Meh. Dying for good reasons is one thing. Dying for stupid reasons is just the author being a bastard/bitch and killing off a character they don't like. All the reason I need not to read a fic.

 

Unless they're doing it to prove nobody's safe. There's nothing I hate more than KNOWING a character won't die under any circumstances, no matter how bleak they might seem.

 

Uhm... She's still alive at this point in the series (year 5), with no hints of dying yet.

 

His original comment was referring to Dethryl's story, not this one... and should have used a spoiler warning (added in my post) for a comment like that.

 

However I think we should stop the derail and discuss the story this thread is actually for. I'll probably start reading it tonight, will edit post after.

EDIT: Ok, read the first 'book'. Actually quite enjoyed it, it was shorter than what I normally read but it still covered the story extremely efficiently and was well written. I can only recall one spelling mistake in the entire thing off the top of my head though I'm sure there were some I missed.

It pretty much stuck to the canon story line which I think someone already said, but it did it from another angle and did change a few things so it wasn't that bad.

It read good enough that I will be reading the next 'book' so I guess that means it was pretty good. If you like the idea of a Slytherin Harry then this is a really good read.

4/5 so far. Loses a point for not being entirely original, but it still read amazingly well.

 

I have enjoyed it and found it quite well written. I agree that it might be a tad OOC but not too badly. It was a good example of this type of plot and didn't bore too much by trying to fit in every possible canon moment. In my opinion it is just about worthy of the library and therefore I give it 4/5.

 

Ok just finished all of the written series so far. I am thoroughly enjoying it and really don't have too much that's actually worth complaining about.

The only thing I live in fear of is an eventual H/G. I don't think it'll happen but it could be done with how the most recent chapters have gone. Or maybe I'm just being paranoid.

Either way, it's definitely worth the read so far.

 

It's pretty bland the first few years, but the drama in 4th+ with Voldemort's return + him being in Slytherin made for an interesting-ish read.

One of the better Slytherin!Harry series' for what little that's worth. Just not world shattering. JKR-lite sounds about right.

Passable writing, storytelling and (barely passable) character development, but lacks the 'it' factor. With JKR, the 'it' factor was the world itself. But since we're reusing that, here, it's a little lacking.

 

Reading just the first year of the series, I feel as if I've read it a million times before.

2/5 for the first book because it is at least well written. I don't have the patience to even skim the others.

 

It's like you didn't read the posts in this thread.

Anyway, the new chapter has been good, even better than the standard quality. I sure hope future ones will be at the same level.

 

I'm not sure how to rate it exactly. If we're just talking about the first book, then I don't think it should be in the library. Neither should two or three. But the fourth and what's written of the fifth probably merit a place. 3/5 for the first three books, 4/5 for four and five.

 

I'm also not sure what we are supposed to rate in this thread. The OP only linked the first story and labelled it as complete but then went on to talk about the whole series. If we are rating the series somebody should change the status to WIP and maybe add links for the other stories. Or make it clear that we are only discussing and rating the first part here.

I would rate part 4 and 5 higher than the earlier ones. I liked the latest update and really didn't expect this turn of events. It makes the story more realistic.

Spoiler

A 15 year old really shouldn't be able trick the Minister and Umbridge as easily as Harry tried to, so while I don't like Umbridge, it's good for the story that she is back.

 

Why not, it's not like tricking/lying to people is hard, whether you're 15 or 55 years old.

The writing is a bit dry, and while there's some improvement, particularly during Year 4 and 5, overall it's a 3.5/5 imo.

 

Because

Spoiler

Harry is only a student while Umbridge has the Ministry behind her. In canon she could basically do whatever she wanted. And if you take into consideration that Fudge easily misuses his power to further his own agenda (CoS - Hagrid carted off to Azkaban without proof, GoF - Crouch kissed without trial) then it's not that hard to imagine that he would find a way to get Umbridge back into the school in this case.

Also his plan was hardly fool proof. Dumbledore and Snape saw through it the first time they watched the memory and if Fudge investigate a bit he/his people would probably detect the manipulations too.

And older person would also be hard pressed to get rid of her - as we see in canon - but maybe devise a better plan and be more aware of the political reality. Life experience and all that.

 

Spoiler

He's also lucky he didn't get into deep shit for 'fabricating evidence'. At least I believe the term is appropriate here.

 

I'm also not sure if we're supposed to rate the entire series or just the first book. I'll assume the series as it seems that is what we've tended to do in the past, but the original post should probably be edited to reflect that.

I like it. Sure, there have been moments that made me roll my eyes or cringe, but overall it is well written with consistent characterization and regular updates. The author has responded to a few of my reviews and I can tell he puts a lot of thought into character motivations and goals.

For people who might have given up on the story in fourth year like I temporarily did, I recommend giving it another shot. I think the fifth book in the series seems to be coming along better than the Twi-Wizard tournament, which had several of the scenes I didn't care for.

Another flaw is the author does seem to use a bit of an archaic magic system not supported by canon. Nothing truly outlandish like magical cores, but stuff like multiple shield spells.

It has become clear the author is doing

Spoiler

Voldemort's skill/power being used or absorbed by Harry.

Not that I mind, as I think that's one of the simplest ways of raising Harry to Voldemort's league. It's clear he hasn't just tacked that on, as there are signs of it very early in the series.

4/5 for the series, could possibly go up to 5/5 if the last two books prove to be awesome and diverge more.

 

When I started reading this series, I hated the fact that it was a canon rehash. Then we got to book 4 and the author started using his own ideas. Regrettably I found myself reminiscing fondly about the days of canon rehash.

 

So, one of my readers mentioned that my story had been put up for review, and assured me that author participation was encouraged on the DLP forums. So.

I think the most common complaint I have received is that my stories don't diverge from canon enough, or quickly enough. When I started writing, I was faced with a choice: (1) start in first year, and have an opportunity to show Harry growing organically into a Slytherin, developing friendships and relationships, and giving my readers ample foreshadowing for later developments, or (2) start in fourth year or later, drop the reader into the middle of it all, and flip out little bits and pieces of history as the story requires.

I chose option one, and part of me certainly regrets it. All the interesting stuff happens in years 4-7; we all know this. In the early years, Harry's decisions are similar to canon because Harry hasn't had as much time to diverge from his canon character; I think that writing anything else would be dishonest to the AU. Harry got sorted differently, but that doesn't cause a complete personality change. But the reason I'm writing a Slytherin Harry to explore what he does differently than Gryffindor Harry, when faced with the same situations. So, considering that, I probably should have just started this story at the end of Year Four.

That being said, the time I spent on the first three books let me get to know the characters better, and has certainly improved my writing style. (I had been a few years out of practice.) I feel like the last four books are better for having written the first three, but I'm not sure it was worth it.

 

4/5. Well written, entertaining and it has a mindblowingly amazing update rate.