This is such a feel good story. I just skimmed it again to get back into what's been going on after the update. Looking forward to the sequel.

I'm very curious what Voldemort and Harry's meeting is going be like when Voldy is at full power.

 

Forest elf mystery theater was one of the most inspired things I've read in an HP fanfic in ages, it has A Black Comedy vibe to it in the sheer insanity and brilliance to the madness in things I expect to see today. The actual ending was so so, I'm okay with the author opting for one shots because their update rate has been sporadic so small complete short stories will hopefully make it feel fresh each time.
Since 4th year equivalent is about I'm expecting forest elf veela shenanigans either at Hogwarts or abroad (I'm hoping abroad unleashing forest elf Harry on Europe would be great). Though I do hope Harry keeps having to go back to Hogwarts for reasons and just gets pissed off and british wizards even more.

 

Honestly, they took way too long to write the last few chapters of this. I long ago stopped following it and have no idea what it's about anymore other than vague thoughts about the title.

I have absolutely no faith they will make the third one and, if they do, that it will be as nifty as I think I recall the first one and parts of the second one being. 95% of those sequel promises fail. Sure it would be nice to be pleasantly surprised and proved wrong on this but I get the sense the author doesn't really know how it's going to end overall.

I'm quite honestly shocked they are continuing this "series" based on how long it took them to complete.

 

I was genuinely surprised by how this story is completely different from the ones I've read before, and thus found it extremely refreshing. I liked the first story more than the sequel, although I must admit, the continuous forrest descriptions got a little annoying towards the end.

Every single scene has a point and there's no way of knowing what Harry will come up with, which made the chapters very pleasant and relaxing to read. If you're sick of fanfiction and need a little pause from your typical Harry (dark or not), this is the story you're looking for.

 

I know you really like this fic cheddartrek so you're biased against my skepticism but let's try to keep it real. You're the one QQing at me right now because I dared to offer an alternative perspective based on valid skepticism. No 3rd entry to a trilogy is ever better than the previous entries besides Return of the King. That's a rule of thumb so don't get too miffed at me for that.


Most of evanstranced previous fics also did not review well on DLP, so if you wanna talk stats they have like 50% success rate of the four that they have been discussed on this site and the author has written 19. So one could also argue they are 2 for 19. And since the author's other stuff hasn't been reviewed here even retroactively after the discovery and praise of the handbook series then it is possible to infer those aren't great either.

The only ones that ranked here is this series. And even then there is plenty of criticism in this series itself. In fact, most of the praise is because it's simply a departure from the norm. If those were less rampant, then this would stand out much less and probably get more scrutiny. Part of it's success here is that it gets a pass for merely being different. This is praise in comparison to the stacked odds of other genres rather than praise in and of itself. But I still grant it's written pretty well on it's own. I just recommend caution against praise for the sake of being different in place of the quality of it's own work. From my own memory while I acknowledge the fun whimsy, it does boringly drag on something fierce. Arguably the most interesting parts are how he interacts with the Wizarding World which is kept to an unfortunate minimum.

I even said that I recall enjoying the first and parts of the second, so I'm not completely disparaging it. My real issue is how long it took to complete. I didn't remember I even read it for awhile because it's been that long and didn't stand out that significantly to me. If they are writing for themselves that's cool obviously, but they should not expect praise or continued following after a certain period of time because it makes it forgotten and maybe irrelevant or poorly aged. I don't know if those concepts apply to this fic because I haven't reread it nor intend to but they are still valid concerns.

If an author cares about continued readership, they have to be sure it doesn't take too long or people will stop caring. I know that's more a concern for professional authors than one who writes fanfiction for fun but still.

Just because they are "ahead of the curve" doesn't mean I shall blindly give my compliments or attention. Especially when there is decreased quality. It set a standard for itself and it failed to consistently meet that.

The first one, Fantastic Elves and Where to Find Them, was completed in about four months in 2012. The sequel was started in 2012 and was only completed last month. And the sequel is only 61 thousand more words. So 4 years to write an extra 61 thousand words when the previous one with roughly half the length was done in 4 months? Not great writing consistency.

I know real life and jobs and family and all that applies and makes things difficult but still, facts are facts about the execution. And they are not a writer like Joe where his HP fics take forever to update but that's because he is legit writing all the time for his original work. But I will grant the author that maybe they have something equally important to take their time away from fanfic writing. But it is not my job to really care about that. What matters is the work itself.

Given that history I just relayed, you can see why I am surprised and skeptic that they would lay claim to writing a third. I'm just dubious is all because I don't like wasting my time and I don't like being hurt for poor emotional investment. I think a logical person would agree that when the tradition is for most authors to fail or abandon or get worse, it is safer to not get excited and be disappointed.