You are judging it by very much todays standards. Back when it was first written in 2005, it was a very good story.

I prefer to remember it for that, as now, it definitely is cliched.

Just finished rereading it actually, and while it is cliched, it is still written very well. Then again, i've always been a fan of Jeconias.

 

I find this story very, very flat. It's far too unrealistic, with all conversations spilling way too much information in one go. Everyone is too perfect, and the story loses it's zing right when everyone goes back to Hogwarts, as Voldemort is essentially a dead man walking. Disregarding cliches, i find it a fairly poor piece, but one of a prolific writer, who got better over time. When i read this two years ago, I thought it fantastic, but then again, I was much younger, and much less exposed. With more literature behind me now, I see it as a good piece, but just not great. It could have been far superior to what it is now. And it just isn't. It lacks details of environment, making it slightly two dimensional, real life dialogue, with two dimensional characters... actually, the whole story is slightly two dimensional. Jeconis is a masterful story teller, but this piece screams slightly ill contrived; it has a great premise, and it reads well pretty on in, but it shows Jeconis to be an idealist with set, flawless images of love and life, giving him/her an escape reality. Sure there is conflict, but it's just not enough. Harry goes from training for eight months to being a god, which i just find unrealistic, and unsavory. it leaves a bad taste in my mouth knowing that everything is happening so easily for him; there's hard work, and then the thermadorian reaction after his training, where everything just is. His characters are too open as well. People in real life are slightly jaded, not willing to share every intimate detail of their lives like Ginny. Characterizations should be based on levels, with a depth to each individual.

All said and done, it's a good story, but it's not real reading. This is what you read when you want a fun time, and to pass time.

3.5/5

 

Yeah, the scene-setting is pretty much nonexistent. In the Hope story, there is what should have been a memorable scene is dispensed with in a sparse few sentences, when Beauxbatons is lifted, grounds and all, and somehow floated across the Channel to Hogwarts. What a damn shame.

So fine, the writing is based around dialogue and introspection. Character-driven stories are great.

Which understandably makes it seem a little lacking in the common sense department when the characters driving the story are the embodiment of perfection.

Why base one's writing solely on characters when one can't shape realistic (ie., non-Mary Sue) characterizations?

I have no problems whatsoever with the cliches since I know this fic propagated some of them, like Pansy concealing her true image.

The Mary Sue portrayal of Pansy transcends time and is ultimately what killed the fic for me.

2/5. Pretty forgettable stuff.

Even so, I suspect my perception of the story is colored in its favor by my knowing the author was Jeconais. If that username was something not backed by a massive reputation, I would probably have closed the page. Same for everything else he has written.