HARRY POTTER CONTINUES~

[Remus Lupin]

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It's international, yet not released. Not written by JK Rowling, though it was approved by her to be wonderful and fairly in character to her imagination. The story follows James potter II, Harry's son, through his first year and onward. I can have hope it'll take off well. <33[/size][/ul]

[Nan (Jennifer) Lucy]

Actually, I've found out just now that there's a prequel to that one in existance already. Now idea what it's like, but it certainly sounds interesting. Here's the link: www.speedbumpstudios.com/chapters/JPHEC.pdf

[Remus Lupin]

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[Nan (Jennifer) Lucy]

Oh, sorry, my misunderstanding. I thought you meant the one which is forthcoming. I wonder, I'll certainly have to read it - and I'm just sorry that Severus seems to be dead - and you are, too. I certainly liked the way you dealt with Harry once you found out that he'd snuck out into Hogsmeade with that map and that Harry would have preferred Snape's punishment to your disappointment and your sad, though cutting words any day.

Wish both of you had remained alive. That would have been fun!

[Harry Potter]

Interesting.

Although, this suggests JK never read James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing, although she has nothing against it and her "official position" is that it's fine.

[Alex Everard]

I'm not sure what to think of this, I'm not a big harry potter fanfiction fan a lot of the time, and this looks like it might be a huge one. I'm unsure as to whether this one can rival the series of Harry Potter books, because the plots there were painfully good ... on top of that all the good characters are gone, not sure how he's going to deal with that one, lol. I know JKR killed all my favorite ones ,_, ;

[hayley]

This is cool, I think.

I'm reading the first one right now, and it seems pretty good, though it doesn't have quite the same "magic" quality as HP. I wish that JKR would continue the series, but this seems like the next best thing.

[Harry Potter]

I read a few pages... don't really like it. There are Americans going to Hogwarts, and so what it amounts to is the American kid saying "You Brits do such and such a thing," every few moments, and then the other students making remarks about how poorly cultured and ill-mannered he is.

It's quite silly and a put-off.

[Nan (Jennifer) Lucy]

I couldn't agree more! I've just started reading and the first two chapters have already managed to make me decidedly angry. That's just not how it is - and as far as that kid Zane is concerned, he's the most annoying brat I've ever come across with his Americanisms and his constant making fun of the British. Honestly, that's just not what Harry Potter is about - and it shouldn't have a place in there!

Moreover, I don't imagine even the Fred and George Weasley replacements casually trying to dupe Muggles. The secrecy surrounding wizards is just too important for them to play around with anything like that - and I doubt that anyone, even kids, would dare to it.

Plus, the whole thing is just too American. I mean, come off it! A pinata, an American delegation with an American DADA teacher, an American kid who acts like America were the be-all and end-all - sorry, one of the charms of the Harry Potter books is that it plays around with British traditions, boarding school school and what to expect there and just turns them into magic - or something different. Sometimes it even makes fun of them, like with "Witch's Weekly" and "A Cauldron Full of Hot Strong Love". I can't imagine them turning American - and it certainly wouldn't fit the flavour of Harry Potter - just like Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans tasting like taco doesn't work!

Disappointing - and I'll certainly stop reading this. I suppose the hype is n the trailers and such-like. As far as fanfiction is concerned, I prefer Skyhawke's "A Year Like None Other" with its sequels at archive.skyehawke.com/authors.php?no=781 or "The Smallest Slytherin" Trilogy cda.morris.umn.edu/~webbrl/SalazarsOrphans/

Do try those! I'd love to know what you think of them!

[Remus Lupin]

Eh, then I probably won't bother to read it. I came across it and figured I'd post it; the story around it's rather confusing as in some places it seems to have been made into a book, while others say that it will never happen. Eh, I dunno.

[Nan (Jennifer) Lucy]

I very much doubt Rowlings would ever want that thing to be published - and certainly not in connection with Harry Potter and thus with her name. If you ask me, it's just one elaborate publicity stunt - and it's easy to write she approbed, for once you read Harry's link, you find out she's never read it, which does sound much more likely. After all, there are tons of fanfiction out there - and I don't think she'd have the time to read all of it, even if she's bound to be sent some links or copies. If she does look at anything like that, she'd probably drop it after a few pages due to it not really reproducing Hogwarts at all.

But it'll probably get much more hits due to the really excellent trailers and all that set-up, which even well-written fanfictions like those I mentioned before, just don't have. There, the actual text counts, not just its presentation, while here it's only the presentation which is stunning. Rather poor value, all in all!

[georgezilla]

Greetings all, my name is George Lippert and I am the writer of the aforementioned "James Potter" novel and the upcoming sequel. I saw some hits emanating from this site and I thought I'd pop in. I understand that many readers are initially put-off by the character of Zane (the dreaded American) but I beg you to push past the first few chapters and see how the tale develops. Experience has shown that even those who most hated the idea at first eventually came to appreciate the intricacies of the story (as well as the fact that the American element more-or-less vanishes after the first two chapters). While fiction such as this is remarkably subjective, I did try very hard to maintain Ms. Rowling's themes and style, even while introducing new characters and plots. At heart, I'm just a big softie who wants everyone to like him, so if you read the story and STILL don't like it, I'll come to your house and make cookies. Probably.

Regarding the supporting art (trailer and website) used to promote my stories, I'm always amused when people assume that because those elements are good, the story itself must be bad -- or at least not as good as stories by those who can't make animations and websites. Why doesn't this apply to all forms of art? I can imagine a couple at a fine restaurant, the man saying to the woman, "Well, yes, the soup is excellent, therefore the entree must be simply awful." In short, its amazing how an artist can, rather counter-intuitively, be deemed less artistic because he or she is be good at several kinds of art. (Ducks and covers head)

[Nan (Jennifer) Lucy]

Then I suggest you read my comment once more. It actually said the opposite, which is that I favourably predisposed towards your story after I'd seen the trailer - and realised, once reading the first few chapters - and I got till Harry's owl to his parents, which is when I finally stopped, that your trailer masks a rather poor effort - and it's not just Zane I object to, as I've explained, though he is enough to make me throw your text down the drain. The whole thing is decidedly too American, rather unlikely as nobody in their wildest dreams would flaunt the secrecy decree like they do, school starts at once on the very first day, not with a day to mooch around and let students do as they please and the whole atmosphere is lost. Sorry, I certainly don't cotton to it at all.

[Ron Weasley]

I think it's hard to argue what sounds too-American with the members who live in the UK and go to boarding schools, or even the public schools there. Or even the members who currently live in Germany or Norway or Finland who have lived in the UK, or even are just more in touch with European education and mannerisms. While I haven't read the story yet and don't have a basis for comparison yet, I can say that one of the biggest rules we've got here at H&H is no Americans; not even people who lived in America for more than half their lives, even the early part. It breaks the magic for a lot of people since Hogwarts is an English school. Plot or not, I can't foresee an American working out in a Harry Potter story, well written or not. It just doesn't adhere to the canon of what HP is. Now, based in an American school I can see, with elements of HP, but the oddball OC in the canon fanfic is just... well, it's not been done very well in the past, and even though the writing has been spectacular, it's just not gone over well. Why? Breaks the reality of the canon.

[Natalie Summers]

I love it.
^.^

Keeps the spirit alive even longer!

[Theodore Nott]

I wont bother to read it.

There are 7 real HP books and JKR closed the series by her last book. She is the real author and original creator, and while I think FanFic is okay, this is just over the top for me. I'd rather just settle with the things that happened in the last book.

[georgezilla]

I just wanted you all to know that I did return to read all of your negative comments. I continue to be dismayed that, in a canon universe that included so many other nationalities and races, Americans are so universally unwelcome to a certain kind of HP reader. As an American and an HP fan, I obviously find it sad and remarkably close-minded. BUT, to each his or her own. I worked extremely hard to maintain the feeling of Rowling's work while adding fresh new elements (rather than just rehashing the same stories and characters, as so much other fan fiction seems to do), but obviously no amount of variation-- especially if it includes an American-- is welcome to certain types of fans.

This is fine, but I doubt I'll return for more critique if it simply amounts to "Americans are bad and the Harry Potter world would never welcome them". This is a pathetically superficial critique. It may be good enough for you, but to dissuade others from reading a story based on such a personal predilection is fairly petty, especially for those who haven't even read the entire story in the first place. One cannot accurately critique anything from a position of ignorance, so I am increasingly impatient with people who sit on high and pass snarky judgments without having read past the first few chapters. I expected a bit more.

[Nan (Jennifer) Lucy]

As far as I am concerned, I'm too busy reading those books I'm working with for my thesis and interpreting them, to bother reading something which has managed to show lots of discrepancies and deviates from Hogwarts and wizarding rules even in the first three chapters or so, to bother reading on. I'm analysing and interpreting enough primary texts for my work, for my hobby I refuse to interpret texts which have enough gaps in contrast to canon to make Harry's old socks look positively new.

As far as coherence is concerned, I'd suggest having a closer look at either Michael Titzmann's "Strukturale Textanalyse" or Jurij Lotman: The Structure ot the Artistic Text. Translated from the Russian by Ronald Vroon. University of Michigan 1977, if you prefer something in English. Both are written in such a way, that even someone who isn't studying literature can deal with them - more or less, at least - which is why I'm suggesting those two theories. Plus, they explain pretty lucidly the importence of coherence and cohesiveness and the meaning of gaps. They might help you here.

[Harry Potter]

Nan, have I mentioned that I love how articulate you are? Well, I do.

George,

I respectively disagree about the commentary here being superficial. I am an American as well, but I'm still put-off by the character of Zane and how Americanized the story feels from the beginning. It's not dislike simply because he's from America, but rather because in my view of canon, Americans have no place there. I can only assume from the presence of wizarding schools in other nations as demonstrated in the series that there would be one America, or somewhere in North America at least, leaving the nationalities divided. Part of the magic of the HP series is that it's a British school. For many of those outside of Europe, it's part of the draw. It wouldn't have bothered me quite as much if so much importance wasn't placed upon the idea. It's not realistic to me that any kid could so frequently and intentionally point out cultural differences, when he's much more likely as an eleven-year-old to just be trying to fit in, without drawing more attention to his difference. The other thing that bothered me was that he only had American currency--if you travel to a foreign country for any period of time, you exchange your currency and get money that's useful there. It's a tiny detail I supposed, but one that made Zane all the more bothersome as a character.

My opinions aren't meant to be any sort of verbal attack. They're just opinions, and writers can never win everyone over. Remember, the most controversial ideas in writing are often those that draw the greatest attention to their literary works. Personally, I don't really enjoy fan fiction except for the occassional alternate universe story, simple because my expectations of canon are high.

Keep writing. It's not a bad story, and the writing is fine. It's simply that as a canon story it's hard for me to stomach what I've read.

Since you're here though (if you come back), could you put the confusion to rest on whether Rowling has read your stories? We've heard conflicting answers.

[Theodore Nott]

I don't think any of us are being very negative, we are simply stating our opinions. Majority of us don't like the FanFic either because we've read it and it didn't fit our taste, or because we don't feel like reading the FanFic. Some like your story though and peace with that; if they like it I wont say anything mean to that. I mean, I like LOTR but not all think its as awesome as I do.

None of the criticism is a personal attack against you but criticism against your FanFic. Any 'real' reviewer would be a lot harsher if he/she didn't like it.
-shrugs-
I don't see why you get so annoyed.

If anyone wants to read your FanFic, our replies wont stop them. Why should they? We are a lot of different people with different tastes. I just say that I wont read it because its feel like too much of a 'follower' (8th book) to me.

Ari - agreed on the canon thing.