Harry Potter Fanfic Reviews: stories by AngieJ
Hi people,
Obviously this is a brand new livejournal. I will mainly use it to leave reviews and today is no exception. I read a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction and by now I have hoarded quite a few gems so I thought I should be generous and share them. Some of these stories are well-known in fandom, but I know how difficult it can be to find genuinely good fics in the sheer immensity of the fanfiction realm, so I hope my livejournal help people discover what the very best harry potter fanfictions are.
The two fanfictions I discuss today are Trouble in Paradise and Paradise Lost, by AngieJ. Like Blood of Mud, Wing of Bat, by Whippy (a fic I will probably review in the near future), it takes place many years after Harry Potter and his friends have left Hogwarts.
Title: Trouble in Paradise
Author: AngieJ, aka Ebony Elizabeth
Status: COMPLETE
Length: 12 very long chapters
My opinion: very good fic
Genre: the other side of romance or how good kids have become adults capable of hurting each other despite their best intentions; there’s also a good deal of mystery and adventure.
Rating: I’d say PG, but I’m probably a bit lenient so let’s make it 12A. The author warns that the story is about adults and thus contains adult themes, but there are no shocking scenes as such.
Pairings: wouldn’t you like to know? ;-) It starts as R/Hr.
Spoilers: the fic is based on the first four Harry Potter books
Author’s Summary: “Ron and Hermione have loved each other since their Hogwarts days. Now that they are married, mistakes and misunderstandings threaten to tear the very foundation of what they've built together apart. Can their love survive the ultimate test? 31-year old Daily Prophet reporter Angelina Johnson-Weasley narrates.”
Critique:
This fanfiction has a lot of things going for it.
Its characters have become adults, facing real problems in a real world and the author has managed to give her Potterverse all the complexity one can expect from an adult universe. Her world has a history, legends, politics, fashions, customs...etc As a result, it is highly convincing and one is soon engrossed in the turmoil of that magical society.
The choice of point of view is also very clever. The story is mainly concerned with the Golden Trio, but is seen from the vantage point of Angelina Johnson, who is now married to Fred Weasley. As a result, we have access to a lot of information from a member of the extended Weasley family (who also happens to be an extremely inquisitive journalist), but we don’t know everything. A lot of what is actually going on between Harry, Ron and Hermione is not clear to us for a long while so the suspense is truly intense and the reader is simply dying to uncover the clue that will enable him/her to make sense of it all. Fortunately, the author knows very well what is going on and in due time all the threads combine and make perfect sense.
I have relatively little to criticize. Regarding style, she tends to use the expression “a case in point” too much, but that’s hardly a crime and other than that the story is very well written. Perhaps the passages of action/adventure are not quite as convincing as those dealing with the characters’ struggles in their daily lives, but they are still vastly superior to the average fanfiction.
Where to find it: AngieJ has unfortunately decided to stop writing fanfiction, because she felt it was not compatible with her new role in leading children in her church (she explains the reasons for her decision in a letter to her fans dated from October 2006, I haven’t found its original location however). She has also removed her works from the net, but has allowed her fans to continue sharing them. As a result, they can still be found on some independent archives, including Remember Us? which is and I quote “The long, long, *long* overdue central archive for fiction, art, and links featuring characters of color.”
Title: Paradise Lost
Author: AngieJ, aka Ebony Elizabeth
My opinion: good fic
Status: sort of complete, but one feels the need for a sequel (that will not come)
Length: 9 very long chapters
Genre: romance and adventure
Rating: 12A (some violence and allusions to sexual relationships, including homosexual relationships, but nothing too racy)
Pairings: H/Hr
Spoilers: the fic is based on the first four Harry Potter books and is a sequel to Trouble in Paradise
Author’s Summary: “Political upheaval and plagues and passion… oh my! In the year 2012, the wizarding world faces the threat of genocide amidst a time of turbulence and terrible prejudice towards Muggles and their magical progeny. The only one who might be able to erase this threat is the most famous Muggle-born witch of all, Dr. Hermione Granger… that is, if sheand her friends can figure out this most diabolical of puzzles before she is erased..”
Critique:
Like its prequel, Paradise Lost describes a very convincing magical world, whose legends and customs will fascinate the reader. The intrigues of the first part have now developed into fully-fledged evil plans for world domination and if that was not enough to catch your attention, the author has another trick coming for you. By dispossessing her heroine from her magical powers for most of the story, she creates a sense of unease and insecurity that will keep you dying to know what is coming next. It is actually quite amazing to see how the incredibly stubborn, proud and self-reliant Hermione deals with the situation.
I know that some readers like this story better than the previous one, but I disagree. Romance is taking a much larger part so that the intrigue gradually fades into the background and I think the story loses some of its edge because of it. Moreover the point of view is now that of an omniscient narrator focusing on Hermione so that now all the doubts, emotions and questioning of the main characters are stated explicitly. What made the charm of Trouble in Paradise for me was precisely its sense of mystery which encouraged the reader to look for any available clue, as in crime story. Here everything is spelled out so it probably makes for an easier read, but it certainly is less intriguing.
Another flaw in this otherwise very well-written fic is the number of new characters and places: as a great deal of the action takes place in Brazil, new characters appear and they are not all equally convincing.
To conclude I would say that this story leans much more into the romance genre than the previous one, and while it does so with undeniable talent, it doesn’t have the originality which makes Trouble in Paradise one of the fics you simply Must Read.
Where to find it: AngieJ has unfortunately decided to stop writing fanfiction, because she felt it was not compatible with her new role in leading children in her church (she explains the reasons for her decision in a letter to her fans dated from October 2006, I haven’t found its original location however). She has also removed her works from the net, but has allowed her fans to continue sharing them. As a result, they can still be found on some independent archives, including Remember Us? which is and I quote “The long, long, *long* overdue central archive for fiction, art, and links featuring characters of color.”
If you feel I'm being unfair or if you would like to give your opinion on those fics, please feel free to comment. Also if you want to seek revenge, you can review the fic I'm cowriting with my friend
r_fluffyIt's a work in slow progress called Harry Potter and the Great Deception and the first four chapters are available on her livejournal.
Obviously this is a brand new livejournal. I will mainly use it to leave reviews and today is no exception. I read a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction and by now I have hoarded quite a few gems so I thought I should be generous and share them. Some of these stories are well-known in fandom, but I know how difficult it can be to find genuinely good fics in the sheer immensity of the fanfiction realm, so I hope my livejournal help people discover what the very best harry potter fanfictions are.
The two fanfictions I discuss today are Trouble in Paradise and Paradise Lost, by AngieJ. Like Blood of Mud, Wing of Bat, by Whippy (a fic I will probably review in the near future), it takes place many years after Harry Potter and his friends have left Hogwarts.
Title: Trouble in Paradise
Author: AngieJ, aka Ebony Elizabeth
Status: COMPLETE
Length: 12 very long chapters
My opinion: very good fic
Genre: the other side of romance or how good kids have become adults capable of hurting each other despite their best intentions; there’s also a good deal of mystery and adventure.
Rating: I’d say PG, but I’m probably a bit lenient so let’s make it 12A. The author warns that the story is about adults and thus contains adult themes, but there are no shocking scenes as such.
Pairings: wouldn’t you like to know? ;-) It starts as R/Hr.
Spoilers: the fic is based on the first four Harry Potter books
Author’s Summary: “Ron and Hermione have loved each other since their Hogwarts days. Now that they are married, mistakes and misunderstandings threaten to tear the very foundation of what they've built together apart. Can their love survive the ultimate test? 31-year old Daily Prophet reporter Angelina Johnson-Weasley narrates.”
Critique:
This fanfiction has a lot of things going for it.
Its characters have become adults, facing real problems in a real world and the author has managed to give her Potterverse all the complexity one can expect from an adult universe. Her world has a history, legends, politics, fashions, customs...etc As a result, it is highly convincing and one is soon engrossed in the turmoil of that magical society.
The choice of point of view is also very clever. The story is mainly concerned with the Golden Trio, but is seen from the vantage point of Angelina Johnson, who is now married to Fred Weasley. As a result, we have access to a lot of information from a member of the extended Weasley family (who also happens to be an extremely inquisitive journalist), but we don’t know everything. A lot of what is actually going on between Harry, Ron and Hermione is not clear to us for a long while so the suspense is truly intense and the reader is simply dying to uncover the clue that will enable him/her to make sense of it all. Fortunately, the author knows very well what is going on and in due time all the threads combine and make perfect sense.
I have relatively little to criticize. Regarding style, she tends to use the expression “a case in point” too much, but that’s hardly a crime and other than that the story is very well written. Perhaps the passages of action/adventure are not quite as convincing as those dealing with the characters’ struggles in their daily lives, but they are still vastly superior to the average fanfiction.
Where to find it: AngieJ has unfortunately decided to stop writing fanfiction, because she felt it was not compatible with her new role in leading children in her church (she explains the reasons for her decision in a letter to her fans dated from October 2006, I haven’t found its original location however). She has also removed her works from the net, but has allowed her fans to continue sharing them. As a result, they can still be found on some independent archives, including Remember Us? which is and I quote “The long, long, *long* overdue central archive for fiction, art, and links featuring characters of color.”
Title: Paradise Lost
Author: AngieJ, aka Ebony Elizabeth
My opinion: good fic
Status: sort of complete, but one feels the need for a sequel (that will not come)
Length: 9 very long chapters
Genre: romance and adventure
Rating: 12A (some violence and allusions to sexual relationships, including homosexual relationships, but nothing too racy)
Pairings: H/Hr
Spoilers: the fic is based on the first four Harry Potter books and is a sequel to Trouble in Paradise
Author’s Summary: “Political upheaval and plagues and passion… oh my! In the year 2012, the wizarding world faces the threat of genocide amidst a time of turbulence and terrible prejudice towards Muggles and their magical progeny. The only one who might be able to erase this threat is the most famous Muggle-born witch of all, Dr. Hermione Granger… that is, if sheand her friends can figure out this most diabolical of puzzles before she is erased..”
Critique:
Like its prequel, Paradise Lost describes a very convincing magical world, whose legends and customs will fascinate the reader. The intrigues of the first part have now developed into fully-fledged evil plans for world domination and if that was not enough to catch your attention, the author has another trick coming for you. By dispossessing her heroine from her magical powers for most of the story, she creates a sense of unease and insecurity that will keep you dying to know what is coming next. It is actually quite amazing to see how the incredibly stubborn, proud and self-reliant Hermione deals with the situation.
I know that some readers like this story better than the previous one, but I disagree. Romance is taking a much larger part so that the intrigue gradually fades into the background and I think the story loses some of its edge because of it. Moreover the point of view is now that of an omniscient narrator focusing on Hermione so that now all the doubts, emotions and questioning of the main characters are stated explicitly. What made the charm of Trouble in Paradise for me was precisely its sense of mystery which encouraged the reader to look for any available clue, as in crime story. Here everything is spelled out so it probably makes for an easier read, but it certainly is less intriguing.
Another flaw in this otherwise very well-written fic is the number of new characters and places: as a great deal of the action takes place in Brazil, new characters appear and they are not all equally convincing.
To conclude I would say that this story leans much more into the romance genre than the previous one, and while it does so with undeniable talent, it doesn’t have the originality which makes Trouble in Paradise one of the fics you simply Must Read.
Where to find it: AngieJ has unfortunately decided to stop writing fanfiction, because she felt it was not compatible with her new role in leading children in her church (she explains the reasons for her decision in a letter to her fans dated from October 2006, I haven’t found its original location however). She has also removed her works from the net, but has allowed her fans to continue sharing them. As a result, they can still be found on some independent archives, including Remember Us? which is and I quote “The long, long, *long* overdue central archive for fiction, art, and links featuring characters of color.”
If you feel I'm being unfair or if you would like to give your opinion on those fics, please feel free to comment. Also if you want to seek revenge, you can review the fic I'm cowriting with my friend
r_fluffyIt's a work in slow progress called Harry Potter and the Great Deception and the first four chapters are available on her livejournal.