Harry Potter/Fanfic Recs/Authors and Websites: Difference between revisions

* I'm rather surprised that Barb hasn't been mentioned already -- she was one of the bigger names in the fandom just a few years ago. Guess many of her readers have grown up and moved on -- she was most active in that productive period before ''Order of the Phoenix'''s publication. Anyway, her entire ''Psychic Serpent'' trilogy is some of the best written stuff I've had the pleasure to read. Yes, the romance can get dramatic to the point of soap opera melodrama, and yes -- since this was written at the half way point of the series, much has been revealed to be completely different from the world she created. Nevertheless, I still consider her work some of the best I've read, and would highly encourage you to check it out, starting with ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/288212/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Psychic_Serpent Harry Potter and the Psychic Serpent]''. Feel free to chime in with your own thoughts -- I'd like to hear them, even if you don't agree with me. Trying to get in that pre-''OotP'' mindset may help.

** Seconded by [[User:Doma Doma]]: Agreed. My favorites are ''Mordant'' and ''Correspondence Course'' -- the latter of which, alas, being the only one completely unscathed by new canon in the whole ensemble. Still, if you can get into that between-books mood, fantastic stuff.

* Strongly seconded by [[User:Yo Adrian]]: Oh god, where to start. Best Marauders-era fic I've ever read. The humor is superb -- Rave and Jaida have a knack for teenaged-boy hijinks. Young Peter Pettigrew has a very well-done [[Start of Darkness]], and is treated as a real character. There are several beautiful [[A Mythology Is True|Mythology Nods]], at least one of which made this troper cry. Many of the background characters in the books get a bit more flesh on them, such as the Prewett twins -- the Marauders' idols. Definitely worth a read -- doesn't update very often, but worth the wait.

* Fifthed by this other troper: it's bloody fantastic. All the characters are written ''perfectly'': Remus, Sirius, James, Lily, Snape, even Peter -- ''all'' of them are completely three-dimensional people, with character progression that clearly leads them towards becoming their older canon counterparts we know from the books (and it thankfully ''doesn't'' fall into traps with the characters which are all too common in Harry Potter fandom<ref>e.g. James and Sirius the [[Jerk Jock|sociopathic bullies]], Snape the innocent [[The Woobie|woobie]], Wormtail the blithering idiot, etc.</ref>). As for the story itself, it's brilliant -- and while there ''is'' slash, it doesn't read as contrived or out of character. In my mind, this fic is to JK Rowling's books as [[The Thrawn Trilogy]] is to the [[Star Wars]] movies.

''[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1034541/Kurinoone The Dark Prince]'' Trilogy by Kurinoone (AU, some child abuse, some fighting, Dark Harry -- kind of)

* ''Comments'': A seven fic series and related oneshot "Maze of Light," each novel-length work replaces its corresponding canon counterpart, and Lightning increasingly diverges from the source. Despite the oft-(mis)used premise "what if Slytherin!Harry had a BWL!twin," the plot manages to stay original and creative throughout, with truly inspiring [[Shout-Out|shout-outs]] to canon events. Canon characterizations aren't exactly possible, but there's a surprising amount of Original Flavor nonetheless. [[Magnificent Bastard|Snape]] is especially brilliant, and while Lightning never loses sight of the reality that spawned him, he progresses to the point of possibly being better than what JKR ever got around fleshing out. BE WARNED: the author really knows how to [[Anyone Can Die|turn on the water-works]], and pays careful attention to everything -- which means that while character interaction often = [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] and setting establishment/development = [[TV Tropes Made of Win Archive]], wartime realities = [[Nightmare Fuel]]. The dark tone does threaten to overwhelm things occasionally, but Lightning somehow knows just when things are heading towards unbearable, and is as good at inducing [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] as she is at creating tension.