On My Shelves (the Net): The Arithmancer/Lady Archimedes

As those who know me can attest, I rarely read fanfiction. I've written an awful lot of it (a million words or so with Kathleen in our Saint Seiya/Samurai Troopers/DBZ universe, and more elsewhere), but it's really very infrequent that I find a fanfiction story that is worth my time to read, and most of it is deep in the past, such as Ryan Matthew's Dirty Pair fics or Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Ranma (multiple authors). Harry Potter fandom, by its sheer volume, could be expected to produce a few real gems. Naked Quidditch [ Continue reading... ]

On My Shelves: Harry Potter

  Looking back over my prior posts, I find myself startled to discover that I have not yet discussed the single most successful and perhaps influential fantasy series written since I was born: Harry Potter, by J. K. Rowling.   The vast majority, if not all, of the people reading my columns will know the story of Harry, but just in case: the basic concept of the series is that Harry Potter was left as an orphan with his only relatives, the Dursleys, and raised (poorly) by them for eleven years; at that point he discovers [ Continue reading... ]