry/multi stories but the updates are way to slow..