Harry Potter sucks

[aarti]

I think it's a little strange to start a topic in the JK Rowling author forum about how much you dislike her as an author :-)

That said, I love Harry Potter. I don't care if it's not great, epic fantasy. I don't care if people find it cliched. I am one of those people who reads mystery novels and never really feels any inclination towards trying to find out "whodunnit." I am perfectly willing for the author to reveal that to me. That probably means that I don't read at a very deep level ;-) But that's fine by me.

I read Harry Potter because I find the story interesting, I find the dialogue witty and fun, and the characters easy to cheer for. Also, having read some other children's/young adult fantasy recently, I think JK Rowling does an excellent job of building her wizarding world. She explains very well how wizards fit into our society and how they have one of their own. Some other authors seem to slide over that bit, so that you're kind of left wondering what all the "normal" people are doing while these wizarding wars go on. Rowling really has the entire background set, I think, and knows the facts of her world well. I love it when authors hint at a great encyclopedic knowledge of the world they've created, and then don't tell the readers *quite* everything that has gone on.

[KiwiBird]

Go DRAKEMIGHT !!!

The interview is sooo hilarious.

[the_faery_queen]

ah, thanks for links guys.

and totally. tho i dislike potter myself, tho i think there are other works far better than it, in writing, in plot, in everything, rowling did get kids to read. even if potter is the ONLY thing they ever read, they read it. they were excited about it. they were passionate about books. and i think that's a pretty impressive thing. so she's a bit arogant herself, by all accounts, and for that reason alone i'd not touch her books with a barge pole (there are other reasons too, but arrogance puts me off. this is just my opinion, of course) it's still great what she's done for kids

[j. d. worthington]

Faery Queen: Just for clarification's sake -- I wasn't defending Goodkind (who seriously annoys me, to say the least); I was simply issuing a response to KiwiBird's statement about closing the thread. While I quite agree that the original post was couched in immature terms, I've seen considerably harsher things said in threads about Goodkind and his work, so that's not necessarily a reason for closing a thread -- it's an opinion stated, whether honest or no, whether to engender conversation/debate or simply to vent their distaste for a writer. That's really all that was about.

As for the subject of the thread itself: I worked in a specialty sff/mystery book shop, and can vouch for the fact that here, at least, kids (and adults) reading Harry Potter led to reading of a considerable variety of other things, from YA books such as Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath, or Le Guin's Earthsea books or Norton's Witch World series, to various classics, mythology, and so on... even, sometimes, to the Golden Age works in sf. They got them to (often for the first time) find how enjoyable reading could be, and they branched out from those books into so many others. I despise Rowling's arrogance, I've not read the books as they are a very low priority on my TBR list (which anyone who has read my posts on the subject can tell you is large enough I'm not likely to get through it in my lifetime) ... but I give her and the books deserved kudos for getting more people reading, and finding the joy in the world of books. Even the devil should be given their due, you know....

[the_faery_queen]

i wasn't saying you were defending goodkind just that i'd probably said most of the harsh stuff!

[I, Brian]

It's okay, folks - Mr Eng has been trying to stir up attention for himself by trashing other writers and spamming/trolling sites to get his name out:
A.R.Yngve's "Notes Toward Becoming A Better Writer": Can You Spot The Smoking Gun In These Reviews?

Because of his extensive record forum spamming activities, he's already been booted from chronicles as an undesirable.
Dragons: Lexicon Triumvirate - Google Search=

[KiwiBird]

i can only smile... like its glued that way

[pyan]

Proves one thing - you can't bull***t Chrons members!

[Rane Longfox]

Well, it didn't work anyway... I'm sure as hell not gonna be reading any of his books

edit: Might take a look at "Darc Ages" though

[KiwiBird]

Lolz, on amazon he gave harry potter 4 stars

[DragonRhapsody]

Well, Harry Potter and I have a love-hate relationship.

I love Harry Potter for what it's good for: escapism. Just like other books/movies/comics out there.

I hate Harry Potter for more than one reason, most of them stemming to J.K. Rowling lack of writing skills, that fact that HP is definately for kids and yet she tries to make it more adult than it is, and that J.K Rowling herself has an attitude.

I can't wait to read the last HP book, and be thankful that it's done and over with. But I would never call the HP series a great peice of literature. It's like Com-Rom movies - full of fluff and laughter to make you forget the horrible plot line.

Doesn't mean I won't enjoy the last one and b*tch about how lame it is afterward. It just means that everything in moderation, and it's too bad that J.K Rowling has to be such a poor character herself.

[aarti]

People have spoken a lot about Rowling having an attitude or being arrogant. Was there some press release or something that I missed?! I know that she was quoted as someone who didn't like her books being classified as "fantasy" (which I didn't understand- I mean, they have wizards and dragons in them. Seems fairly standard for the genre), but that's really all I know. Does anyone know what else she did/said?

[Thadlerian]

She's been quoted as "unaware" that her books were fantasy. Genre writers trying to make the impression they're really writing mainstream is something we generally disapprove. There's a lengthy thread in the Pratchett forum on this.

And, in the same thread, there's her winning the prestigious Hugo award for one of her HP books, and not bothering to come pick it up or say 'thank you', and then, when being given an adult author award at a later time, saying that was her first adult award ever.

[aarti]

Originally Posted by Thadlerian

And, in the same thread, there's her winning the prestigious Hugo award for one of her HP books, and not bothering to come pick it up or say 'thank you', and then, when being given an adult author award at a later time, saying that was her first adult award ever.

Ouch. Alright, I can see where you guys are coming from then. Thanks for the info!

[KiwiBird]

Originally Posted by Thadlerian

She's been quoted as "unaware" that her books were fantasy. Genre writers trying to make the impression they're really writing mainstream is something we generally disapprove. There's a lengthy thread in the Pratchett forum on this.

And, in the same thread, there's her winning the prestigious Hugo award for one of her HP books, and not bothering to come pick it up or say 'thank you', and then, when being given an adult author award at a later time, saying that was her first adult award ever.

Perhaps she did not know....