Compiled by the Espresso Addict

Espresso Recommendations

Innovative and stylish fanfiction, showcasing the very best across multiple sf, fantasy & literature fandoms. Good writing in all its forms can be found here, including gen, het, slash, OCs, AUs, crossovers, future fics, humour & pastiche

Contents: 1010 recs in 235 fandoms; 65 links

Harry Potter

Narcissa Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy

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The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be by Jane St Clair

Draco copes with the absence of his father; Crabbe & Goyle cope with the absence of Draco. Precise characterisations that don't stray too far from canon, but it's the details that really make this short piece

[Added 13/02/2006; Romance/Erotica; 1000-2500; Harry Potter; Characters: Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Draco Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy; Adult]

Cursed Artefacts For Sale by Icarus

'…collecting Cursed Artefacts is a registered form of madness in the Compendium of Wizarding Mental Disorders and Other Things That Make You Twitch.' A richly detailed & inventive future fic, with a broad streak of dry humour

[Added 13/02/2006; Drama; 6000-20,000; Harry Potter; Characters: Severus Snape, Harry Potter, Narcissa Malfoy]

Lust over Pendle by AJ Hall

'Various far-fetched theories were spun as to what exactly had happened the night Draco Malfoy went out to murder Hermione Granger, and returned some hours later, to tell his father that, actually, he thought becoming a Death Eater was a rotten idea, and he'd rather be excused.' Deservedly a fandom classic: AJ Hall has had a ball with Rowling's universe. The characters are developed far beyond the two-dimensional ciphers of canon (the author's vision of Narcissa Malfoy is particularly memorable). Although the pacing occasionally flags, the light humorous tone works well and the Bond-style finale is a romp. The sequel, Dissipation and Despair, is also recommended

[Added 09/07/2008; Drama; >50,000; Harry Potter; Characters: Draco Malfoy, Neville Longbottom, Narcissa Malfoy, Mrs Longbottom, Dudley Dursley, Vernon Dursley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Rita Skeeter, Pansy Parkinson, Colin Creevey, OCs]

Picture Perfect by Selden

'He and Potter had had to clear the room by levitating out rack upon rack of cheap port, only to spend almost an entire day dealing with the enormous wheel of cheese that had once been a diplomatic gift from the Dutch wizarding community but which had, by the time they unearthed it, become a kind of Doxy village, practically ready to claim municipal status.' This plotty casefic novella, with a side of H/D, marries Selden's usual lush descriptive prose with excellent worldbuilding & fascinating thoughts on the ramifications of portrait magic. Highly recommended

[Added 26/10/2017; Drama; 20,000-50,000; Harry Potter; Characters: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Teddy Tonks, Narcissa Malfoy, Andromeda Tonks, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, OCs]

Romance of the Age by Livesandlies

'The wizard ... was not by any means a small man. He had, however, a collection of very miniscule attributes – small eyes, a small nose, thin little lips, and a thin little chin – that seemed to suggest he had been sketched out on parchment by a child only just learning to use a quill, who'd had very grand ideas to begin with, and who, discovering for the first time the very disagreeable runniness of ink, had splashed on a few dots for the features and then given up.' The first war, à la Vile Bodies. The Waugh pastiche provides the perfect lens to view the terrible events as they inexorably unfold, and the novella overflows with sparkling wit at the expense of almost all of its enormous cast. A wonderful achievement

[Added 15/01/2014; Drama; 20,000-50,000; Harry Potter; Characters: Severus Snape, Lily Evans, Narcissa Malfoy, Regulus Black, James Potter, Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, Barty Crouch Jr, Walburga Black, Eileen Prince, Tobias Snape, Death Eaters, Marauders & Order; Crossover]