...you were capital-B Boned. That year at Hogwarts from Neville's perspective is a fairly interesting concept, but in the hands of Andrew Blake the main character becomes unpalatable. This review, specifically, is for DAYD and Sluagh. In the former, Neville is shown tackling the burden of leadership and training his peers to be Harry's numbers during the battle. It's canon conforming in that dialog and events are exactly as they were in Book 7 if Harry was there to witness them, but outside of that people are being tortured left and right and Neville himself thinks the golden trio still look like kids when they reunite in the Hogshead at the end of the year. The disconnect in tone manages to not be too jarring, but after struggling with self-doubt, the story doesn't shy away from taking meek and shy Neville and turning his heroism way up past Harry. He's the Commander. People look to him in times of despair while Harry wallows in self-doubt and his emotions without the benefit of canon.
This becomes most apparent in Sluagh, where Ron and Hermione are kidnapped and Harry is brutally murdered without seeing a second of actual action halfway through the story. Since it's still striving to be canon compliant, the next eleven chapters are pretty much waiting for the reset button while Neville and Seamus go to the Irish afterlife to be trained by famous figures in mainly nonmagical combat so they'll have a chance. It's a jarring genre switch that only serves to underline the author's conviction that Harry is worthless and Neville is actually the best thing since sliced bread. He's composed, mature, just conflicted enough to have inner demons to battle and even gets to metaphysically travel back in time to stand up to his worst nightmare! Neville wouldn't be nearly as insufferable if Harry weren't bumbling around or challenging him for the spotlight (like outside the warehouse when the Muggles free them) but this Harry is just a completely different person. At the end, while stiff upper lip Neville looks on with pity in his eyes, the Boy Who Lived is falling to his knees and moaning loudly about how impossible it is that Dumbledore could still have machinations in play ten years later.
I honestly enjoyed the stories. But Neville is impossible to like and if you were Harry's friend, you were the Chump Who Should Have Died, apparently.
If Neville Longbottom Knew Your Name in 1998...
...you were capital-B Boned. That year at Hogwarts from Neville's perspective is a fairly interesting concept, but in the hands of Andrew Blake the main character becomes unpalatable. This review, specifically, is for DAYD and Sluagh. In the former, Neville is shown tackling the burden of leadership and training his peers to be Harry's numbers during the battle. It's canon conforming in that dialog and events are exactly as they were in Book 7 if Harry was there to witness them, but outside of that people are being tortured left and right and Neville himself thinks the golden trio still look like kids when they reunite in the Hogshead at the end of the year. The disconnect in tone manages to not be too jarring, but after struggling with self-doubt, the story doesn't shy away from taking meek and shy Neville and turning his heroism way up past Harry. He's the Commander. People look to him in times of despair while Harry wallows in self-doubt and his emotions without the benefit of canon.
This becomes most apparent in Sluagh, where Ron and Hermione are kidnapped and Harry is brutally murdered without seeing a second of actual action halfway through the story. Since it's still striving to be canon compliant, the next eleven chapters are pretty much waiting for the reset button while Neville and Seamus go to the Irish afterlife to be trained by famous figures in mainly nonmagical combat so they'll have a chance. It's a jarring genre switch that only serves to underline the author's conviction that Harry is worthless and Neville is actually the best thing since sliced bread. He's composed, mature, just conflicted enough to have inner demons to battle and even gets to metaphysically travel back in time to stand up to his worst nightmare! Neville wouldn't be nearly as insufferable if Harry weren't bumbling around or challenging him for the spotlight (like outside the warehouse when the Muggles free them) but this Harry is just a completely different person. At the end, while stiff upper lip Neville looks on with pity in his eyes, the Boy Who Lived is falling to his knees and moaning loudly about how impossible it is that Dumbledore could still have machinations in play ten years later.
I honestly enjoyed the stories. But Neville is impossible to like and if you were Harry's friend, you were the Chump Who Should Have Died, apparently.