Title: The Dark Lord Never Died

Author: Starfox5
Rating: M
Genre: Drama/Adventure
Library Category: Alternate Universe
Pairings: Ron/Hermione
Chapters: 25
Words: 179,574
Updated: July 23, 2016
Published: February 6, 2016
Status: Complete

Summary: Voldemort was defeated on Halloween 1981, but Lucius Malfoy faked his survival to take over Britain in his name. Almost 20 years later, the Dark Lord returns to a very different Britain - and Malfoy won't give up his power. And Dumbledore sees an opportunity to deal with both. Caught up in all of this are two young people on different sides.

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11773877/1/The-Dark-Lord-Never-Died


I've seen other fics where Lucius Malfoy was the Minister of Magic, but this one seems a little more interesting. While characters are a bit ooc their core personalities are still there. I'd give this fic a 4/5 for the plot idea and the way it's executed, and while Ron and Hermione are the main pairing of the story the author is able to write his story without focusing solely on the relationship.


Checked by Minion, August. 14, 2016

 

Harry is working with Dumbledore as a horcrux detector.

 

I found this quite enjoyable, well executed and some new and interesting ideas. Vastly better than Patron by the same author, although some plot points were similar. It's now complete not WIP.

The changes Malfoy had wrought to society as minister were fairly well done, strongly reminiscent of Ancient Rome, with Malfoy as the emperor using his wealth, political nous and charm to build a cult of personality, backed by a personal legion of feared guards. The author's take on a blood-based society was great, with muggleborns brainwashed from birth to accept their place and adore Malfoy as their saviour and raised as his personal bodyguard. Honestly, I found the world building in this really engaging and well thought out.


Hermione is the main character in this. There is a well handled romance with Ron, with very little fluff. To be honest Hermione is hard to warm to, but is made bearable by a well written Ron and Luna. She's a little overpowered as well, explained as being trained from birth as a weapon. Malfoy is done really well, as is Dumbledore who dithers with his grand plan for 20 years and manipulates people and events in his good natured but strangely shortsighted way to fit the plan, just like in canon. My biggest gripe would be Harry, he's a total side show here, barely featuring and effectively just a horcrux container. The battle scenes are quite graphic, although for me they were lacking a spark to make them really come to life. I won't spoil the end aside from saying that I found the Voldemort storyline and its conclusion less compelling and less original than the Malfoy one.


Overall a fun read with some well executed original ideas. 4/5 for me.

 

Another Star Fox fic? Well, moving on...

I have to say, that for whatever his faults, Starfox has an innovative mind. I originally read this a while ago before finding it in here and deciding to give it a comment, but his work has a few telltale signs:

- Hermione is a Goddess.
- Harry is always at the back.
- Extraordinarily innovative concept held back by weak characterization.
- Good worldbuilding and excellent minor characters.

This fic holds true for most of them, and, I have to say that Ron and Luna are very well done. Hermione, as always, is the cold, calm, analytical genius who is almost impossible to relate to and makes for just the most, most boring main character. Malfoy and Dumbles (minor background characters) are very well done, which is a hallmark of Starfox. Really, he should write side stories or something, he'd be great at those. In the end, the Malfoy storyline is the star of the story, with Harry and Voldemort being really boring after the intense and methodical batter with Minister Malfoy.

Overall, 3.95/5. Not giving it a 4 because it has too many issues.

 

Unlike Starfox' other fics, I liked this one. Mostly.
As far as characters go:
-Hermione was Starfox Standard; cold, calm, analytical, impossible to relate.
-Harry's characterization was somewhat weak (and I prefer him to be the main character, but I can live with him not being so)
+Ron
+Malfoys (Lucius more so than Draco, but Draco was well done as well)
+Dumbledore
+Luna

Just so unfortunate that the main perspective character is Hermione. Almost all the other characters are more interesting to read about.

Story:

Voldemort is almost a throwaway plot. I get the feeling that he's included it mainly because it's Voldemort. Personally, I was half-way to anticipating a war against Voldemort that was, if not equal, at least half as good as that against Lucius. As it is, the story climaxes with the end of the Malfoy storyline.

Writing: technically sound. I didn't encounter jarring grammar issues or wonky sentence/plot flow. Pacing was generally good (at least, I never got the feeling of 'get on with it already').

I'm giving it a 3.5/5, rounded down to 3. A solid premise with a weak main character, excellent side characters, and an anticlimactic ending. It would probably be a 4/5 if he'd been able to take care of Voldemort before Lucius, assuming that the Lucius conclusion was as satisfying to read as it currently is.