Review for Harry Potter and the Distaff Side

Harry Potter and the Distaff Side

(#) rijlkent 2008-03-13

Heya,

Nice to see more of this one; I'm really enjoying it. One, er, request: please use less first names and more last names! There are too many aurors whose names start with 'A,' I was getting quite mixed up. I'm not saying go all last name, but using the last name one of the first times you use a name in a scene would help me keep things straight. I have actually managed to learn 'main' names like Orestes (sheesh!) and Blanch (snigger).

The RoR training is good stuff. 'The enemy is the only teacher' makes me think of _Ender's Game_ by Card--have you read? Excellent SF book with interesting parallels to Potter.

The entire gender swap is hard to get used to, but I suppose that's the point. Here I was thinking that YOU were dismissing Harri because she's a girl, but rather SHE was dismissing Harry. It's odd to think of everyone thinking of Harry as 'just a boy.' The accelerated magic is brought in nicely. Has Harry been doing this the whole time in the RoR?

The more sexually aggressive girls are fun/funny. Go Luna! It's harder to imagine the 'coy' boys that must be the usual here.

Looking forward to more of your stuff-
-Rijl

Author's response

- The names are hard, I'm trying to have them carry the same meanings (at least)

- Hey, Orestes was the betrothed of Hermione, daughter of Helen, who wasn't really of Troy... (and if some of the histories are to be believed, never set foot in the place and waited out the war in Egypt, but I digress). And Blanch, like Albus means white...

- Yeah, I liked Ender a lot (the sequels less so) But when Harry and Harri meet Tommi, there will be no doubts in their minds that they aren't playing a sim...

- I'd read far too many 'everything is the same except Harry's a girl, and Harry the guy is hot for her' fics I wanted to do something very different and very weird. I believe I've succeeded in weird... I'm trying to have Harry treated like a lot of women are treated in the R/W. And let him surprise people.

- The accelerated magic is why the sessions with the Riddle of the Room seemed to drag on for ever. As Riddle pushed him, Harry picked it up unconsciously. He's still not sure what happened with Strews (and won't be until Moody tells him) Hopefully, Harriet will pick it up as easily (or at least as unconsciously) as he did.

- Harry's about to give up his virtue to Luna... He might also be hit on by some of the Slytherins...