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Gave this one a try after having many of my friends rave about it for years.
I have to say that, even putting aside the stiff and unprofessional writing style, the first few chapters give a really unpleasant vibe. They read as a snooty nerd power trip - for a story about rationality and science, it uses a lot of purposefully obtuse language which works to prove superiority rather than to clearly communicate ideas and that's not how proper methodological thinking is practiced. The Harry Potter characters feels like a mouthpiece for an author obsessed with his own intelligence and frustrated that he is not respected enough for it.
Any fans here? I'd like to know if things change later in the story or if the current trajectory is a good indication of things to come. So far I have not merely been underwhelmed by the story, I was actually annoyed - yet so many kind and clever people I know love this.
What am I missing?
Never finished it, but I did really enjoy the first half or so. Eventually got to be bit much for me (eventually ratcheting up the main character's Mary Sue levels too high for taste). If you don't like the first few chapters (especially if you've gotten to Hogwarts) because the author comes across as a self-inflated know-it-all, then no, the series is not going to get better for you.
As for whether you're missing something, maybe? Seems more like you can't make yourself miss the author's character and don't enjoy the basic premise enough to make up for that. Personally, I like analytical outsiders being thrown into a setting with a magic system, and having a some generally good-natured nitpicking and alternate interpretations of the Harry Potter series thrown in was fun. Even found a few parts occasionally useful. Read twenty-five chapters or so out loud with my family on car trips, who enjoyed it for similar reasons. (We generally called it Harry Potter and the Rats of NIMH.)
Gave this one a try after having many of my friends rave about it for years.
I have to say that, even putting aside the stiff and unprofessional writing style, the first few chapters give a really unpleasant vibe. They read as a snooty nerd power trip - for a story about rationality and science, it uses a lot of purposefully obtuse language which works to prove superiority rather than to clearly communicate ideas and that's not how proper methodological thinking is practiced. The Harry Potter characters feels like a mouthpiece for an author obsessed with his own intelligence and frustrated that he is not respected enough for it.
You've got it, more or less. It's an explanation of his worldview in fanfic. I liked it for a while, but the combination of endless reaction chapters and the author's weird hangups turned me off.