Eliezer Yudkowsky

If you've ever been reading Harry Potter and wondered, 'What would happen if a science nerd became a wizard?' or 'Why are no muggle-borns questioning this logic?!?' this book is for you.

It is a fascinating read, and many HP fans will enjoy the different view of a well loved fandom. You should not go into reading it thinking that this is added story to JKR's version. It isn't. It's more like if you've stumbled into a parallel universe instead. So throw how you expect the characters to act right into a box, and come in fresh. Also know that this is FAN FICTION, as such it is not traditional published writing quality, and you should just be reading it to enjoy a different take an a story you loved, not to analyze the writing quality / structure. (this was originally posted as blog posts.)

Things I really loved: the way the four houses were used, and this sorting hat version, the sass, and the complex moral judgement/analysis that happened throughout the story. The teachers in general were good as were the classmates, really loved that overall the IQ of every character seemed to raise a good amount, but there was still the youthful ignorance in places.

The ending was a bit lackluster, but I'd guess it wasn't really an ending but more of a . . . due to the age Harry and where the story left off.

But as the author says, give it till chapter 10, if you aren't loving it, stop reading. :)… (mere)

This is extremely high quality fan fiction, so high quality that I'm reviewing it by my standards for books, not fan fiction =)

The characterizations are excellent, and Yudkowsky manages to incorporate much of the material from the original Harry Potter books without making this story feel like a thin derivative. That said, the first half of the book felt more like scenes with continuity than a true story, and it took a bit longer than for core story to really feel like it had momentum. This is not surprising given that it was released serially, but the it is quite obvious when reading it as a single work.

Overall, I quite enjoyed it, but I probably wouldn't read it again.… (mere)