FanficRecs Brilliant writing, brilliant premise, brilliant Tom
Tom Riddle is here depicted brilliantly - he is here truly deeply intelligent, disciplined, a badass, even though he thinks of himself as someone who has been almost crippled by his decision not to give in to evil. And, in a way, he has been robbed of his true capacity. His struggle to come to terms with this, renewed by his trip to an alternate reality, is extremely convincing and also the main axis of the story's plot.
Tom is here given a believable chance to redeem himself. The author made this hard for him, a life-time commitment, but he/she still gave him that shot and this is, I think, a major accomplishment, and something I felt was lacking in canon.
The author's depictions of both Dumbledore and Snape are spot on, highly compliant to their canon counterparts, and the friendship between Dumbledore and Tom, as well as the interactions between Snape and Tom are highly amusing. The writing is very JKR-ish, but has more psychological depth, especially regarding Tom.
So what's more to say? Brilliant writing, brilliant premise, brilliant Tom.
FanficRecs Tom Riddle meet Voldemort... or have you met?
"It definitely gives a good reasoning for Voldemort not being an outright evil person in the other world and doesn't make him easily redeemed. Ultimately, though, the series focuses on the clash of personalities between Tom and the canon Voldemort and how Tom struggles to decide if he should help or leave the situation alone."
FanficRecs My Favorite Tom Riddle
Tom Riddle (specifically Riddle, not Voldemort) gets short shrift in canon, being the token Damian-esque Anti Christ-in-waiting that was guaranteed to turn into some story's villain. This is an amazing (but so sadly dead) and real look at what a Tom Riddle who turned away from supervillian megolomania might look like. Also some of my favorite Dumbledore, because he gets to interact with someone who's as brilliant as him and therefore isn't in awe of him. I sincerely wish it had continued to show us more of Riddle teaching, more of Riddle and Dumbledore verbally fencing, or the amazing rivalry between between Riddle and Voldemort. Worth the read, even if dead.