Wow. If it's possible to be rendered speechless over the course of reading an entire novel, it's happening to me right now.
I just read the entire Power series over the past day (Power He Knows Not was read from midnight yesterday until five in the morning yesterday, and ToR was read from midnight today until four in the morning, and again from eight until one in the afternoon). Heh, just the fact that I stayed up until I could see the light coming in my window reading your fics should show how amazingly amazing they are
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I have this nasty (or not, depending on your point of view) habit of reviewing and commenting on every little detail in long fics that I read. There were at least dozens of times in the past day that I had to fight the urge to write massive reviews because I knew if I got started reviewing this fic before I was done reading it, I'd never stop O.o. There were so many cleverly implanted plot devices, so many elements of your story that actually proved true to be in later books, and just so many beautiful scenes and well-written passages. There's just this feeling I got when I was reading that made me unable to stop. I kept thinking to myself, "it's three a.m., go to sleep and read this tomorrow". But I couldn't put it down (turn off my computer, actually). It wasn't so much the cliffies (although they did contribute). I just wanted to keep on reading just for the sake of reading more of your writing, of finding out more of the plot, of just having fun and enjoying a great piece of writing.
I guess I'll succumb to that awful habit of mine and actually write about the story
. This line from the epilogue was possibly the most striking line I've read in a long long time in any written work: "My name is Jade Elizabeth Potter, and I am the Heir of Godric Gryffindor." It's kind of weird to describe a line of text like this, but it was kind of like if I was Harry, sitting with Hermione down by the lake, and watching snowflakes slowly drift from the sky. Dunno. It kind of makes me go "ooh", like when I eat an ice cream bar too quickly and a "brain freeze" or. Well, yeah. It was a beautiful line
. Also, Jade Elizabeth Potter is the best name for Harry and Hermione's children that I've read of on Portkey.
And the whole Dumbledore/Gryffindor deal! I know I should feel like the entire epilogue was a deus ex machina and feel slightly cheated out of a real epilogue -- but I feel exactly the opposite. This is one of the best epilogues I've read (that phrase is probably getting kind of stale but I really mean it). It's not just "Hermione is pregnant, Harry is an Auror, and they love each other very much thank you the end goodbye". There's actual substance to it, and the supposed deus ex machinas actually feel like they belong, like they were intended to be there long before you wrote them in (by however much Fate there can be in a fanfiction). They felt like part of the natural progression of the story, not just a way to give the reader a happy ending. And that's what an epilogue truly is.
I think I've said enough, lol. Except for a massive combined thank you/good bye/until next time/loved your story. You know how you wrote all those sequences where a character didn't know exactly what to say, and ended up just giving a hug or just saying something simple with a "meaningful glance" that conveyed all of their intended meaning? Well, this is kind of like that. Mostly I'm in awe at what I just read, and feeling an astounding amount of pride (oddly enough) and gratitude towards you for writing all of it. There's also this sense of nostalgia and sadness because it feels like once I click that review button, the universe you created is irrevocably sealed, and I won't be able to read about the adventures of all the characters. Maybe in the future I'll have the pleasure of reading another one of your fanfictions... but until then (to borrow your phrase), good night
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