Hello my lovelies!
Many people have been asking about if the series will be continued. Other people in the comments have raised some rather valid issues, so I decided that I will address some of them in this little update.
Is the fic abandoned?
No.
When do you plan to release the second book?
Around Christmas.
Why so long?
I want the writing to be excellent. You will be surprised, but this fanfic is literally a first draft that was never edited a second time. And apparently, it was good enough for some people to enjoy it somewhat. It is anything far from the quality I can put out.
So why was it released unprepared?
I have never done fiction writing before. This is my first crack at it. For a first attempt over six months (started this in August 2021), not too bad at all. I was unsure if people wanted to read about what I like to call "Tech-Priest Harry". I tried to get betas, but my Reddit has one karma, and the people on the fanfiction discord didn't find the fic to be to their liking. I decided to cold turkey it, by releasing it unfinished.
How could Harry be so powerful already?
The idea was to recapture some of the most notable people in history and frame Harry Potter through that lens just for fun. If you read about Alexander the Great, or any of the leaders of the Roman Republic, or perhaps even the great Kings in Asia, Harry Potter in this story is still a teeny little baby. And to think that these people are real, and that they didn't have any magic.
Don't believe me eh? The Anabasis of Alexander the Great by Arrian, is a good place to start.
I think your fanfic is boring.
I am really slanted towards research and academic work, so I do expect this to be the case, actually. But at the rate that I can learn at, and after going through the process once already...careful now. I generally improve rather quickly.
The other issue is that some people have gotten so good at critiquing Fan Fics, and they have never written anything themselves - if I were to ask them what to do to improve the story, many of them would not be able to provide writing tips, as they do not write themselves. At this point, the comments from such people while constructive in nature, don't really improve my writing in case.
No, I don't have a problem with comments on my story. You need to understand that if the actionable value is not much, it matters very little. If you however point something out and it is inline with my style of writing, it goes to the excel sheet.
Many of the standard plots and relationships are somewhat different. Why?
Because we established it is a alternate universe? Chapter two was written deliberately as a mechanic, because the conclusion of the story (entire 7 book series) will result in looking upon how Harry's actions resulted in a sort of "second founding" of the magical world. The people who will read about Harry and his gang in their history books, will be 1,000 years in the future.
This suspiciously sounds like you took ideas from different si-fi fandoms and stuck it together?
Yes - that is exactly it. It is kinda like a giant meme collection, actually. It should be considered entertaining drabble and fluff.
I plan to release a "compendium of memelogy" eventually, which will look at where the ideas came from - a lot of it present in pop culture and many other si-fi novels. There are many little hidden gems, everywhere.
Look, don't be too serious, alright. The story is a joke collection after all.
So why do this at all, actually?
The writing helps me to cope with long work hours and part time school. I cannot say if the writing is truly good or whatever. I don't think this story is for everyone. But, if you find yourself bored one weekend and you want to binge read to pass the time, why not? I do hope that the other books after this will not have such a draggy plotline, so people can get a giggle out of it. This is the sort of thing where when I am finished (with all the books) you should have about 7 days of reading material if you read at a average pace.
Your writing could use some improvement. Some pieces/conversations are repetitive and boring.
Sure. I don't mind your comments one bit. As I said - this is the issue with this being a first draft with no damned edits. However, I have still logged all your comments (even the ones that point out issues) to a excel sheet and I am keeping tabs on them. It is because I am listening to your feedback, that I have decided that the second book will have most of those issues fixed. That is another reason for its release in December.
So if you are keeping tabs on our comments about your writing, what next?
Well as I said, this was released this unprepared and unedited because I was unsure if people would be interested? It is a big jump to put out your first fanfiction. I had to watch the followers climb from zero. As of right now I now have 499 people (followers), and writing for such a small crowd is satisfying enough. I am going to re-edit a lot of the pieces I skipped out on initially, so that it will be far more polished. No plot changes, but the mistakes will be gone.
There must be no question about the grammar and the choice of language when this story is republished (all of which is shoddy, because I wrote this story while shuffling a twenty hour workday for many months).
Nobody cares for scientific gobbly-dook!
Correct. That is why the other books won't have any of that actually. Just like in the first Iron Man movie, there is the establishment phase of what Tony Stark's armor looks like, this is exactly what happens here. In the later movies, Tony's engineering becomes secondary. Same thing here - in the other books, the developments will come along, and the details will be more centered on the characters. At the end of this book, we already established that Harry can build wild stuff.
Harry could never be that financially powerful. This fic plays into the idea of Harry inheriting multiple Lordships, which is a trope that is boring.
It won't matter soon enough. Harry is already close enough to living in a self contained, self sufficient world. And if they (the Wizengamot) can't hold dominion over him,the Lordship means nothing. The idea is for Harry to work within the existing system, to eventually invalidate the system.
Harry's power is not really the Lordships.It is pure unadulterated, brutal combat and having access to weapons and armor that make the rest tremble with fear. And all that while having economic might.
Look, it is a "Fuk da system!" sort of deal.
Why the mention of Hinduism?
So the idea of the "Muggle religion" being a coloniser (pureblood complaints) at least for Hinduism, is not applicable. The harsh criticism of snakes as being evil particularly with Slytherins who have problems with how they are portrayed in Christianity? Not a issue for Hinduism. Sheshnaag as a mythological figure, as a protector? Perfect fit for Sirius Black, with his new changes. And yes, I happen to be a Hindu, so don't complain that it is cultural appropriation.
I think most people have figured out some bored brown Indian guy is writing this fanfic. A lot if the indian characters revolve around silly, insider jokes. If you know, you know.
But JK Rowling said Slytherin was evil!
Actually, a close examination of human history shows that most of the evil was perpetrated by small groups of really tyrannical people. 99.9999999999% of humans are pretty fine. A whole house of people (Slytherin) cannot be evil, that was just a cheap literary mechanism to drive the plot of Harry Potter. It is better to have the house shown as full of multi-faceted complexity, because that sets up the stage for maximum backstabbing.
I am a fan of Dune. Maximum backstabbing = Maximum luls.
You made some other non-canon adaptations?
Yes. I am trying to keep everything consistent. Hogwarts truly has 1,000 students not 300. Otherwise, the size of the quidditch pitch would be disproportionate to the size of the school population. The magic is not random, we have some rules and whatnot. The shields for the exoskeleton are very possible - Fred and George had shielded hats and gloves in the original novel. I have no idea what Harry wasn't using those in the final battle.
I combed through the lore for a while and tried my best to build a consistent, reasonable environment. Even where Hogwarts is located, Azkaban's location, the speed of the jetpack, the time taken for air travel, and a lot of other things are mathematically correct. The Hogwarts train proceeds at a reasonable speed to match the distance. There is a lot of small fine-tuning that I have done, to build a environment that check out, most of the time.
It is the most difficult thing about writing this fic and I am sure I miss things occasionally. I often backtrack and try to make the system manageable.
The story is rather complex? Why is there so much plotting?
I already have plans as to how far ahead Harry will be when he reveals himself.
To facilitate this, he actually needs to do all the plotting. No more spoilers.
There are indications of certain pairings in the story. Why did you choose those?
It is fan service. Not mentioning which ones they are, although they are hinted at in the story somewhat. PM me if you wanna know, privately.
Why no Ron bashing?
I like the idea that Ronald never really found himself and that is why he never seemed to manifest his best abilities in the original novel. I also love the idea of childhood, puppy love, becoming a powerful factor that will drive his development. The Ron bashing trope certainly is a favorite with other individuals, but I want to take the challenge of making him a absolute heartthrob and powerful. Why not?
It is time for the arrival of what I like to call the "Ravishing and Reliable...Ronald."
Why are the Weasleys going along with Harry?
Harry is a manipulator, and he acknowledges that openly. He is giving them everything they ever wanted - wealth, recognition and respect among their detractors, and all he is asking for is their cooperation to fight a war, that will arrive anyway. He is proving them with a opportunity to be armed and prepared. The Weasleys hate the Malfoys enough to go along with the plan, and the idea is that "Dumbledore's Greater Good" is not worth more than having fat loads of galleons in the bank. Certainly not worth more than making Lucius squirm. Dumbledore cannot provide such a favor, but Harry will certainly do it, just to get a laugh.
Harry is very much a pragmatist, and he desires to cripple Dumbledore's chess board.
That is all for now folks.
In closing thank you for your support. I am going to be here for a while and I do think that writing is good for my mental health, as I am very creative. If my story will give you some comfort on a weekend, when you are bored and want to pass some time? I can ask for no more.
Stay tuned for Book 2 - Coming to a Christmas near you!
Lord Anvil!