So...

[trinityofone]

Please tell me some of the rest of y'all have done the naughty and read you-know-what and want to talk about it here. 'Cause I just don't know enough HP people. (And there's something I've never before regretted. ;-) )

ETA: So far, no actual spoilers in the comments. If/when that changes, I promise to edit with the appropriate warning IMMEDIATELY.

ETA2: I would say that there are some spoilers here now! BACK AWAY.

Comments

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

1. I think it pretty much has to be real. The only way it's fake is if the publishers and Rowling are in on it. (Have you read one of the other fake versions? It starts like this: Harry slunk warily along the footpath, his head slightly bowed, eye’s darting up and down the street, glancing every now and then left and right. .... RIGHT.

2. There was quite a lot of infodumping. At least this time it was a little more dramatic than it has been in past books-- instead of just "P.S., I loved your mom," we actually got to SEE some bits. And the bits that we didn't-- well, it will be fun to see fandom go back and actually *dramatize* all the events that were merely infodumped in DH, so.

3. I think the ending suffered a bit from the fact that it all has to be from Harry's POV-- it's hard to write an epic war story that's about hundreds of complicated things going on and not be able to go into anyone else's POV. But, otherwise I liked it.

4. I started my other comment with a kind of disclaimer about how I'm really only a casual HP fan and I didn't really have any "this ABSOLUTELY MUST happen or I will be TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED" type of expectations, but I realize now that this is clearly a lie, because if Neville had not had his MOMENT OF BADASSERY then I think there would have been a little emptiness inside me that nothing could ever fill. ;) I admit it, the only bit that actually had me shrieking, clutching the arms of my chair, going "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD," was Neville killing Nagini. FUCKING AWESOME.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

The only way it's fake is if the publishers and Rowling are in on it.

That's my feeling, too. I know us fans are crazy, but I can't imagine any of us pulling something like this off. And you know, if it IS a Rowling/publisher sponsored fake... 1) I am amused and impressed, and 2) I will never stop laughing if it turns out somebody got paid to do this.

Have you read one of the other fake versions? It starts like this: Harry slunk warily along the footpath, his head slightly bowed, eye’s darting up and down the street

Oh man, with the punctuation like that, really? *headdesk*

There's also some sort of fake epilogue with Gabrielle being called Gabi. WTF?

I know I should expect infodumping by now, and while yeah, this was way less bad than the last three, it still annoyed me. It slowed down the narrative when it REALLY should not have been slow. Less the Snape stuff (because I was actually interested in that—poor Snape! What was so frickin' great about James Potter, anyway?), but more the stuff in the train station, and even Harry's speech to Voldemort. Also, I thought it was way weird that we only got that stuff about Snape after he was already dead, and I was disappointed that we didn't get to see Harry reevaluate his feelings toward him. I mean, obviously he did; he named his son after him. But we didn't get to SEE it, dammit. Grr.

I actually like how Harry's limited POV gave us a somewhat frenetic, scattered take on the big battle; that felt realistically war-like to me. Though I wish that 1) Remus and Tonks had gotten a better send-off, and that 2) the final confrontation with Voldemort hadn't seemed so slow and plodding and anti-climactic in comparison to the earlier frenzy.

Neville has always been my Sekrit Favorite. I LOVED his moment of badassery; it made me SO HAPPY. <3 <3 <3

Randomly, I also liked how the Percy thing was resolved. Though I am very worried for George. What will he do without his twin? *gets wibbly*