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A Game of Chess
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Ron W., Hermione G., Draco M., Severus S.
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The war is all but over, and the wrong side won. Worse, the Wizarding World's hero and Ron Weasley's best friend died in the fight. When Draco Malfoy offers Ron a way to go back and fix things, he jumps at the chance. But can he anticipate how his changed moves will affect the board? How long can a king masquerade as a pawn? [Trope stew: read the authors' notes.]
Characters: Ron W., Hermione G., Draco M., Severus S.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The war is all but over, and the wrong side won. Worse, the Wizarding World's hero and Ron Weasley's best friend died in the fight. When Draco Malfoy offers Ron a way to go back and fix things, he jumps at the chance. But can he anticipate how his changed moves will affect the board? How long can a king masquerade as a pawn? [Trope stew: read the authors' notes.]
313 pages, Unknown Binding
Published June 15, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 28, 2020
An interesting fanfiction that is certainly well written and very cleverly done in how the author has taken a series of over-used tropes and deliberately made them her own. It was interesting to read from the perspective of Ron for a change and whilst time travel fics are notoriously easy to get wrong, there is an awareness of the tripfalls and hazards along the route. I suspect if the author had stuck with a more linear time travel fic, I would have enjoyed this more but each to their own. I personally found that it got unnecessarily complex and unwieldy towards the end, even if it added an unusual dynamic. There were several noticeable plot holes as well which aren't even attempted to be resolved.
Character portrayals were generally well done, using the characters that Rowling had provided and moulding them through different experiences and tragedies. I genuinely found myself wanting to know what happened to them and invested in their future survival which is always a good sign. I admit that I found the ending one of the weakest aspects of the story, partly because of the reliance on overly complicated aspects of time travel and multiple worlds and partly because it felt as though some twists and turns were shoehorned in for the hell of it without actually having the means to back them up. It's a shame because many aspects of the fic are actually really strong, but the final three chapters or so let the side down rather.
So, I'd class this as an interesting read and one that takes a somewhat different approach to the age old time travel trope, but there are plot holes that need to be resolved and the ending is disappointing at best.
Character portrayals were generally well done, using the characters that Rowling had provided and moulding them through different experiences and tragedies. I genuinely found myself wanting to know what happened to them and invested in their future survival which is always a good sign. I admit that I found the ending one of the weakest aspects of the story, partly because of the reliance on overly complicated aspects of time travel and multiple worlds and partly because it felt as though some twists and turns were shoehorned in for the hell of it without actually having the means to back them up. It's a shame because many aspects of the fic are actually really strong, but the final three chapters or so let the side down rather.
So, I'd class this as an interesting read and one that takes a somewhat different approach to the age old time travel trope, but there are plot holes that need to be resolved and the ending is disappointing at best.
March 7, 2023
What an excellent take on flipping tropes and making them good! This pulled more emotion out of me than I expected, as Ron makes his way through a totally unexpected time-travel fix-it story. With really great character vignettes, and lots of mysterious bits, this story pushes you towards its inexorable end. Highly enjoyable and very well done!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews