A Hero at the End of the World

Imagine that at the last minute, Ron killed Voldemort instead of Harry. Imagine Ron went onto huge fame and success as a celebrity/auror, and a bitter Harry started working in a coffee shop. Imagine Draco comes along and talks Harry into joining the Death Eaters, and they fall in love and spend a lot of time giving each other 'soulmate gazes' along the way. <br /><br />If that sounds like the best fanfiction ever, then it's no surprise. This is the first book from a new press which publishes original novels by popular fanfiction writers. And it's one of my new favourite things. <br /><br />The story and characters are all totally original (and <i>incredible</i>), but there are callbacks and references to popular fan culture throughout which bring the story to life. Azkaban becomes Mount Unpleasant (<i>amazing</i>), the characters have degrees in things like Equestrian psychology, there are references to the Freezing Cold War, and it just bursts with life. <br /><br />This book has so much charm and character I was beaming the whole time I was reading it. <br /><br />To top of this joy of joys of pastiche storytelling, the characters are some of the best I've read in a long time. They jump off the page, and I ship them <i>so hard</i>, guys. So hard. I was desperate for them to kiss. <br /><br />Read this book when it comes out, if you are a fan of magic or Harry Potter or amazing characters and worldbuilding. Read it asap. I am going to buy a print copy of this as soon as is possible so I can read it again. <br /><br /><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://lgbt-ya.tumblr.com/post/99221570248/">http://lgbt-ya.tumblr.com/post/992215...</a>

(1.5*)<br /><br />I tried really hard to like this book, because I thought it was only fair to give it a shot- not least of all because I really want to try and support "indie" authors.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I think it fails fundamentally on almost every level. It's not that it's the <i>worst</i> book I've ever read, far from it; it's just that it has not one thing which stands out as interesting to me. When it's not failing, it's being aggressively mediocre. And it's a real shame.<br /><br />But before I got in on it, let's talk about the few things I at least thought were decent. There's some genuine good ideas about urban fantasy worldbuilding here. The meshing of the magical with real life elements was honestly refreshing. There were brief moments I found the characters very solidly grounded in real-life contexts as well; there's a bit where one of the leads, Oliver, thinks about being a working class boy in an upper middle class area, and it was pretty deftly done. You don't often see stuff like that in YA, and I stuck an extra half star on for those moments.<br /><br />In general, this is a book that makes a real effort to show a London like the one that actually exists, too. As someone who semi-frequently passes through London this is a far more accurate picture than, say, 99% of the TV I've seen there. In short: it is not all grizzly white dudes. Nobody is horribly stereotyped. I'll take my hat off to the author for this, because it's genuinely something I am 100% enthused to see in YA.<br /><br />Now, onto why it gets such a low score.<br /><br />First off, pacing and structure of the plot and character arcs. Honestly, the pacing threw me off right from the start. Despite being a 100% linear narrative, more or less- which is a fine choice for a YA novel- it jumps and starts all over the place. Rather than build up tension and then release it, or gradually build speed until you reach the climax, or simply write a slow book, you'll spend two or three chapters speeding through things that don't need to be sped through and then hit a wall of slow exposition. And the exposition is pretty painful at times, not so much because it tells rather than shows but because it's timed at such inopportune moments, unnecessarily prolonging already slow moments but never being used to give the reader a break from the action. This book needs another couple edits, I think.<br /><br />The character arcs are almost non-existent- there's a halfway-climactic scene for the two leads towards the end, but it doesn't feel earned at all, and the change it makes in how they actually act is negligible. This would be fine, but the plot is so thin that it pretty much <i>has</i> to be able to stand as a character piece. Which it doesn't.<br /><br />The characters here are heavily unlikeable, but unpopular opinion alert: that, in itself, is fine. I relish a well done cast of unlikeable, distinct people. But here it doesn't serve the narrative in a real, meaningful way, and frankly the cast therefore comes across to me as fairly insipid rather than engaging. At the end, a friendship is restored, a couple people have partners, and everyone's still kind of a dick because the plot requires them to react to immediate circumstances rather than deeper things.<br /><br />The prose is OK, but kind of grating at times. Bleh.<br /><br />The romances largely just exist because they do. Oliver and Sophie is OK as a b-plot, but Archie and Ewan, sadly, have really very few meaningful interactions.<br /><br />This review has gotten so long because I wanted to have a buildup to something I'm kind of worried will come across the wrong way, given the author's history as a writer. Please hear me out: this reads like fanfic, <i>not because fanfic is bad</i>, but because it carries certain assumptions that work well in pre-existing narratives and not in new, original ones.<br /><br />See, this is a take on Harry Potter (that prefers to present itself, and market itself, as a take on modern fantasy period). It's obvious. We all know this is 'what if Ron took the hero mantle from Harry and maybe there was somewhat different Ron/Hermione and Harry/Draco involved'. And it fails as a standalone novel because it assumes pre-existing investment in the characters as a result. See, if this is fanfic, it doesn't NEED those character arcs to the same extent. We are already invested in these characters; why waste time elaborating? But this isn't fanfic, and you cannot guarantee your audience's familiarity with that canon. If it were a more direct and obvious take on HP, they'd probably get away with it. But it tries too hard for serious drama and presents itself too vaguely for that, and trying to take the middle path does nothing for this novel.<br /><br />Ultimately just... incredibly disappointing and a really bizarre read. Check it out if you really want an alternative take on HP, I guess. Maybe.

I can't recall the last time I was so disappointed in a book. The anticipation was intense - a fandom dweller not only declining to hide her roots, but writing something actively, well, <i>fandomy</i>! It boded so well. The cover was gorgeous. The excerpt was witty. It all seemed golden.<br /><br />The disappointment started with actually procuring the book. I waited for the release date with an impatience previously reserved for HP itself, and/or new Terry Pratchetts and Georgia Nicholsen books. When it arrived, lo! The Big Bang Press refused to sell me the ebook in my geographic location, despite purporting to be a partially UK-based company. With reluctance - because I know Amazon shortchanges indie sellers - I went to the behemoth itself and what did I find? It wasn't available there either! For the next four or five days I refreshed the page morning and evening, hoping that the link promised by BBP's tumblr would appear. Maybe it has by now, but I caved and bought the paper version, which took about two weeks to arrive - <i>much</i> slower than the usual Amazon efficiency. I mention this not to sound carping but to demonstrate the level of anticipation I had going on. I wanted that book RIGHT NOW, and I was less than impressed that they didn't have their shit together for publication date outside the US.<br /><br />Unfortunately, even if I'd got it when I wanted it, I would remain underwhelmed. This is fanfiction, no two ways about it. It's fanfiction in the sense of many vital story elements having been subtracted or implied, because the focus in fanfiction is character interaction, not plot and world-building. Who was Duff Slan? Why do I give a shit about him or his defeat? What did he even do that was so very bad? And why is his name so stupid? Answers to these would have given some impetus to the narrative of why Ewan Mao's failure to defeat Duff Slan (is this super stealth Simpson's advertising or what) was worth me caring about.<input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="53291fdf-2fe5-4c60-8ac8-3ac770a25313" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="53291fdf-2fe5-4c60-8ac8-3ac770a25313"><br /><br />Let's be real; the story here is Ewan falling for Archie, Oliver realising he loves Sophie, and the emotional impact of growing up with heavy expectations that you don't fulfill. This is Harry Potter: the Real Epilogue. This is the answer to another, unrelated question: what if Ron Weasley (or, possibly, Neville Longbottom, but Oliver is obnoxious and hence more Ron-like) accidentally defeated Voldemort and finally got all that attention he always thought he deserved? What would happen to the Chosen One, the great Harry Potter, if that happened? There is a huge pathos to the idea of the once-great hero reduced to working in a cafe. Hell, I wrote a story like that once. <br /><br />HOWEVER, the fact is, this book only works, only makes SENSE, if you figure out who everyone is supposed to be and read it as fanfic. Ewan is Harry, Oliver is Ron, Archie is Draco, Sophie is Hermione. Even then, I'm less than impressed. The arch, almost parodic approach taken to the plot and the disco ball McGuffin are extremely off-putting. The writer, at least, should take their own plot seriously. This is LITERALLY a crackfic though, and they were never my jam. The romantic payoff is non-existent, and left me wondering: if you're going to write a fanfic in which you don't care about either the plot or getting the couples together - why write it at all?<br /></label>

<b>rep:</b> gay Chinese British mc, mlm couple, Black mc<br /><br /><i>carry on</i> could NEVER

There were points when I thought this might rate as high as 4 stars. There were also points when I thought I wouldn't finish it, including with less than a hundred pages to go, because I was weary of spending with these stupid, self-absorbed, sad-sack characters.<br /><br />I'm not a reader who has to like the protagonist, but one can write interesting-to-dislike characters. This was the equivalent of the guy who corners you at a party to tell you for hours about how no one appreciates him at work and he was wrongfully passed over promotion, blah blah.<br /><br />Ewan, the soi-disant Chosen One, is a dumb, cowardly, self-pitying loser who is no good at anything (partially because he doesn't try) and doesn't think about anyone but himself, with the exception of some obsessive resentment of his former best friend, Oliver, who blames for stealing his chance at fame. <br /><br />Oliver is a smug, stupid, self-congratulatory git who is only successful because he did this one thing once (and is handsome). He's shite at his job, never listens to anyone, and talks over his smarter law enforcement partner, Sophie, who is the closest thing to a decent person here, although that may just be that we spend less time with her. <br /><br />Archie is a rich snob mama's boy who is rude to everyone "lesser" and has no moral qualms about befriending people and setting them up to be killed. I was legit surprised that wasn't actually a villain, but apparently stupidity can substitute for villainy if one stupids hard enough.<br /><br />Romance: I'm fine with romantic subplots, but these were totally implausible to me. None of these people seemed emotionally capable of love, nor were they lovable. And none of them were ever pleasant to each other. Other than Oliver and Archie being descriped as attractive none of them had any appeal.<br /><br />Redemption: I'm a fan of redemption, but this felt totally unearned. They all just sort of stopped being assholes. Allegedly. Because... they didn't want to die? I don't know. Even the villain, that felt extremely fake. <br /><br />To end on a positive note: The writing was not bad. There were a number of funny lines. I liked several of the ideas. I would even hypothetically try this author again, if the book were vetted by multiple friends.

I don't even know what to say except that this is a masterclass in how to get people to ship your characters. By ship, I mean scream at the book for them to kiss. Repeatedly. Also, it's absolutely hilarious.

What a weird little book. It asks the question: what if the hero's best friend ended up saving the day instead of the hero. And then take a look at what happens five years later. Imagine if Ron (or Neville) had defeated Voldemort at the last minute instead of Harry. It's sort of like that. Also, what would have happened if Harry had fallen in love with Malfoy? It's sort of like that too. It's pretty much a thinly disguised HP fanfic. And yet, it's still kind of awesome.

I blurbed this book! AND IT IS AMAZING AND EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED. Seriously. Read this. &lt;3

Weird and funny and cute and a little awkward, like the sort of boy you might have a crush on junior year.

Claiborne has certainly created a fun romp and some delightful characters here, (particular props to the Gardener Hobbeses and a cake shop called "Gluten for Punishment"). However, the world-building fell a somewhat flat. I never got a grasp on how the magic was meant to work, nor why they were all using old PCs in elite government offices, particularly as the book seemed to be set in essentially a magical counterpart of today's London. I understand that this was meant to be a satire, but it never quite felt like one to me. No new tropes seemed skewered, nor was any twist particularly surprising, but the story rolled along at a fun pace and made for quick, enjoyable reading. <br /><br />I'm interested to read more work from Ms. Claiborne, as I loved the relationships she built between her protagonists - friendship and romance both - and her deft hand with her villain, but the prose is quite blunt and the surrounding world did not seem fully thought-through. I'd encourage her to give her characters a bigger, stronger world - they could fill it wonderfully!