The title has been revealed: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Hallow is an archaic noun for a saint or holy person. At this point the title doesn't really make sense but perhaps it will in the context of the actual book. I'm not sure if I like the title or not. But really, it's irrelevant. It's the content that counts and I can't wait for it to be published... write, JK Rowling, write!
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Parallels
The previous posts about similarities between Eragon-Star Wars and Chronicles of Ancient Darkness - Harry Potter got me thinking about other parallels in the fantasy genre. Some of these are really stretching it though.
Harry Potter vs Chronicles of Ancient Darkness
Besides the parallels already mentioned, there aren't any other obvious ones. However if you wanted to see parallels where there aren't any you might view Torak's friend Renn as an amalgam of Hermione and Ron - she's very clever and red-haired. Thankfully the third major protagonist is a wolf (and this is a young adult series) so there aren't any relationship complications like the Harry/Hermione, Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny relationships that have the Harry Potter shippers (short for relationshippers) so inflamed.
Harry Potter - Enid Blyton's Malory Towers series
Both set in boarding schools. Enough said.
Harry Potter - Star Wars
Did anyone else notice that Dobby the house elf in Harry Potter uses Yoda-style grammar? And in the movies he also looks like Yoda's malnourished weakling cousin?
OK, I've got Harry Potter on my mind today, I'm not sure why. Will have to continue this topic later.
Harry Potter vs Chronicles of Ancient Darkness
Besides the parallels already mentioned, there aren't any other obvious ones. However if you wanted to see parallels where there aren't any you might view Torak's friend Renn as an amalgam of Hermione and Ron - she's very clever and red-haired. Thankfully the third major protagonist is a wolf (and this is a young adult series) so there aren't any relationship complications like the Harry/Hermione, Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny relationships that have the Harry Potter shippers (short for relationshippers) so inflamed.
Harry Potter - Enid Blyton's Malory Towers series
Both set in boarding schools. Enough said.
Harry Potter - Star Wars
Did anyone else notice that Dobby the house elf in Harry Potter uses Yoda-style grammar? And in the movies he also looks like Yoda's malnourished weakling cousin?
OK, I've got Harry Potter on my mind today, I'm not sure why. Will have to continue this topic later.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Soul Eater
Orphan boy with special powers fights evil mages called Soul Eaters, with assistance of clever girl friend, over the course of six books. No, we're not talking about Mr Potter here - besides, Harry and Hermione fight Death Eaters over seven books.
I started thinking about Soul Eater and some small similarities between its series and Harry Potter after I wrote the post about Eragon-Star Wars. I suppose there are recurrent themes in any particular literary genre. And the best writers make you forget that you've ever encountered anything similar before.
Anyway, about Soul Eater:
Soul Eater is the third book of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver. (The first two books are Wolf Brother and Spirit Walker.) This series is absolutely brilliant. The writing transports the reader to a vividly-imagined prehistoric world, full of spirits and mysticism, peopled by hunter-gatherer tribes. I particularly like the descriptions from Wolf's point of view - I always imagined my beloved pet dogs had such thoughts running through their brains.
Except, of course, they wouldn't have had to worry about expelling demons and suchlike.
I finished the book in one uninterrupted afternoon reading session. I'm going to go read it again right now. Ok, maybe not right now, but definitely tomorrow.
NB - the text illustrations for the Ancient Darkness series are by Geoff Taylor, a very accomplished fantasy illustrator who did the covers for the David Eddings series, The Belgariad and The Mallorean, which I used to enjoy when I was too young to know any better. The illustrations wear well and still look very impressive. One can't say the same for the writing.
I started thinking about Soul Eater and some small similarities between its series and Harry Potter after I wrote the post about Eragon-Star Wars. I suppose there are recurrent themes in any particular literary genre. And the best writers make you forget that you've ever encountered anything similar before.
Anyway, about Soul Eater:
Soul Eater is the third book of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver. (The first two books are Wolf Brother and Spirit Walker.) This series is absolutely brilliant. The writing transports the reader to a vividly-imagined prehistoric world, full of spirits and mysticism, peopled by hunter-gatherer tribes. I particularly like the descriptions from Wolf's point of view - I always imagined my beloved pet dogs had such thoughts running through their brains.
Except, of course, they wouldn't have had to worry about expelling demons and suchlike.
I finished the book in one uninterrupted afternoon reading session. I'm going to go read it again right now. Ok, maybe not right now, but definitely tomorrow.
NB - the text illustrations for the Ancient Darkness series are by Geoff Taylor, a very accomplished fantasy illustrator who did the covers for the David Eddings series, The Belgariad and The Mallorean, which I used to enjoy when I was too young to know any better. The illustrations wear well and still look very impressive. One can't say the same for the writing.
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