There are authors that are very popular but not necessarily that entertaining
I'll not got into that though.
Stroud is a good author and despite others feeling their are strong similiarities between his series and Rowling's series, I didnt feel that way when I read his first book. There is no sarcastic demon's in Harry Potter.
Harry Potter is based around Hogwarts, Stroud's series isnt.
There isn't a revolution going on against magic in Harry Potter. To me the two series dont feel similar at all.