I'll just throw in two of my favorite authors who are a bit under represented in this thread: Voice of the Nephilim and Nuhuh.

I like plenty others, but a lot of them have been covered.

 

As much as I LOVED By the Divining Light, I didn't think of it as quite long enough to be an all-time fave. Now, once the third (and last?) installment is done, it has the potential to be the best series ever. That, I can agree with.

I've been meaning to review that one in the Library. While I really liked the premise, there was always one thing that stuck in my head and pretty much ruined it for me: Why in fuck is Harry so scared of the Hellraisers? I understand they're scary looking, etc., but it's pretty explicitly stated that the screams of the Dursleys are what fucks him up. He didn't actually *SEE* any of the most likely horrific torture, etc. that the Dursleys went through. Yet he's scared shitless of Hellraiser and the others from then on. Even when he has seen all manner of magic and magical monsters. All because he could hear the Dursleys being hacked apart or whatever happened to them.

It just seemed to be a stupid reason, when he never knew for certain that Hellraiser couldn't be killed with even the least bit of magic. Eh, it made me lose any sense of feeling in the fic.

Weird - that's also the first fanfic I ever read, and in spite of the fact it's not aged all that well from a who-lived, who-died, etc. standpoint, I recc it every chance I get if for no other reason than the superb writing and the extremely well-fleshed-out OCs.

 

Best completed fic: What Lies Beneath by MS.

Most enjoyable completed fic: Denarian series by Shezza.

Best incomplete fic: By the Divining Light.

 

I was under the impression that Harry's fear of them was something instinctive because he was the one who opened the puzzle box. He didn't need to see them do anything horrific because he understood it on a primal level. That's just my interpretation though.

 

I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say that when you're a young kid and your family is butchered and shit - that's probably gonna leave a mark, magic or not. Sure, witnessing it would be a hell of a lot worse, but just being there and knowing it happened would deal some serious psychological trauma.

 

Sheeza is pregnant?

 

My favourite HP fanfic?

The Lie I've Lived by jbern - Hands down.

My favs from some other fandoms, just to provide a bit of variation:

ST- Voyager: Past Imperfect by Fletcher Delancey and the following four books in this series, plus the offshoot novel "Without a front". --> femslash, OC and angst warning applies.

Star Wars: Heart of Darkness by Cka3ka- a mostly dark and action filled AU fic featuring Vader and a budding Sith Lady Leia. Not finished, likely abandoned at 213.000 words. *Sigh*

Lord of the rings: Saruman and the Blue Wizards by Rob Rastorp- The story of Sarumans early years in middle earth, his fight against evil and the first steps of his corruption. Brillantly done in a style very similar to Tolkien, with much action and epic battles.

 

About to give birth this August I think.

 

My favourite fanfic ever is the original version of the Ranma 1/2 fic Process of Elimination by Brian Randall

It may be old and it has it's faults but despite that it will always be my favourite.

 

Some like the Grey Maiden series are considered good because of the length rather than quality at times, I think.

I can't say anything about Circular Reasoning, because honestly, I haven't had the three-four days spare time needed to probably read it through yet.

My favorite fics in order:

1st and I'm honestly suprised it hasn't been mentioned by name yet, Sitra Ahra

2. Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived

3. Forging the Sword

 

Forging the Sword goes on my list as well, now that I think of it.

 

Stranger in an Unholy Land is a fairly early example of most of the now stale cliches, even though it certainly isn't the origin of them. I mean, it started in 2004; it's bound to have a lot of problems compared to more modern favorites. That said, the opening is hardly the best part of it. It gets significantly more awesome as you near the middle, and then sort of peters out, IIRC. Don't bother with the sequel unless you have nothing better to read. Not only is the sequel unfinished, it is much weaker than its predecessor.

 

At first thought, I don't really have one. Haven't read Wastelands, Divining Light or Circular Reasoning and I only truly loved Denarian Lord out of the trilogy... No, okay, I have a Favourites list on FF.net, and that about covers it, a few older ones from my first fanfiction days aside...

Ehh, I guess I'll say Ectomancer and Song of the Trees, but it sucks there's a good chance both will end up forever abandoned - despite Rusty's recent Ectomancer rewriting blitz.

 

Times like this I wish there was a thumbs down button.

 

It's hard to narrow down to just one favorite story. A favorite that hasn't yet been mentioned is lulu42's Path of Decision.

 

Best fic I've Ever read : Harry Potter and the Hero's Path.

I have trouble choosing the second between Wastelands of Time and Stranger in an Unholy Land. Also, Renegade Cause.

And simply because I was introduced to awesome Independent Harry through this fic, the Legacies series by The Dark Lord Nedved. Hasn't been updated in quite a while.

 

Favourite in progress- Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived

Favourite completed- A Shattered Prophecy

Favourite abandoned- Traitorous OR Antithesis

 

My favourites include pretty much anything written by Nuhuh or VotN. Renegade Cause, Omagic's Dark Respite and the Denarian Series along with Amerision's Equal and Opposite also make the list.

And yes, Malignant Objects is on there as well. Say what you will about the fic - the prose is like rolling naked in money.

 

Slightly dirty and you don't know where it came from?