Whoa, I almost gave up on this one. An excellent update.

 

Very glad to see you've updated, Tinn. Nice parting shot from Romilda, too; other witnesses to take care of, indeed.

I like that you're not stopping with the mystery and intrigue side of this, too. Can't wait to find out about the sword, and everything it entails. Congrats on another perfect update.

 

Very nice update!

 

I had thought that once the nature and source of the "Heart of the Forest" was exposed, that all of the story's mystery would be laid bare.

Not so much so, which is nice, as that suggests there is far more to go in what has largely been a fantastic piece of work.

 

Tinn as always delivers in her coquettish way, flirting with the 'reveal all' giving us blue balls and demurring from actually laying open the mystery.

What a freaking woman!

But she already knows all this, since I have been yelling at her for over a year now.

Credit is due on writing a true mystery and at times suspense piece. This chapter follows in the same tradition as far as that goes from past chapters. I enjoyed characterization and emotion in this chapter a lot. Robbards and Daphne continue to be strong three-dimensional characters who are easy to invest in as a reader; much like Romilda's legs.

I felt Sao got off easy. I imagine it was only the fact that she knows how to heal Harry's friends which stayed his hand. Otherwise it seemed like he bowed to Eunice's authority. Daphne seems to be making some hasty choices high on the euphoria of finding a place she belongs to. I wonder how her need to have a home in Isiame nation and a mate in Harry just the way she wants sabotages her dreams.

Great work Tinn, I always enjoy taking away rich imagery, story-telling, and complex characters from reading one of your chapters.

 

Damn, I thought there was an update !

Since I'm here, I'll just say that this is easily the best WIP I'm following, and quite possibly the best fanfic I've read so far, after shamelessly abusing the library.

This. Characterization is the most important thing for me in a story, and you obviously have put a lot of thought into your characters, and that makes for a captivating fic.

If only it were updated more often...

Not much concrit here, just a poorly disguised "awesome story ! update soon plzzzz"

5/5

 

First off -- a very belated thanks for all those who reviewed when the chapter first came out, I seem to have forgotten to post then.

Now that's done. Sesc: thanks for the comment, I am a huge characterisation whore (as a reader and as a writer) so your praise makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Your and nuhuh's guess about Daphne is about right; she's finally found a place where she belongs, and she's too elated to question anything the Isiames say or do. But once that first moment passes, she's independent and smart enough to make a couple of good guesses on her own.

That said, she's rather pragmatic as well -- and not overly scrupulous.

JWH --

*eyes the location*

How did I miss your arrival here?

Thanks for the praise, and sorry for the pitiful update rate -- although I have a reinforced-concrete excuse for once, uni is being a bitch. Even more than usual, I mean. Oh, and bienvenue à DLP. ^_^

I've already started on the next chapter, I completed the first scene ages ago and I know what happens next; I just need to find the time to sit down and write it.

 

An updatez?!

 

Damn. I just read the update, and now I'm hooked again...

Please don't leave another 6 months until the next update

 

Hmm, I'm not really a fan of Song of the Trees tbh. The OCs although at times interesting tend to get on my nerves, and the whole concept is one I don't like. It's probably because I haven't read the whole thing in so long that I don't like it, but I don't recall enjoying it all that much when I read it for the first time.

That said, this was the fic I recommended to my younger brother when he wanted to start writing fanfiction. Tinn's quality of language is almost unmatched in the fandom, the plot well it's not to my taste, but it is still well-contrived and flows seamlessly from chapter to chapter. In terms of technique I'm 90% sure that this is the best fanfic I know and the great thing is, that wasn't always the case. You can trace and watch as Tinn Tam's quality of writing improves.

Still the fact remains that I didn't enjoy this new chapter. I'm tired of Harry being good but not great, the unresolved issues are starting to drag and the almost but not quite angst is getting irksome. Still it's one of the best and I read it because I wish I could write like that.

 

Agreed. But I wouldn't go as far as to say that this is the best fanfic I've come across (in terms of language/technique). Joe's Wastelands of Time beats this in every aspect I can think of.

Rather, Tinn's work is right there at the top with notable names like Perspicacity, Nuhuh, Heather Sinclair, Water Mage, Jon, Swimdraconian... and a few others I'm sure I've missed.

As for the plot, it's unique in its own right and probably the best in its genre. The characterisation is spot on, and coupled with the angst, creates an atmosphere that is bound to creep you out. This is especially noticeable in the earlier chapters - before Daphne; before Harry ventures into the Forbidden Forest and finally discovers the answers he had been seeking for so long - when everything starts to fall apart as Harry is left alone and friendless; struggling to salvage what little information he could dig up regarding the Third Kind; warring with his emotions to maintain even a semblance of his sanity. So yeah, it's literature at its best; it's fucked up and does tend to drag on after a while, which is exactly what made me hit the 'x' button on my browser two years ago.

On a whim, I decided to give this another shot last night. Suffice to say I wasn't disappointed. Read the whole thing in one stretch and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Strange. Maybe I was high on boredom or something...

 

U did post this a while ago so mabey this information wasn't known yet. But the cloak can't be detected by spells thats the whole point of it whereas an invisability spell can be detected.

 

First of all: Learn to spell. It's 'you'.

Next: That's Deathly Hallows. Generally, both Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows are thrown out of the canon of the stories posted here. It is a *rare* story indeed that includes either of those and isn't in the Recycling Bin.

EDIT: Throwing out some canon is the point of fanfiction. Why write it if you're simply going to re-hash canon anyway?

 

You made me hope for an update for this story to reply to a comment that was made 3 years ago by someone who's since then been banned.

Also, you spelt both "you" and "maybe" wrong.

Rage.

 

Oh Angelus. Good point about the Cloak, but I think the author has chosen to deviate from canon slightly. Also, since you're new, you'll want to consider posting an intro so we can properly get to know you; maybe hop on IRC and see what goes down, as well?

To the author, if she's willin' to answer: did you have a conclusion mapped out for this story? I'm curious as to whether the sparse updates are more 'cause of school or a loss of steam, is all. I had forgotten about this fic, but I'd resubscribe to the thread if I knew you intended to finish.

 

JB: I've been following it on ffnet. I thought it was updated no more than a few weeks ago.

 

Actually, the newb is right. Sort of. Well, that's not why I discarded completely the 'Invisibility Spell' in favour of the Cloak, but she's still right.

TIO's argument was that Harry was a pussy because he cared very much about the Cloak, which is destroyed in chapter 5 (well, 4, but we find out in 5); and that he shouldn't care so much, as he only had to learn the Invisibility Spell instead of relying on a bit of clothing. I never refuted this argument -- mostly because several people did it for me, before I even joined the forums -- but if I had to, I'd give the following reasons:

First, Harry doesn't care about the Cloak because it's useful. He cares because it's his last link to his parents and the happy, carefree years in Hogwarts. I could even make an in-depth psychological analysis of Harry, about how the Cloak symbolises his hatred of unwanted attention as well as his more intrepid nature (since it helped him in a good half of his illicit escapades). I'll spare you, though.

Second, there is no canon proof of something called the Invisibility Spell. There's the Disillusionment Charm, which doesn't even sound half as efficient as the Cloak. Oh, and there's Dumbledore saying he doesn't need a cloak to be invisible. Well, what could I answer to that... Oh right, he's Dumbledore. As in, the most powerful wizard in the world, with about 140 years of magical experience behind him. By chapter 5, Harry is not 21 yet.

The point I'm trying to make is: I actually followed canon instead of throwing it out. Hence my conclusion -- SULEGNA's not wrong.

(That said, back then I had a penchant for dramatic writing. So even though TIO gave stupid reasons, he was right about the overdramatic tone of that scene. I'd probably write it differently today.)


HSRTG: This story is HBP-compliant, and the only reason it's not DH-compliant is that it was started 3 years ago.

... What the hell, three years ago?

God I feel old.


JustBlaise: the way I'll reach my conclusion has evolved over the months -- okay, years -- but the conclusion itself was planned out from the start. And the sparse updates are exclusively because of school. I haven't had a writer's block for 'Song' in over a year, just too little time to write it.

Speaking of which, I'm in the middle of revising finals. I'll respond to the reviews left for the previous chapter right before I post the next, and until then, I'm going to ditch you all.

Later.