Some fans of JK Rowling's Harry Potter series might be interested in reading G Norman Lippert's fan fiction series about James Sirius Potter, Harry's elder son. Lippert's web site branches to accommodate your Internet connection speed: Wizarding and Muggle versions are both available. The website is very slick, very professional. The stories themselves, however, well, judge for yourself.
I downloaded Kindle-friendly, DRM-free copies a while back and recently got around to reading the three of them in rapid succession. The pacing is pretty good - not much in the way of great swampy middle bogging one down, though, like most stories, there are some times when the author needs to provide the reader with a bit of information and the action slows a bit to allow the data to flow. It was interesting and fun to see how a total stranger envisioned Rowling's characters 19 years later. Lippert is also pretty good at coming up with logical explanations for why magic works in a particular way and why certain things cannot be accomplished magically.
What he is not so good at doing is coming up with his own plots. He freely admits that James Potter and the Hall of Elders Crossing is a retelling of That Hideous Strength,
Purists will probably not be pleased with Lippert's prose. I'm not sure if Lippert really has his own author's "voice", since he seems to be deliberately trying to emulate Rowling's. At the same time, he blatantly violates Rowling's canon on many points. Minor issues can be forgiven as a slip of the mind: even authors with paid, professional editors sometimes have glitches like that make it to the printing press. Major departures are harder to ignore. One of the most glaring in my mind was when he had Harry state that thestrals could not be employed as transportation in The Hall of Elders Crossing: "Thestrals can only carry one person, and none as heavy as Titus or myself." Um, yeah, right. So how exactly did Bill and Fleur and Kingsley and Hermione manage during the flight from Privet Drive?
Those who do not mind playing a little fast and loose with the established rules and who are currently double-jonesing for a Potter fix while waiting for the second half of Deathly Hallows
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3 hours ago
6 yarns:
Errr, since I haven't read any of the Harry Potters I should probably give these a pass. I don't understand the whole concept of "fan fiction" anyway, I think it's because I'm OLD.
I generally only turn to fan fic when I'm unsatisfied with how a part of the story was handled, so I think I'll pass on these.
Hmm...interesting concept. I have to admit that I'd not heard of those. Might be worth picking one up and seeing if I like it. I'm sort of in a holding pattern with a lot of the books I want to read since all the sequels seem to be pending.
I needed a Potter fix and I will admit that I enjoyed it but then I decided not to analyze it very much.
To each his own.
P.S. Tech Boy is back to normal.
Hmm - I can't say these appeal much but you never know until you try them!
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