Terdwilicker posted a comment on Sunday 11th May 2008 10:46pm

So, 40 days since this last update. Is there going to be another or is this story abandoned?

bookaholic_au posted a comment on Sunday 11th May 2008 3:43am

I'm sorry, I seem to have missed the bit where Harry gained 5 years. He's ELEVEN and all that seemed a bit ridiculous.

morriganscrow posted a comment on Wednesday 7th May 2008 8:30am

I'm all for having Snape's brain melt, but I can see it's a tad early for that just yet.
Excellent chapter! I love this fic, and your smooth, easy to read style.
The palpable tension, the undercurrents - wonderful!
Will Harry meet the troll? Hermione? Quirrell?
I look forward to finding out.

ficfanang posted a comment on Thursday 1st May 2008 10:24am

An incredible story. I have no idea what you're talking about half the time, but who cares? :P I'm enjoying all the twists you're putting into things, and how you're developing all of your characters, and especially Harry, of course.
Can't wait for an update! And are you ever going to update you ff.net pieces?

praeceps posted a comment on Tuesday 29th April 2008 5:51pm

This is an excellent fic. However it has two rather glaring mistakes concerning the Culture in it. One, the Culture is able to see through physical object even from 100,000 lightyears away. Two, the magical energy would not have harmed a fly on the GCU since even a nuke can go off and nobody except the Mind would even notice it.

mikek posted a comment on Wednesday 23rd April 2008 1:54am

Great Work so far. Got me interested enough in the culture novels to buy one of the books.

Maximum posted a comment on Sunday 20th April 2008 9:51pm

Brilliant story.

davidiusbrown posted a comment on Friday 18th April 2008 6:08pm

I've been reading and re-reading this great story for some time, and it occurred to me that the only thing that Iain M. Banks would have done differently had he written this himself was to have made it a bit more bloody. A couple of wizards and witches would have died, irrevocably, sending Harry his Hogwarts letter. Your mention of the death of the Culture surgeon a few chapters ahead was a very good idea. Thanks for writing all of this.

JP posted a comment on Wednesday 9th April 2008 7:53am

Loving it - good luck with the next chapter. Still waiting to see the combat drones kick off - should be a spectacular light (and sound, and violence) show....
The Wombat

Mariposa posted a comment on Tuesday 8th April 2008 11:09am

I'm just catching up on the last couple of chapters and find this story to be refreshingly unique. I need to go find the Culture books now. Thank you for introducing us to this series. I love how Harry and Sma are unimpressed by the castle exterior and then totally blown away by all the magic. I love how offended they feel that such a primitive society and technology has such unexplainable things. I look forward to more of the clashing between these two worlds.

And btw when I read about the cat drone I immediately was reminded of the "Laser Cats" sketch I unfortunately had the "pleasure" of watching this past Saturday on Saturday Night Live. Does anyone watch it any longer? Its nowhere as good as it used to be. Anyways you might want to look that up or add it to your disclaimers. They should have video at NBC.com.

Meteoricshipyards posted a comment on Monday 7th April 2008 2:53pm

That was good. Didn't think that Sma was older than Dumbledore -- she's so good looking (in my mind at least :-)

I just don't know how well Harry will stand up to Dumbledore's manipulations.

And what if he tries to read Harry's mind?

"I'm sorry, the Mind you have contacted is not accepting your call."

Thanks for the update!

Tom A.

DemonicBlood posted a comment on Monday 7th April 2008 3:08am

Great little fic you've got going here. You actually inspired me to go and check out the culture series (not an easy feat finding the first book either! Had to track it down at a used book store).

Hope you continue with this fic man, it's pure brilliance.

Elfwyn posted a comment on Sunday 6th April 2008 12:14am

Ah finally some to take Albus down a few pegs. Can't wait for Sma to go at Snape! Loved the Model T idea, very original. Does their advance minds and neural nets protect them from legilimency? If not the gig will be up to soon.

Jizzle posted a comment on Saturday 5th April 2008 4:45pm

I love seeing the arrogant super technology people getting shown up by magic. Especially after Harry and Sma dismissed Hogwarts, simply because they had seen bigger. There's more to beauty than size, for crying out loud. There's a smug superiority tinged with hypocrisy (they can dish it out but not take it) when it comes to the Culture and their too-perfect existence. I look forward to seeing them get even more out of their depth.

Good chapter, truly. Happy writing.

Infin1x posted a comment on Friday 4th April 2008 10:26pm

I don't know in my experience melting Snape's brains (in as painful and slow way as possible) always improves a story. Keep up the great work with this. I just know it says something uncomplimentary about me that I derive so much amusement just from the names of the Minds.

Katsuhito posted a comment on Friday 4th April 2008 8:48pm

Woo hoo, another chapter! I can't wait to see what happens with the troll, although I expect it will meet it's end at the hands (fields?) of a combat small-drone. Or maybe that would be too difficult to explain this early in the game... hmmm..... So, did Hermione take refuge in the loo again, or was there no encounter with the Weasly-with-foot-in-mouth without Harry there to spark his friend's inconsiderate statement?

As for the chapter itself, I found it much less engaging than earlier chapters, and the dialog between the Minds seemed like it was thrown in just because we (the audience) expected it. The other bits seemed to just emphasize the dichotomy of the Culture's bafflement (?) concerning magic and the Wizarding world, while at the same time having much more skill than wizards in all other areas of being. While certainly this is an important point, I don't think it deserves an entire chapter devoted (mostly) to just that idea.

Admittedly, this was a transitional chapter, which are usually less 'active' than others, but there were similar chapters in BC that were better (imho). So, what with a troll encounter on the horizon, the next chapter will likely have more interesting character interaction, as well as just plain action. :)

Now overall, this fic is still one of my favorite on-going stories, so keep up the good work I saw in ch1-4! :-D

koppe posted a comment on Friday 4th April 2008 7:17pm

Great chapter. Loved that Harry finally arrived. An although he's blasé about most things, there are obviously some things that impress -- or maybe disturbs -- even him... like talking, moving paintings and T-fords on speed. Wonder if Harry will encounter "Fluffy", and realize why it's locked-up.

So Quirrell has let the troll in... but more importantly, is Hermione hiding and crying somewhere (I hope she is)? Will Harry save her? Will he have to reveal himself -- or at least his battle-drones -- to do so? And will Hermione put the pieces together and become someone he'll have to confide in? Will Harry and Hermione start a friendship -- and maybe more? Somehow, I get the feeling Ron has been disqualified...

Keep up the great work, and please update soon...

Ricky Gene Thompson posted a comment on Friday 4th April 2008 2:18pm

h'mmm two combat drones, harry and a troll. sounds like fun. I love this story and I guess i will have to hunt down its crossover's books and read them. you are doing well enough that I don't need to, but you have peaked my curiosity about the Culture.

Musta posted a comment on Friday 4th April 2008 6:54am

Gender bias? I know this is an AU and all, but I would think that the Wizarding World is slightly ahead of the rest of the mundane when it comes to gender equality. ANd that's probably the only positive I can say about them.

Mesterio posted a comment on Friday 4th April 2008 1:36am

This is simply an amazing story. The closest i've seen to it would be a crossover with star trek or something along the same lines. I have never even hear of the culture before but its keeping my attention so well i may have to read it myself.

Regardless, the way you have written this so far is very well done. I love Harry's personality and his well-rounded psyche. Hes not some depressed and lonely kid or some hardened teen. He is artistically minded and smart too. I cant wait to see were this story goes, and i really cant wait to see what the sorting hat's reaction will be to looking into his head! UPDATE THIS FIC SOON!