My son, who has read the Harry Potter series, informed me that after he finishes the book he’s currently reading, he’s going to read the “eighth” Harry Potter book. At first, I thought he might be talking about the new book J.K. Rowling is supposed to be writing, and I was all set to explain to him that it was not a Harry Potter book, but it turns out he was talking about this:
I had never heard of it before. Googling informs me that it is fanfic, and apparently Rowling is okay with it. Normally, I let him read pretty much anything he shows an interest in, but I’m a little afraid that, if this sucks, its suckitude will extend backwards through time and tarnish the Harry Potter experience, which he really enjoyed.
Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone has read it, or knows anyone that has, and what your/their take on it was.
I know nothing about that in particular, but this seems as good a time as any to plug the only Harry Potter fan fiction I’ve ever read, and truly one of the most gripping and entertaining works of any genre I’ve ever encountered:
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.
This is probably not something a youngish kid would enjoy, though… not because it’s inappropriate but because a lot of it is about logic and rationality and so forth, but it wraps that up in some utterly gripping storytelling. It also manages to wrap up a clear love of and respect for the source material with a willingness to point out places where the original HP books make no sense.
Okay, got side-tracked by HPMOR (hysterical!), but I’ve just downloaded JPHEC and will report back. The Kid (13) will no doubt have a go too, if she can tear herself away from* Methods.*
Made it about 20-odd pages in. No real engagement with the new characters, irritated by some of the references to the canon characters.
Meh. Trying hard to be like the originals and almost making it. But the originals were, well,* original.* I don’t think it would kill the earlier books, but do emphasise that it’s a different author, different use of language, different vision of that world etc etc.
Might suit a younger, more avid fan. The prologue is a little dark. You’d be better reading it yourself as a judge of whether it’s suitable for your kid. Me and mine will carry on with Methods.
I read the first one this weekend and liked it a lot. Very well done, nice illustrations, nice layout.
I started to read Methods a few months ago and got about 20 chapters in–good stuff, very well written, but I couldn’t stay engaged with it. Not sure why. Maybe because it strayed too far from canon. Maybe it was just too long, with no end in sight (don’t know if they ever finished it, but when I was reading it, it was still being posted).