• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    I guess I just really, really hate Harry as a protagonist

    If Rowling had just stuck to sports YA novels about wizard high school, instead of sticking her withered claw into politics, I doubt anyone would have more to say about Harry Potter than they’ve said about Luke Skywalker.

    after the fifth one, I can barely remember anything that happens in them, outside some biggest plot points.

    It’s just crazy to introduce “The Three Big Magic Items That Change The World” in book 7. Like, you haven’t finished playing with the Seven Evil Relics That Keep Voldemort Alive and you’re already injecting this other shit? Save it for a different series.

    Compared to how I can still fairly well recall what happens in books 1-4, and mostly 5 as well despite there being more time passed after reading them, the contrast is huge.

    The first three movies are, in my opinion, really nice happy little Christmas movies. Been watching them on and off since I was in high school. So the plot is burned into my brain. I honestly think books 2 and 3 are the peak of her writing. Genuinely really good kids stories. Fun antagonists. Clever riddles. A few twists at the end.

    And then she blew up in popularity, and the whole franchise went off the rails. Ah well…

    Moral of the story, never let a good author write a fourth book.

    • Tonava@sopuli.xyz
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      2 hours ago

      The first three books are bit like the first Eragon one to me: kinda naive, not trying too hard, have the certain atmosphere that’s just fun to read, you can forget the real world shit for a moment and just enjoy a nice little story time. Not high literature, but pleasant enough - just like you said, good kids stories. Then comes the latter parts, and the whole thing just gets more and more complicated, and the magic dies off and you forget what happens because it’s not interesting. Bah. At least I haven’t heard of Paolini becoming a raging transphobe…