Title: Quoth the Raven, Nevermore
Author: GenkaiFan
Rating: T
Genre: Listed under General
Status: WIP
Library Category: General
Pairings: Harry/Hermione
Summary: The Tower of London has a dark and bloody past both in the muggle and wizarding worlds. Besides being a prison, it also served as a sanctuary in times past, what if it became one yet again? -AU
Link:http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6652537/1/Quoth-the-Raven-Nevermore

I read this the other day and enjoyed it even though it is not the type of fic I usually read and thought that it might be enjoyed here.

In the beginning it is kind of slow and shows a lot of back story and history behind some of the things mentioned in the story but overall I think that actually adds to the story rather than detract from it. I've enjoyed the story mainly because of the way it incorporates the Old Religions before Christianity. I've always pictured the wizarding world as being steeped in tradition that has over time been lost for the benefit of the muggleborns even though this is not really shown or even really hinted at in cannon.

Overall I thought the story was well written and a good time killer if a little bit long winded at times when it comes to background. Should anyone else have a better idea of where at in the library it should go after reading it pm me and I'll change that on my post, I didn't really know where to place this one.

4/5

 

This story has a lot of problems. The first one that comes to mind is that it features idiot!Dumbledore.

 

I read this a long time ago, but to this day I feel a little shudder every time I come across it.

The angst in this story is so thick you can cut it with a knife. The Dursley abuse is exaggerated to ludicrous proportions. Harry goes off to live with the ravens in The Tower of London, until he is rescued by the bloody Queen. Also features my pet peeve of Harry changing his name to Hadrian.

I don't think this story is fit for AR and certainly not the library.

 

The entire magical world is holding the Idiot Ball. This doesn't even work as unintentional parody.

 

I've tried reading this in the past, but i've never been able to get passed the incredibly slow angsty start.

 

Actually Sesc, writing letters was taught in my elementary school. Unfortunately, it was never retaught and the lesson didn't seem to hold.

As to the story? Yawn. I dislike this author's tendency to write gentle/caring Snape (whose snark is all bluster), ridiculously stupid Dumbledore and well, I'm not a favor of the author's plotlines either. I read through Poison Pen and never had the urge to again. I've read random chapters of this and I don't feel as if I missed anything or care about the story in the slightest.

2/5

 

And yet, it has almost 4k reviews. Sigh.

 

Ouch, lol. Guess my opinion is way different then most on here when it comes to this story, oh well.

 

Sigh, yet another bad H/Hr. I tried to read through the first few chapters, but the level of outrageous foolery was just too over the top.

Guess it's back to reading Vox Corporis when I want good H/Hr.

 

Don't feel too discouraged. You just haven't made it through Taure's Stages yet is all.

In fairness, the story does have a few interesting ideas, for which it'd probably qualify for "Almost Recommended" here. The Goddess and the dichotomy between new and old ways was mildly interesting. Raven animagus + growing up in the Tower was new and interesting until it turned into a big Lord Muckymuck/bestest buds with the Queen/Magical Staff!!!/hardcore military training rehash of so much bad fanfic out there. In the hands of a more talented, more disciplined, and less lazy author or authors (I take it from the notes that GenkaiFan is another husband/wife team like the Bobmins or Kinsfire/Ishtar), the few good ideas may have led to a story with real potential. This story falls short of that promise, though it is technically more sound than what little of Poison Pen I suffered through.

The thing that kills Harry Potter fanfiction by these authors is that they have a fetish for scolding the wizarding world, which quickly turns tedious and amounts to essentially bashing the franchise. Historically, such tales had a short purple period, then fell out of fashion some seven or eight years ago--see Jeconais's Power of the Press, nonjon's Freedom of Apathy, etc.--and have been done better by others, the seven thousand reviews of Poison Pen or the four thousand reviews of this story notwithstanding. (Harmonians will review-spam anything vaguely competently written that features their OTP. I'm not surprised by the attention this story has received, just disappointed.)

 

I actually liked the set up quite a bit, with Harry a Raven animagus taken in by the Tower of London people, but the plot quickly devolved into half-baked elements (the Morrigan, the army, etc.) and, combined with poor writing, poor characterization, and just about poor everything, this story barely scrapes a 2/5, which I'll give it because the original conceit was interesting.