By Abraxan
Reviews
Yanagi posted a comment on Thursday 23rd October 2008 4:20pm
What a wonderful story. I loved every single word. Thank you so much.
Abraxan replied:
Thanks a lot!
Abraxan
RockBiter posted a comment on Saturday 13th September 2008 2:16pm
The end at last, and what a wonderful ending. Everyone and everything turned out well, and you did what I've always wanted an author to do. You brought the Dursleys back at the end and showed them who and what Harry really is. Thanks for that.
The best thing about fan fiction--and something I began to appreciate very much when I read Bob and Alyx's stories--is NO WORD-COUNT LIMITS. It gives you the chance to explore subplots and develop relationships in a way you'd never be able to do in mainstream publishing.
Thank you for sharing an excellent story with all of us.
Abraxan replied:
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, the word count limits in real publishing is a daunting thing to deal with, but I finally got a good feel for it when I finished "Star Sons" (my original novel).
Don't give up on my writing yet - there are several ficlets and another novel to go, all set in the RF universe! Happy reading! And thanks for the reviews!
Abraxan
RockBiter posted a comment on Thursday 11th September 2008 3:47pm
This was an exceptional chapter. You put some work in on this one. Great job. I can't wait for the big finish.
Abraxan replied:
Thanks! Yeah, that was a complex chapter to write, but it was a lot of fun, too, trying to figure out how to make everything work the way I wanted it to. Glad you liked it!
Abraxan
RockBiter posted a comment on Thursday 11th September 2008 11:01am
Sorry I haven't been reviewing. We have a new dog that's taking up most of my time, and I'm reading in fits and starts whenever I can. This was an excellent chapter. Great description. I love that you made Neville the champion.
Abraxan replied:
New dogs tend to do that! Glad you enjoyed the chapter! And yeah, I figured it was time for Neville to be the winner!
Abraxan
RockBiter posted a comment on Tuesday 9th September 2008 5:09am
I wasn't looking for anything in the chapter 5 reviews; I had just gone back to see if you had answered. Now, on to chapter 12. The weather is cooling off here in Indiana, and I might just read late again tonight.
Abraxan replied:
Had I answered it? If not, let me know and I'll go back and take care of it!
Yup, it's lovely and cool here in Ohio too! Happy reading!
Abraxan
RockBiter posted a comment on Monday 8th September 2008 6:10pm
I just went back to look at the reviews from chapter 5. Oops! Busted! Yes, I admit it. I'm an incurable night owl. Always have been. Makes it hard to get up in the morning sometimes, but, there you go. And here it is after 3 a.m. again. This time, though, I'm going to bed.
Still enjoying this story a lot.
Abraxan replied:
LOL! I'm not a night owl, but I don't sleep much, so here I am in the middle of the night reading your review! What were you looking for in the chapter 5 reviews (now that you're on chapter 9)??
Glad you're still enjoying the story!
Abaxan
RockBiter posted a comment on Monday 8th September 2008 8:32am
I love that you had Petunia ask Harry to keep in touch occasionally. Keeps your options open. This is going very well.
Abraxan replied:
Thanks!
Abraxan
RockBiter posted a comment on Sunday 7th September 2008 6:55pm
I tried to review after chapter two, but my browser crashed before I could hit the submit button. You were right. It was a treat. Not exactly taking the Dursleys to Hogwarts, but the next best thing. I love the little touches you put in, like Fred and the muggle girl.
I'm very interested to see where you're going to take this story.
Abraxan replied:
Wow, the time stamp on this post shows 3:55 AM! You were up either very late or very early reading! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! And I'm glad you thought what I did ther was a treat! It sure was fun to write!
Abraxan
RockBiter posted a comment on Sunday 7th September 2008 12:21pm
Wow! You brought this one right out of the gate with a bang. I like that. Much better than a story that drags on for 3 or 4 chapters and nothing happens. Excellent beginning. I know there are a lot of people who want the Dursley's out of the story altogether, but I enjoy the tension they create. I'm waiting for someone to take them to Hogwarts where they can witness, first hand, who Harry really is, but, alas, no one has done it yet.
Abraxan replied:
Oh, are you in for a treat, then! Keep reading! I haven't done EXACTLY what you wanted, but it should be an interesting read for you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Abraxan
Carolyn Jinn posted a comment on Tuesday 26th August 2008 2:03am
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these two novels.. I was so impressed with these stories, that my son is now reading them and is totally enthralled in them.
Keep writing ,especially if you enjoy writing, as this shows in your writing and is enjoyable to read.
Abraxan replied:
Thanks so much! You still have a lot of HP reading to go in my Refiners world (they're all on this site - just look for the list of stories under my name).
I have an original novel available now too - go to Amazon.com and do a search for "Lynda Sappington" (that's me) and you'll find "Star Sons - Dawn of the Two" a fantasy novel about two magical brothers and their adventures. I'm working on the second book in the Star Sons saga now.
Thanks for writing, and for recommending my work to your son!
Abraxan
Wolfric posted a comment on Monday 18th August 2008 4:11am
Didn't Harry kill Pettigrew in France? Perhaps Minerva didn't know? I am revisiting your stories and I continue to enjoy them a great deal. Thanks for writing. W.
Abraxan replied:
You're right! That's one of about 4 genuine mistakes in RF and ToD combined. The story got so big, I forgot that little detail and none of my betas caught it either. Oh well! I don't change stories once they're posted, so that's gonna stay like that forever . . .
Abraxan
Daraganyan posted a comment on Tuesday 29th July 2008 9:31pm
This is something amazing.
I'm going to apologise - I don't really write or speak english very well, and this is difficult for me. I'm from Finland, if you're interested... But even though this is hard for me, I want you to know what I have to say, alright?
These to novels were amazing. In these I had a combination of everything I love in fanfiction. Good writing and the type of characters I love - for an example, multi animagus and powerful Harry and so on.
The only thing that bothered me in the end was that not always you hurt yourself badly. He always was in the danger of dying, and I understand why you wrote it that way - but next time, I'd like to suggest that sometimes it's not that serious. He could just get something minor from time to time. If it's always life-or-death situations, you numb the reader's mind and it isn't so effective anymore.
Well, getting that out of my system, I loved this. You wrote it very well, and it wasn't even too easy to guess what will happen next, which is often a problem in fanfiction. I also appreciate the fact that you used many clichés, like removing the Dark Mark, without making them sound like old things. You had a fresh way to look at them, I suppose.
Thank you, and I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say.
~Daraganyan, a silly girl from Finland.
PS. I might be interested in translating this sometime in the future, if you'll allow me, but I'll return to that later...
Abraxan replied:
I understood what you were saying perfectly! Thanks! And your point about numbing the reader's mind is well-taken. I wrote Refiner's when I hadn't written any fiction in 16 years, so I was relearning how to write fiction in the first place, and learning how to write novels at the same time - I'd never written anything longer than a novella before. And I wanted to "push the envelope" to see how far I could go in various directions and still hold things together to a sensible conclusion. All the various ways of trying to kill Harry were deliberate - Voldemort and Bella will do anything to kill him (In my pre-Horcrux world, killing Harry is the goal, not keeping him alive so only Voldemort can kill him in order to reclaim that piece of his soul). I wanted to show the "extremes" of Bella's and Voldie's madness, so I took it to extremes.
As for my "fresh look" - I'm glad you saw it that way! It truly was fresh for me because I stopped READING fanfics when I started writing them. Anything you see in my fics that's similar to something someone else wrote is coincidental, because I didn't read any fanfics unitl just recently, after I finished writing "Now and Forever" (it's on this site - be sure to read "A Fox's Tale" and "Beginnings" before it, so you'll read them in chronological order). N&F ends the RF saga, so I'm free to read again - and to get back to my original fiction, the first book of which, "Star Sons - Dawn of the Two" is available on Amazon and Amazon.co.uk (do a search for Lynda Sappington - that's me - and you'll find it). I'm polishing the second book in the series now.
Thanks for writing!
Abraxan
Arabienne posted a comment on Wednesday 23rd July 2008 7:24am
I was going to wait until I finished the whole series to leave a review... but I just couldn't wait that long. While most of your fic is your average extremely well-written alternative Harry Potter book (not, of course that this is a bad thing, since most HP fics these days are tripe), your characterization of Minerva McGonagall has me absolutely leaping out of my seat with joy. It is SO wonderful to see a fic that isn't Minerva-centric portray her as a human being with a heart and a kind and gentle spirit - as I believe she does. Minerva is, for various reasons, my absolute all-time favorite HP character, and I'm falling more than a little in love with her the way you've written her here. Even though Harry has been pulled out of classes, I do hope to see much more of her in future chapters - I'm aware the story is finished, but I have not yet, and I wanted to commend you on a job well done.
Abraxan replied:
Thank you very much! I made a real effort to make as many characters as possible well-rounded and sympathetic and to show reasons for their various behaviors - IOW, to make them BREATHE and be REAL! I'm so glad Minerva has come to life for you! Thanks for writing!
Abraxan
LilyPotterJr posted a comment on Monday 7th July 2008 8:56am
such a beautiful house! i want one just like that! great story, keep up the good work!
Abraxan replied:
Thanks a lot!
Abraxan
Rebel Goddess posted a comment on Friday 4th July 2008 1:17am
I have to pause to say how much I've enjoyed this story. I was a little confused at the length of the epilogues at first as so much seemed to have been tied up several chapters before the end, but I loved the fact you used real threats to Harry when he returned to Hogwarts. It's been a great ride so far and I can't wait to continue it. Thanks again for writing such an imaginative and amusing story.
Abraxan replied:
Thanks! I wanted the Epilogues to be worthwhile reading on their own, and to tell a ripping good story, so that's how they got to be so long. I'm glad you enjoyed my work!
Abraxan
Regina Noctis posted a comment on Tuesday 10th June 2008 2:33am
Question: Was Wormtail already killed by Harry in the French battle of TRF? If so, why is McGonagall still advertising his arrest?
Thanks! :-) Regina
Abraxan replied:
That's one of the three or four genuine mistakes I made in way over a million words of novel between RF and ToD - Wormtail WAS killed in TRF - I just forgot when I was writing in this section.
Abraxan
TxA_GunFighter posted a comment on Tuesday 27th May 2008 12:56pm
Outstanding chapter. Very good humor.
gunny
Abraxan replied:
Thanks! This was a fun chapter to write!
Abraxan
TxA_GunFighter posted a comment on Monday 26th May 2008 3:36pm
Good chapter.
gunny
TxA_GunFighter posted a comment on Monday 26th May 2008 3:15pm
Good chapter.
gunny
oden1234 posted a comment on Monday 29th December 2008 9:13am
Abraxan replied: