Title: The Faun's Labyrinth
Author: Estella May
Rating: T
Genre: Family/Fantasy
DLP Category: General
Pairing: None, I think, unless you interpret the Albus/Gellert friendship as something else.
Words: 10,222
Published: March 31, 2008
Status: Oneshot
Summary: "Ariana Dumbledore, in the summer of 1899."
Link: The Faun's Labyrinth

Since this was from '08, I first did a search on the Library forums and the current Almost Recommended. I couldn't find it there, so I assumed that nobody has introduced this one-shot yet.

The concept, as the author says, is influenced by Pan's Labyrinth. I haven't seen the film, but this fic didn't rely on it too heavily that I couldn't understand what was going on.

Ariana is written beautifully. Her sanity is a little unhinged, but you can still see an innocent, fourteen year-old girl; I can understand why Aberforth doted over her.

Spoiler

Kendra and Ariana's death were done well. I may be biased, since the Dumbledore tragedy is one of my favourite back-stories, but I was genuinely touched by the subject matter. Especially Ariana's perspective on the drama unfolding around her.

At approximately 10,000 words, this is a rather long one-shot, but I maintain that it is worth it. A little confusing at times (probably due to the Pan's Labyrinth references), but satisfying.

4-5/5


Checked by Minion, August 19, 2013

 

Interesting if not a little fluffy and overly sentimental. The writing is pretty decent over all, but the first couple of paragraphs read like the narration of a perfume advert.

Fundamentally though it was just pretty boring. I don't think Dumbledore's back story is at all interesting and hearing it from the stilted perspective of a fourteen year old head case made it even less so.

Eh. 4/5 because it was well written and I'm sure other people are far more likely to find the story matter interesting.

 

I had watched Pan's Labyrinth some years ago, and while my brain isn't able to fully memorize it well, I still can remember the overall plot, storyline, and characters. And, reading this fic felt like some nostalgia for me.

Surprisingly this fic contain MORE than just a little influence from the Pan's Labyrinth itself. And I have to say that the author pull it well, in a very interesting way without forgetting the fact that the story is indeed a HP story, not PL story.

So now, for the story rating...

Writing is decent. Really decent and well written. Nice descriptions, and wonderfully blur the line between HP and PL with still HP as the main focus.'O' for 'Outstanding'

Storyline is good. Not blasting, mind-blowing, and not even close to the dread-horror-angst that Pan's Labyrinth has, but it's still good. 'A' for 'Acceptable'

Characters. Well, clearly the author wanted to make Ariana's characters similar to Ofelia. Not fully success, but still a decent effort. Albus and Aberfoth characters... are a little disappointing. Not too bright. But Gellert characters is surprising. I like the interaction between him and Ariana near the end of story, and somehow that was the one that make this fic still a HP fic, not a crossover. So, 'E' for 'Exceed Expectations'.

Score: (5+3+4)/3 = 4

Add 0.5 for my personal liking toward Pan's Labyrinth and how this story successfully refresh the memories of it in my brain. So I give it 4.5/5

 

Excellently written, very compelling. Ariana particularly is really well written, the author captures her insanity perfectly. Really worth reading!