Guide to Completed SSHG Epics (HBP-era)

[harmony_bites]

I mentioned in a previous post a friend had mentioned she hadn’t read a lengthy post-HBP SSHG story that matched the old classics, which left me to scurry to catch up on my reading to see if she was right. I searched through FanfictionNet, AdultFanfiction, Restricted Section, Ashwinder, Petulant Poetess and OWLBelow is listed every single completed

Comments

[shiv5468]

Good god, the ship has gone to the dogs. Most of those are awful!

[harmony_bites]

Yes, most of them are--I'm hoping the picture in the novels is better--I'm hoping we'll do better in DH. (But note, part of the reason most are awful is that a certain author-who-shall-not-be-named is responsible for 10 of them.

Also, remember, there are still WIPs posting from that time that may wind up classics in the ship--notably bloodcult_of_freud's Seven Prepostrous Things

I'll admit though, the picture this showed of "my gen" in the ship rather depressed me.

[shiv5468]

It's all rape, doom, gloom and misery.

~shakes head~

Something must be done.

[harmony_bites]

I think DH will help--truly. HBP was a shock--and even for those of us who still though Snape was on the right side, many of us expected the worse. And for those who liked Snape on the darkside--well.

But with the worse over, and plot holes you can drive a truck through allowing Snape to be plausibly alive--with Harry actually on Snape's side, I think it's actually easier to imagine a happy ending for him--maybe even to imagine doing humor again--note how little humor there is above.

[droxy]

I could swear there were more! maybe they dont hit the 100,000 word mark.

You did this search manually? ACK

[harmony_bites]

I had to search manually on AFF and Ashwinder--which doesn't have a good search function for this. For RS, TPP, FFN and OWL, it's easy to do a search for works above 100,000 words and note if they are complete or not--and yes, this is everything--a small enough list I could post a guide to the whole thing.

But remember, there are also many works in progress. Blood's Seven Prepostrous Things, Wonderchild's Walk Through Fire, Danae and Wade's Ten Pieces of Silver, my own Book of Shadows. And lots of works don't don't reach epic length.

But yes, this is all of it--all I could find. If there are others lurking out there, they're on private or invite only sites I couldn't easily search on. Or maybe WIKTT Archives, whose search function is too frustrating and buggy and whose word count is unreliable.

[droxy]

yes, I was wondering if you cooked up a program.

but i was also wondering if you tried advance search on a search engine.

just curious mind you...but I am list freak.

There was a huge fic by Azello, but I think she took it down (But for you alone- I think was the title). it was 300K or more. well crafted and excellently written, but the subject matter just murdered me emotionally.

[shiv5468]

She did take it down.

Thought it was emotional nonsense myself but then I've never liked angsty pieces. Too close to stupidity for my taste.

[kribu]

Hmm. I think I've read most of the HBP-compliant ones (although not all of them) and actually enjoyed most of the ones I read... although having enjoyed a story doesn't necessarily mean wanting to read it again or placing it in my personal favourites list.

The non-HBP-compliant list is quite different, isn't it? I haven't actually read more than a handful of the ones there.

I do think there are more strong post-HBP stories, but quite a lot of them are most likely under 100,000 words. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing - as much as I like well-written long fics, I have a feeling that tighter writing actually suited the post-HBP world better in general.

At least post-DH there seems to be a definite general switch towards lighter and less gloomy fics.

[harmony_bites]

I can't say I enjoyed a majority of even the canon-compliant ones (6 of 16 not being a majority) though maybe I'm too picky--and there were three "near misses" What's even more worrisome is that there are only 4 I could say I loved, and each I'd have reservations reccing as an intro to the ship. One I love but has been controversial with some and is a bit fluffy (even though it's reputation is the opposite) In another the Snape (and the story) is very dark--really at the border of what I can stand. Another isn't really complete--just stopped--and is continuing in another story. And the other, although imaginative and well-written, like other stories by the author can at times be squicky.

Where is the HBP Falling Further In, it's Soul Searching? There are admittedly, stories on this list others love I despise that they'd champion, particularly among the non-compliant list.

The non-HBP-compliant list is quite different, isn't it? I haven't actually read more than a handful of the ones there.Nine out of the 16 are by Ms Figg, and not

[kribu]

I wouldn't recommend any of the post-HBP epics for someone just starting out either (although I don't think I'd generally recommend an epic as an intro for anyone anyway - with the exception of The Fire and the Rose, possibly).

I did like five of the six you've marked (I haven't read As the Pages Turn yet) and would consider at least a couple of them among my most favourite stories in the ship - Accountable in particular.

I've read one or two shorter pieces by Ms Figg and I doubt I'll be trying the longer ones. I can see the appeal but it's not quite my cup of tea - PWP in general isn't, and I tend to avoid stories with too much smut, although there are exceptions (I do enjoy ladyofthemasque's writing for example, although there were chunks of For Someone Special that I skipped, and bits of In Annulo as well).

[harmony_bites]

Of the epics above, Accountable is my favorite as well, and if there's any I'd recommend to a newbie, it would be that one.

I actually wouldn't hesitate to recommend epics to newbies--I think this is a ship a bit hard to sell to those who've just heard of it, and something lengthy to brainwash to convince a good thing--and yes, I think Fire and the Rose would be just the right thing.

I liked In Annulo because it's on the whole well-written and very imaginative--but it has some things that struck me as hard to buy, I didn't like the N/C in it or think in necessary, and parts squick me--so I'd be hesitant to rec it to someone new to the ship, despite its virtues.

You're kinder to Ms Figg than I am frankly. Her characterizations make me want to claw my eyes out.

[silburygirl]

List! *mems*

To make Snape rich or a pureblood with a Snape or Prince manor or jazzed-up Spinner’s End is like making Spock of Star Trek a full Vulcan, Darcy an Irish-American who grew up in the slums of Olde New York, or removing House’s limp.

Oh, God, yes.

I have read surprisingly few of these, but mostly because they didn't appeal to me to begin with, or I didn't know about them. Although the ones that I didn't know about are mostly Ms_Figg's and I made a distinct choice not to know about those.

[harmony_bites]

Ms Figg is 9 out of the 16 non-canon compliant. I do not recommend her. To be frank, among those HelenaSparta and Dragons Quill are awful. Lioness Prophecies and His Draught of Delicate Poison and are well-written and have their fans, as does It All Comes Down to Time.

Among the canon-compliant the "near misses" for me were Vanity, Of Debts and Debt Collection and Dark Angel though I had problems with each that made me stop reading.

So, if you count what I've recommended, what others have recommended or gained awards, and the near misses there are about a dozen out of the 32 that are readable, that someone, somewhere might consider a rec. Still seems a thin haul.

[silburygirl]

Any fic that has a list like her lists of warning tend to be-although I sometimes wonder if they're there to entice people-doesn't draw me forward.

So, if you count what I've recommended, what others have recommended or gained awards, and the near misses there are about a dozen out of the 32 that are readable, that someone, somewhere might consider a rec. Still seems a thin haul.

I agree. My favourites from in between HBP and DH are nearly all novella length, although I can think of one or two enjoyable novels. Otherwise, pre-HBP (and pre-OotP even) really is the golden age for epics.

And I don't like canon to be entirely ignored-it's stifling and I think it prevents new ideas from being thrown around. Hence those irritating clichéd plots that refuse to die.

[harmony_bites]

I adore Dyce's Survivors--more than Accountable even. And though it ran (and won) among the classics, from the posting dates, Shiv's Big Name Death Eater was posted in the post-HBP era. I'm sure that if I go on a search like this one, there must be other novel-length fics of note

[mundungus42]

To be honest, epic-length stories, with a few (very!) notable exceptions, are not my cuppa. Even among the oft-lauded classics, I find the majority to be poorly plotted, discursive, and suffering from peripatetic characterization. I agree with you, HBP will definitely help on the epic front, partially because JKR can't scupper us more than she already has :D And fortunately, there are huge numbers of excellent novel-length stories out there to keep us entertained in the meantime. HBP's only been out 2.5 years. I'm sure in time we'll have epic-fic numbers to rival CoS Harry/Ginny. :D

[harmony_bites]

Even among the oft-lauded classics, I find the majority to be poorly plotted, discursive, and suffering from peripatetic characterization

The majority of all fics, in all eras are awful though--and actually--if you include not just my recs but those epics at all fangirled and "near misses" there are about 12 readable stories here--and 12 out of 32 isn't that bad in a way.

I got hooked on the ship by an incompleted epic, Falling Further In and greatly fangirl Fire and the Rose and Soul Searching so maybe the epics impress more than most--though certainly your evaluation is spot on as to the flaw they're prone to.

It's true there are still contenders out there among WIPs.

And yes, I think DH has/will help a lot--we're already seeing lighter fare among other things, which I think is all to the good. Much easier really, thanks to JKR's plot holes, to imagine a happy ending.

Hmmm makes me want to try this with the novels ;-)

[mundungus42]

I think the high percentage of excellent exchange stories has spoiled me rotten. It was Sphinx/Textualsphinx that hooked me on the ship and Slytherins in general- I'll never forget her "Sorting Song by Severus." I remember entire verses of it to this day. I fangirl "Fire and the Rose," too- it's one of the few epics that has admirably withstood the test of time and canon-shafting. Re: contenders, I can't WAIT for more of "The Summoning!" :D Are you counting novel length as 50K+ words?

[harmony_bites]

I agree with you about more of The Summoning though that wouldn't be a contender for this list--it started posting well before the HBP was published.

Pros (you can see this in things like the Hugos) consider a novel anything over 40,000 words--even though that's short in terms of what gets published. That's also a novel for the purposes of the SSHG awards, although I didn't post this with them in mind. And it's also how we define a novel on Know-It-Alls.

So, were I to post any sort of guide to postHBP SSHG novels, it would include anything above 40,000 words (and under 100,001 words)--which would give me an excuse to read some works of yours I think I've missed among other things ;-)

No epics from the Exchange btw--but during this period there were 6 novels (not including threesomes which would make it 9)