You must not be familiar with the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. From the site:

Anyway that opening from Tyrant reminded me of Bulwer-Lytton's opening line from Paul Clifford, which is considered one of the worst opening lines ("It was a dark and stormy night...") in fiction. After all, nights are normally dark. So, there you go.

 

I like it. Sure, the battle with Voldemort was crappy as all hell, but the way he's set up the HP world to parallel Rome is tickling my fancy just right. Hell, I'm even tempted to go buy a couple of books on Octavian, since I haven't brushed up on my knowledge of Rome in a while.

 

Oh my god--I know this is off topic, but that site is awesome. Here's a bunch that actually made me laugh:

... I guess I'll go read that story now and come back with some legitimate posting material.

 

What Elli said. Andro: It's a nice gimmick but give a numerical value in () at least


On Chap 2.

Getting a bit of vibes from LOTR though. Eh...

The storys good. Like what everyone else said, chap 1 needs refinement. I have a feeling the author rushed that piece out to get at the real story.

A sacrifice, though one that should not have been made.

3.4/5

 

I read Silens Cursor's stuff, I only liked Renegade Cause. The other stories... Not so much...

 

http://forums.darklordpotter.net/showpost.php?p=315141&postcount=36

This explains my improved version of Bioplague's rating system and what they translate into as number ratings.

Also, Mercenary, please don't call it a gimmick. I really don't like that.

 

When I was five, camping in the back yard with my older sister and some mutual friends in a big ass tent, I started a ghost story with "It was a dark and stormy night - like tonight, only darker and stormier..."

I like to think that I've progressed as an author. Reading these...it seems that some people have not.

EDIT:

The story wasn't my cup of tea. It was well written and there was nothing wrong with it, but nothing to really hold my interest either. 3/5

 

Really not trying to be a dick here, but no one actually really uses Bio's rating system. Thats not even really the point I'm trying to make.

Not everyone is going to go and read your post there, and you're just making shit way more complicated than it needs to be. I'm not gonna remember the authors in the list that you put there, and quite frankly, I'm probably not gonna make the attempt to go find it every time I come across one of your reviews.

Meh, not that big a deal I guess. Just won't know what you rated it.

 

Back on topic..
I clicked this link because I was bored, and I'm glad I did, this is the first non Harry centric fic I've truly enjoyed, and I like the smooth transition that the author is making to make this a Harry centric fic. The writing is solid, even if the battle scenes are poor, however, I don't mind the poor battle scenes because this is a story of politics. I also like how the author is tying in the the story of Caesar and Octavion, I wonder who is going to play Brutus, my guess is either Crouch or Scrimgeour (my knowledge of the Roman Empire is shaky so I may have missed some obvious points). Surprisingly I don't mind Ginny in this fic, she is kind of a Mary Sue but it fits with this story.
4/5

 

I would think Brutus would be played by Frank Longbottom, since he was Caesar's friend prior to the murder. I think.

 

Not a bad story. In fact, I rather enjoyed.

As most have said, the battle scene's suck and the story could use more detail. But the story itself is quite interesting and the writing and characterization are solid.

Yes, it seems like the wizard population numbers are being fudged a bit, but for the purpose of telling the story I don't mind.

The author had Flitwick bring up the whole silly "Potters like redheads" mantra and the authors other stories and favorites are full of H/G. But the author has said romance won't play much of a role in this story, so hopefully it means nothing.

If I forgive the opening scenes, 4/5.

 

Yeah, you're right, I always forget that Caesar and Brutus were originally friends, and that Brutus justified the assassination b/c he truly believed Caesar was undermining and ruining the empire.

 

Who's Marc Antony? Draco?

 

That would seem to fit since Caesar and Antony were cousins, and Antony supported Caesar in his endeavors, and Draco is Sirius' nephew so it could fit. So if Harry is Octavian, Draco is Antony, who is the final leg of the triumvirate, or Lepidus? Could it be Ron? Well if Draco is Antony maybe Ginny will be Cleopatra, and therefore no H/G.

 

I love this fic. I makes me cackle with glee.

 

While this story does have a few flaws, those can be mostly overlooked when compared to all of the awesomeness it has. The H/G elements don't really bother me because Ginny doesn't have the attributes that usually make me abhor her. I found it to be a really interesting read overall, and I enjoyed the AUness where it presented itself. I also really like Roman history, so maybe that was an influencing factor. At any rate, I think this is worthy of a 5/5.

 

2/5. I got bored midway through the third chapter, clicked the little X, and haven't been back.

 

I really don't see what has everybody gushing about this fic. The concept is interesting, but in his/her quest to turn magical Britain into the mirror of ancient Rome, the author has destroyed the characterization of pretty much all the main characters. Sirius started out as a thoughtless, tactless prankster with some talent for dueling. The Potters die, and he's suddenly a cunning and ruthless politician overnight? I don't buy it.

And Harry? Reading and comprehending The Republic at age four? Utterly laughable. Not to mention the fact that, despite being around other children in his age range all his life, he still talks like a fucking robot and moons over some fangirlish caricature of Ginny Weasley. Really it just strikes me as a reasonably well written pile of shit.

2/5

 

I got around to reading Tyrant today, and imo it was average. The fight scenes were ridiculous with wizards using diffindo on each other. However, Harry reading philosophy books, and understanding them was even worse than the author's laziness to use decent spells. Despite this, I read all 4 of the chapters and I didn't have the urge to kill something.

3/5 For keeping me interested with a different concept.

 

This one's a bit hard to call honestly. Its true that the opening fight scene was ridiculous and author's take on what a 'smart' kid should be like is even more so, but if you're willing to push through the fic is interesting and probably worth the read. After the opening chapter there's a steady rise in quality as the story progresses.

What I liked:

-Its massively AU. Seriously
-The lack of usual one-dimensional Hogwarts drama (very little Hogwarts at all)
-No pranks. No Weasley twins
-The 'politics' is above the usual, lacking standard. A lot less pretentious garbage
-Great use of time-skips
-Sirius-centric in the beginning but it gets nobody-centric after a bit and its easy to follow events.
-Great use of goblins/goblin war

Overall the story is well written

What I didn't like:

-The fights are shit, it's that simple.
-Early Dumbledore is portrayed in the usual Dumbledore bashing fashion with him being completely unreasonable and averse to any kind of decisive action (He's much more adequately characterised later on though).
-Harry/Ginny, though I'll admit its not as annoyingly done as the usual H/G rubbish.
-Harry's got a plaster for every sore
-The magic is seriously lacking
-I suspect the author of creating a closet Super!Harry though so far he hasn't done anything impresssive magically (no-one has, not even Voldemort).

Spoiler

Harry duels Dumbledore and Flitwick regularly. He then went on to become an apprentice under Nicholas Flamel

The beginnning isn't great but up to the latest chapter it stands at about a 3.5 for me. Its definitely not for everyone but its better than it looks.