It's definitely a good fic, with some nagging little problems that keep it from becoming really great. Other reviewers have pointed out the treatment of causality — it really doesn't make sense that the time-travelers would so meticulously try to re-create the Chamber of Secrets plot in order to get the basilisk-imprented Sword of Gryffindor. Surely there would be other ways of destroying the Horcruxes that didn't involve putting Ginny through the same torture and risking killing dozens of innocent people? A lot of people seem to forget that the basilisk's stare normally kills and that it was sheer marvelous luck that the victims only ended up Petrified and could be revived the first time around. Not to mention, Ginny has to let herself be taken over by the Horcrux for it to work, and how could they know that the act of possession wouldn't clue Tom Riddle in on the fact that it was a plot against him?
I also wonder a bit about some of the characterizations... they're not off, as such, but the secondary characters often seem a bit shallow; like they're acting a certain way because the plot demands it and not because it fits their characterizations. I don't feel for them the way I do in canon.
It did keep my interest to the end, though, which is more than I can say for many other Peggy Sue fics. I'll admit the sequel wasn't anywhere near as engaging, and that's pretty much because Albus Severus Potter (or at least this incarnation of him) just isn't a very interesting character. He worked well enough as the mysterious benefactor in the first story, but he isn't capable of carrying a forty-plus chapter story all on his own. Especially not when the plot turns out to be so repetitive: He goes back in time to change things, but doesn't get the result he wants, so he goes back in time again to change more things, but doesn't get the result he wants, so he goes back in time again to change more things... Yeah, it got dull pretty quickly.
Ultimately, Backwards With Purpose has some neat ideas, and some great touches, and is well-worth a read... just don't expect it to be the Best Thing Ever.
Good, But Not Great
It's definitely a good fic, with some nagging little problems that keep it from becoming really great. Other reviewers have pointed out the treatment of causality — it really doesn't make sense that the time-travelers would so meticulously try to re-create the Chamber of Secrets plot in order to get the basilisk-imprented Sword of Gryffindor. Surely there would be other ways of destroying the Horcruxes that didn't involve putting Ginny through the same torture and risking killing dozens of innocent people? A lot of people seem to forget that the basilisk's stare normally kills and that it was sheer marvelous luck that the victims only ended up Petrified and could be revived the first time around. Not to mention, Ginny has to let herself be taken over by the Horcrux for it to work, and how could they know that the act of possession wouldn't clue Tom Riddle in on the fact that it was a plot against him?
I also wonder a bit about some of the characterizations... they're not off, as such, but the secondary characters often seem a bit shallow; like they're acting a certain way because the plot demands it and not because it fits their characterizations. I don't feel for them the way I do in canon.
It did keep my interest to the end, though, which is more than I can say for many other Peggy Sue fics. I'll admit the sequel wasn't anywhere near as engaging, and that's pretty much because Albus Severus Potter (or at least this incarnation of him) just isn't a very interesting character. He worked well enough as the mysterious benefactor in the first story, but he isn't capable of carrying a forty-plus chapter story all on his own. Especially not when the plot turns out to be so repetitive: He goes back in time to change things, but doesn't get the result he wants, so he goes back in time again to change more things, but doesn't get the result he wants, so he goes back in time again to change more things... Yeah, it got dull pretty quickly.
Ultimately, Backwards With Purpose has some neat ideas, and some great touches, and is well-worth a read... just don't expect it to be the Best Thing Ever.