Lady Archimedes

Arithmancer #2

by White Squirrel

Fandom: Harry Potter
Relationships: Hermione Granger/George Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
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Armed with a N.E.W.T. in Arithmancy after Voldemort's return, Hermione takes spellcrafting to new heights and must push the bounds of magic itself to help Harry defeat his enemy once and for all.

Genres: Fan Fiction, Fantasy, Magic, Fiction

2390 pages, ebook

First published July 7, 2018

Reviews

[Shayan Kh · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 stars.

Not as good as the first one in my opinion. There are more things that I don't like, and definitely more things I hate in this sequel.

Umbridge is the worst in this fanfiction. She is even worse than the canon Umbridge, and I believe she is one of the best villains of all time. I hate her, but it is a good addition to this book. It is one of the strong points of this fanfiction, even though I want to murder everyone when I read Hermione's detention.
I hate chapter 52-53. The way Fleur and George treated Hermione was abominable. George could be forgiven, but Fleur needed a slap. Bill was the expert on that cave, and it was he who was the most responsible. He should have thought about a house elf, not Hermione. The fact that she thinks about unique solutions doesn't make it her job to do so. Hermione did actually one single mistake, and that was apparating in front of George and Fred's shop. That is it! It was a moment of panic, and she shouldn't have been blamed like that. Even Percy who was comforting Hermione was talking like she had made a huge mistake with unimaginable consequences! I hate these chapters so much I actually stopped reading and waited for this story to finish. In my opinion, this part of the book is like a scar on the beautiful face of this fanfiction.
I didn't quite like the rest of this book much. Don't get me wrong, it is still one of the best fanon universes, but it wasn't as awesome as I was expecting. The ritualistic magic of the rest of the book feels a bit odd for this fanfiction in my opinion. It doesn't fit, because it is some sort of soft magic, and I didn't get how it is explained by a rigid mathematical frame. They were awfully powerful and didn't seem that much difficult. So I guess I think they break the story somehow.
The last battle, Hermione vs Bellatrix was epic, awesome, wicked, and every other cool adjective you can think of. I rarely read a better wizarding battle in any book, let alone a fanfiction. But that made me wonder, what the hell did Harry do that people still think he was important? Hermione did everything! And somehow, people still would have followed Harry if he wanted to become Minister for Magic.


In any case, I love canon Hermione, but this version is even better. She is such a badass, that I am very happy there is a sequel.

[Alan gostaks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like The Arithmancer, Lady Archimedes is strong conceptually, but the writing is kinda iffy.

At this point, characters have diverged so far from canon that I don't think it's really worth comparing them to their canon counterparts. Squirrel did an excellent job writing characters who I could at least accept, and that's good enough for me.

Lady Archimedes really doesn't pull its punches, and I appreciate that. We get to see people we care about die, people angry at each other, and plenty of Hermione's stupid mistakes. I appreciate the level of depth we get in the final battle, and it's great to see magical duelling that doesn't primarily involve Expelliarmus. I also appreciate the characters' slightly greater willingness to kill in this iteration of the story—it makes sense and reminds us just how fucking brutal this world really is.

(The ritual/horcrux plot is... mildly hilarious taking the end of Deathly Hallows into consideration. They could have, at any point, just avada kedavra'd Harry and he woulda been fine. It makes sense in context, but it's still ironic).

The math in Lady Archimedes has solidly hit the point where I don't understand it anymore, which I guess is fine because there's much less really hardcore arithmancy now that Hermione can basically spellcraft in her sleep. It would have been nice to see a little bit more rigour in the rituals... but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of actually understanding the muggle math let alone the arithmantic implications so I'll let it slide.

Well done.

[Debbie Hazeleger · Rating 2 out of 5]

After book 5 it got a bit over the top and rushed plotwise and many of the mistakes that got made that got people killed seemed to be because the plot was just hurtling along without consulting any number of people within the order. The focus on just Hermione , especially when she got the artefact and the notion that she is continuously the only one who comes up with things to do, is a detractor. This became especially apparent when people became angry at her. I would have gladly read 10 more chapters if it had meant a more coherent picture of the war and how and what others were doing.

[Dominique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank goodness that's over. Only took me 3 months to read.

[Sean Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel approach to end Lord Voldemort, essentially done in by maths and fairy tales. I liked the idea of a powerful Hermione, though.
decade old fanfiction might lose its grip on me one day

[rixx · Rating 2 out of 5]

Second part of a Harry Potter fanfic. Better plot elements, maybe, but worse writing – started being a drag at some point. Still good execution on the theme of "what if science nerd, but Hermione" – several leagues more plausible and readable than HPMOR. I still like how it quotes extensively from pop and less-pop culture, and how it integrates then-current events.

## Bibliography

- Heinlein: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Sagan: Pale Blue Dot - Niven: Ringworld

[♥Xeni♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got a bit worn out during this one. I may finish it down the line, but lets call it quits for now. Great series generally speaking, though!

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

See my review for The Arithmancer.