Over a year ago now, I came across this post at Chris Hallquist’s blog, and I thought, “Hey, what the hell, I’ll give it a go.” Seven days and over 1,600 pages later, I was profoundly glad that I did. This isn’t your ordinary amateurish fanfiction, or even your occasional far-better-than-average fanfiction, this is six-sigma-above-the-mean ultra-rarefied evil-genius fanfiction, written by someone who understands how much of a literary butterfly effect can be wrought by tweaking just a few key characters.
Without spoiling the plot, I’d like to whet your appetite just a bit by pointing out the most significant changes that Yudkowski makes to Rowling’s canon:
- Harry is implausibly brilliant, insatiably curious, and was raised by a loving family that taught him to value rationality above all else. He also ends up in Ravenclaw, after getting into a bit of a mental row with the Sorting Hat.
- Hermione is basically the same as in canon, but she also ends up in Ravenclaw. “In what weird alternative universe would that girl not be Sorted into Ravenclaw?”
- A new character called “David Monroe” is mysteriously entangled with both Lord Voldemort and Professor Quirrell. It is as yet unclear how those three distinct personas interact, though I suspect at least one of them is suppressed pretty much of the time. He is also far cleverer than before, so much so that becomes one of the only wizards in whom Harry confides.
- The author does not wait until fourth or fifth year of school to start seriously raising the stakes.
- The author does not allow the reader to say “it’s magic” and allow the chain of explanation to simply end there.
Those are the most significant changes that come to mind, the changes from which all the other changes flow. Changes like the not-too-terribly-subtle suggestion that the famous plaque on the Pioneer 11 probe has quite probably been turned into a horcrux. (Ok, sorry, that one was sort of a spoiler.)
If you enjoyed reading both Carl Sagan and J.K. Rowling, there is a really good chance that you will also enjoy Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. My advice is to start off with the remarkably well-done book-formatted PDF version, because it preserves the look and feel of the original canonical novels. Grit your teeth through the first half dozen chapters until the author stops being so openly preachy and settles into a more dynamic narrative flow. Trust me on this one.
EDIT (20 Feb 2015) – The final story arc is being posted this week! Share and enjoy.
