Title: Samsara
Author: Countess Millarca
Genre: --
DLP-Category: General / Dark Arts(?,too early to say)
Chapters: 7
Status: Work in Progress
Pairing: No Pairing as of yet.
Summary: Because Tom Riddle and Lily Potter were brilliant. Harry James Potter wakes up on his eighth birthday knowing terrible, great love. Ravenclaw Harry, soul-merging.

Link: Samsara

This story is very early and there have been a few of them before with a similar premise. Some readers with a quick trigger finger might be inclined to drop out due a premature Gary Stu/too-old-for-their-age impression.

Please don't.

The narration and characterisation of what exists so far is just a joy to read. Chapter 7's discussion between Filius and Dumbledore about Harry's nature is as good as it gets.

I give 5/5 just for the writing but it's too early to know where it goes plot wise so that might change. It deserves attention.

 

Holy fucking purple prose, batman. Usually I'd have noped out of a story by now, but this one is holding my attention somehow.

Seriously though, I like the story quite a bit so far, even if it is early. And your prediction rings true as well - it's hard to overlook the fact that Harry is basically a middle-aged lord in an 11-year-old body, but I can fight through it for quality. The way she writes the professors in particular is excellent, I always like to see them fleshed out more. Hopefully the prose will be tuned down a bit, but I'll survive if it isn't. I took a look at her facebook page that's linked off her FF.net profile, and it looks like she's just that type of person, so I won't hold my breath for it.

 

If I drank a shot for every time I read about how cutting Harry's smile is, I'd die of alcohol poisoning.

 

I have to agree with that. The prose borders on ridiculous most of the time, but the story is readable.

edit: caught up to the latest chapter, and the prose has seeped into every line, every interaction. I'm out.

 

I don't mind the purple prose and I can sort of understand the reasoning as to why Harry is oh so mature and clever and cunning and God knows what else, but it's the fucking present tense that makes it impossible for me to read more than a few paragraphs before it becomes too much and I just quit it.

 

I don't hate the idea but this is just a fucking chore to read. The author needs to understand that less is more when describing things.

 

The characterization is good, yeah, but the prose just doesn't work. It's like a sensory overload, reading in every single sentence about how boundless and fascinating and brilliant is every single action Harry, Flitwick and the others take.

And the author doesn't seem intent on following the advice that sometimes less is more if her other works are anything to go by.

 

Finding this to be a fantastic read. Contrary to the other opinions so far on this thread, my favorite thing about this fiction is the prose, most noticeably how it is used to supplement the incredible characterization.

I've always been a fan of unique writing in fanfiction. There are so few authors with a unique writing style, that I treasure the few that have the talent and mindset to write in a new way.

The plot has not been expanded on as of yet (on Chapter 6), so there is not much more to talk about. Great, unique writing and characterization make this a 5/5 for me, excited for more.

 

I'm really digging this characterization of Filius, and how Master-Apprentice relationships can mean more then just more personalized teachings. I actually like the 'purple prose' since it flows well and adds a touch of mystery, unlike most of the time when it's used. It just seems to work in this story.

 

At last I find a new Harrymort fic, I was really impressed with the author's characterization of Harry, but then... Pureblood customs, Hermione's cruzade for equal rights, Albus knowing less about magic than fuckin Fleetwick. Not even the author's take on Quirrel makes me want to read this again. What a piece of shit. How disapointing.

2.5/5 rounded to 3 beacuse it has great ideas.

 

I really wanted to like this.

I really did.

I loved the interactions, the characterizations are interesting, but I just can't get past the prose. It's completely immersion breaking and impossible to take seriously. The only way to really read this fic is to skim it just to see what happens, because your eyeballs will melt out of their sockets otherwise.

 

The prose does feel little bit weird, but it isn't eyes melting as some wrote it.
It could be, I'm not really familiar with true English literature, so it doesn't feel weird for me too much.
3/5

 

I'm enjoying this, but I have a weakness for prose heavy stories. I like the relationship and interplay between Flitwick and Harry, the idea behind the story as well, Harry's voice, and how he interacts with his fellow classmates. Dumbledore is, unfortunately, not well written, and the scene where Flitwick chews him out is a mess. And as much as I enjoy the prose, it can get heavy-handed in what it is trying to convey in meaning and message.

I give this a 3/5. The idea, where the plot seems to be going, and (mostly) my weakness for prose-heavy stories is going to keep me reading, but that isn't enough to warrant inclusion in the Library.

 

I am liking the story and were it is going so far. It is true that it contains a bit more of what some consider purple prose than is strickly neccesary, but it isn't overly done and I am actually liking it.

I skipped almost nothing, surprised!, and was rather sad when I hit chapter 12 and found out the author hadn't posted any more of it. The update rate looks pretty good so I will definitely keep following it and wait for more updates.

4/5 from me.

 

As others have already stated, the prose can be...a bit much. To the extent it can be difficult to figure out what the author is trying to convey at times. However, the story is quite interesting if you can make it past that hurdle. I'm really enjoying the interactions and characterization has been on target. Flitwick in particular has been great. I think he's one of the more underutilized characters in fanfiction, which is a shame.

One of the biggest draws for me is where the story seems to be headed. It looks like Harry may not be remaining at Hogwarts after the end of first year. If this is the case, I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes from there.

 

Right...well the prose is flowery. Normally that would cause me to nope a story PDQ. However, for some reason this one is keeping my attention. I don't know why it is, but it is and I have every reason to not like this.

Besides the "Holy Purple Prose, Batman" I find the technical execution to be fairly good. I'd give this a 3/5

 

Its a quite decent story, its writting is without error.
But it does use some tried and true concepts that while enjoyable in the way they are delivered. They become difficult to read close to the end of every chapter, but at this stage they are still novel and work with the chapter length.
4/5 for me

 

So. Read it. Liked it at first, then grew to dislike it completely.

As others have said, it's good in terms of creativity. The author has incredible ideas. That's usually enough to keep me hooked on a story until it inevitably devolves (as this one did). The creativity is excellent, but that's pretty much the only positive that this story has.

While the author has great creativity, executing the ideas he/she comes up with is the biggest problem. The ideas are there, but moulding them to create something unique and engaging seems to be a problem here.

Prose is another problem. The descriptiveness is great, but after a certain point it becomes unbearable and then crosses into irritating territory. That happened here. I was impressed at first, but then I just became annoyed and began to skim. Less description is always better. Show, not tell.

Characterization is another major issue. Quirrell is good; I like the unique take on him being a badass. Flitwick is some sort of magic Jesus. Dumbledore has been reduced to a senile old man playing at God when he knows jack-shit about magic. That I do not want.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the unique take on things. I can accept presenting Dumbledore as a fundamentally flawed being (as he was in canon). But what I can't stomach is reducing him to an asinine character. It's puerile, unnecessary and reeks of bad writing.

So. 2.75/5, rounded up to 3/5 for rating purposes, only because it has inventive ideas.

 

This fic is nothing too special, it is very good at times, especially the professors who are very well characterized (With the exception of Dumbledore, who is utterly stupid in this fic) . Still, you have to wade through lines and lines of needlessly flowery description to get to the good parts.


3/5