Recced by tingel :

Title: Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn by Wemyss
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy and numerous het and slash side-pairings
Categories: AU, drama, future, literary fic
Length: Epic (~160.000, sequel: ~150.000)
Warnings: mentions of violence

Author on LJ: wemyss 
Website: http://www.fictionalley.org/authors/wemyss/

Author's summary: Harry and Draco are dreaming dreams. The same dreams. The same, possibly precognitive dreams. The Headmaster knows this. He also knows that trying to fiddle a prophecy is rather dicey: look at Oedipus at the crossroads, Tom Riddle at Godric's Hollow...

Review:
The story is told on two different levels. In the "reality", which might just well be the canon of the books, Dumbledore notices Harry and Draco sharing repeatedly the same dreams. He hopes this is a sign that these dreams are prophetic and reveal a hope of defeating Voldemort. But at the same time he hesitates to interfere as he doesn't know if he would bring about or destroy this future. On the dream level there is the story of how Harry and Draco fall in love with each other and of their life together till the end in the far future.

Through the construction of the "reality"-based frame story and dreams Wemyss manages to tell an AU within canon. The dreams take up the largest part of the fic and it's easy to forget that they are just dreams. The storylines within them aren't always consistent with each other as the future seems to shift in reaction to the reality. At the same time the formulaic introductions to the dream sequences and the slow-paced story-telling create a, well, dreamy feeling. There's a rising amount of angst on the reality level as Harry and Draco struggle with accepting the meaning of the dreams and from the clash between the happiness of this dream world and the reality of their enmity.

This is not the kind of story that tells how Harry and Draco get together, defeat Voldemort and then stops with a "and they lived happily ever after". The get-together part is told (and in a way you can really understand/feel it), and the final battle features prominently at the beginning of every dream sequence. But the true strength of this story lies in the ever-after. Wemyss tells a very personal story about the lifes of our two heroes but at the same time paints a colorful background of generations of family and friends, Deatheater uprisings and developments in the wizarding world. Although the world of this story has a kind of old-fashioned feeling to it (and this is supported in the use of language and dialogue), over the time progress is made, for example, the wizarding university, wizarding-muggle relationships. Current politics, religion, the roots of the wizarding culture and family are important topics.

Wemyss created a true epic. In addition to the sheer scope of the story he is very well-versed in English geography and history as well as histoy of world literature and this shines through in every part of the narration. Some aspects this story, for example the focus on the strong and likeable main characters, the picture of generations of a family and the ultimately positive outlook on life, made me feel bitter-sweet like the movie Antonia's Line did (a nudge for those of you who loved the movie as much as I did.)

As a bonus the author finished the sequel (Under a Dragon Moon) just a few days ago and he promised another sequel compliant to the epilogue of The Deathly Hallows.

Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn (Fanfiction Alley -- FF Downloader works for this site)
Under a Dragon Moon (FFA)