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pendell
2012-09-06, 03:29 PM
On this board I have been seen to write that I thought Rowling's books -- based on snippets I read -- were not as good as Diane Duane's Young Wizards series.

I take it back.

I'm nearly finished with the entire audiobook (http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Sorcerers-Stone-Book/dp/0807281956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346963021&sr=8-1&keywords=harry+potter+sorcerers+stone+audiobook), which I've been listening to during my commute, and it's an excellent book. It had a very Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-Factory feel with the young orphan getting his golden ticket letter in green ink to go away to a special,magical place. Just got through the twist at the end and, despite the fact that I knew roughly how this goes, it still caught me by complete surprise. If Rowling gets tired of fantasy, she has a future as a writer of murder mysteries.

Well realized characters and a scary villain. Not bad. Not bad at all. I still think Duane is better when it comes to world-building and logical consistency, but Rowling is certainly a better story teller.

Anyway, I'd spouted an incorrect opinion on this forum and thought it appropriate to publicly recant what I had previously publicly stated. Carry on with your business :).

Respectfully,

Brian P.

SamBurke
2012-09-06, 03:36 PM
I heartily approve of this.

Not because of my thoughts on either series -I haven't read a single chapter of them- but because of the mindset that this shows.

This is the mindset of someone who is:


Willing to Admit Mistakes
Thoughtful Enough to Examine his Statements
Intelligent Enough to Reason and Examine
Level-Headed Enough to give an Honest Opinion.


For all these, and more, I give thee the highest award I can: The Commander Shepard Award of Internet-Based Badassery. Along with this, I award you as many internets, cookies, and clicks as you shall deem necessary for all of your natural, first life.*

*Resurrections, Revifications, Raise Deads, Create Undead, Lichdom, Vampirism, and other forms of not-first life null this award. Uses of Phenix Down, Revive Franchise, or Ass-Pull-He-Survives do, however, count.

The Glyphstone
2012-09-06, 03:41 PM
Sir, I'm afraid I'm going to have to revoke your Internet Debate License, for the unforgivable crime of admitting you were wrong and/or allowing the possibility that you might not have been entirely correct. Please report to the nearest self-termination booth, and have a nice day.:smallcool:

pendell
2012-09-06, 03:53 PM
Erm ... where IS the nearest self-termination booth? Would you mind much if I reported here (http://doctorwhocast.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/the_tardis_whoohoo.jpg) instead?

ETA: Aren't mod directions supposed to be red-text? Self-termination? Well, at least it wasn't an infraction.

Tongue-in-cheek,

Brian P.

The Glyphstone
2012-09-06, 04:59 PM
Erm ... where IS the nearest self-termination booth? Would you mind much if I reported here (http://doctorwhocast.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/the_tardis_whoohoo.jpg) instead?

ETA: Aren't mod directions supposed to be red-text? Self-termination? Well, at least it wasn't an infraction.

Tongue-in-cheek,

Brian P.

Yup. If I was speaking as a mod, or a RED clearance citizen, red would be the proper text. You do not have the security clearance to read ULTRAVIOLET text, though, so I am communicating in common INFRARED text.

If you cannot find a self-termination booth, please remain calm and contact your nearest BLUE clearance security officer, who will call for an execution droid to be dispatched to your location. Remember, the Giant is your friend.:smallsmile:



On-topic...they are both good authors, though I enjoy Duane's work more simply because I'm of a technical/engineering mindset. Her universe's magic system is as close to a fantasy version of Clarke's Third Law as I've seen, including being treated as such in-universe.

Rowling is more classical fantasy fare - as any Harry Potter fan knows, you don't read her stories for an in-depth study of the magic system or the setting.

Pokonic
2012-09-06, 08:00 PM
On this board I have been seen to write that I thought Rowling's books -- based on snippets I read -- were not as good as Diane Duane's Young Wizards series.

I take it back.

I'm nearly finished with the entire audiobook (http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Sorcerers-Stone-Book/dp/0807281956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346963021&sr=8-1&keywords=harry+potter+sorcerers+stone+audiobook), which I've been listening to during my commute, and it's an excellent book. It had a very Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-Factory feel with the young orphan getting his golden ticket letter in green ink to go away to a special,magical place. Just got through the twist at the end and, despite the fact that I knew roughly how this goes, it still caught me by complete surprise. If Rowling gets tired of fantasy, she has a future as a writer of murder mysteries.

Well realized characters and a scary villain. Not bad. Not bad at all. I still think Duane is better when it comes to world-building and logical consistency, but Rowling is certainly a better story teller.

Anyway, I'd spouted an incorrect opinion on this forum and thought it appropriate to publicly recant what I had previously publicly stated. Carry on with your business :).

Respectfully,

Brian P.

My gods.

Someone.....actualy admit's to being on the wrong side of a debate, and does it gracefuly. This is somewhere up in "Garfield Ending" on the impossiblity meter.

Bravo, good sir.


Also, on as for the mystery part: indeed, a game could be made of going thruout the books and seeing which little tidbits become vastly importent later. Young Wizerds is okay, but Harry Potter succeeds in telling the traditinal hero's begining story in a genuinely fresh light.

She's actualy working on another book that's supposed to be a darkish comady. Not a mystery, but if she can devote half the funnies in HP into a single novel I would suggest that it's worth looking out for.

shadow_archmagi
2012-09-06, 08:58 PM
Let's compromise and agree that Dianna Wynne Jones is delightful

Forum Explorer
2012-09-06, 09:14 PM
Darn, and here I was hoping this thread would be a full on duel with books themselves as weapons:smalltongue:

Androgeus
2012-09-06, 09:23 PM
Darn, and here I was hoping this thread would be a full on duel with books themselves as weapons:smalltongue:

Neither before or since has the phrase "throw the book her" been used so literally.. or so much.

The Glyphstone
2012-09-06, 09:26 PM
Neither before or since has the phrase "throw the book her" been used so literally.. or so much.

HP books are individually much larger than the YW books, and more widely printed, so I think Rowling wins that battle due to...

:smallsmile:

:smallcool:

sheer volume.

Manga Shoggoth
2012-09-07, 04:18 AM
HP books are individually much larger than the YW books, and more widely printed, so I think Rowling wins that battle due to...

:smallsmile:

:smallcool:

sheer volume.

I, for one, would not wish to be assulted with anything from The Goblet of Fire onwards. Especially in hardback.

Mauve Shirt
2012-09-07, 05:43 AM
Also, J.K. Rowling DOES have a future writing murder mysteries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Casual_Vacancy)! :smallbiggrin: I'm glad someone agrees that she has potential!

KillianHawkeye
2012-09-07, 07:31 AM
Yeah, that woman certainly knows how to write a plot twist.

Kd7sov
2012-09-07, 09:01 AM
Honestly, I've always preferred the YW books. Some of that may be because I encountered them first, or because - like Glyphstone - I like the sciency magic. And I'll admit it, I'm a huge sucker for worldbuilding and exposition (http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2008-11-26). And to be honest, I don't find Voldemort that intimidating a Big Bad, especially compared to the Lone Power.

pendell
2012-09-07, 09:50 AM
The problem I have with the Lone Power is that he's not human. Literally. It's hard to see character development or if he was once a professor of defense against the dark arts. Whether he can learn to love, or to hate. He's less an adversary than a force of nature. Most of the YW feel less like a duel between determined adversaries as it is Kit and Nita overcoming some personal issue, some of their own growth. In fact, in at least one of the later books (The Wizard of Mars, I believe)


The Lone Power never puts in an appearance at all. At least, not as such. .

A great series needs a great villain. And while the Lone Power definitely outclasses Voldemort in terms of sheer power and threat level, he just doesn't have the style of a Tarquin or a Xykon. He's not human enough, not identifiable enough, to be a great villain, no more than a volcanic eruption is.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Forum Explorer
2012-09-07, 10:33 AM
The problem I have with the Lone Power is that he's not human. Literally. It's hard to see character development or if he was once a professor of defense against the dark arts. Whether he can learn to love, or to hate. He's less an adversary than a force of nature. Most of the YW feel less like a duel between determined adversaries as it is Kit and Nita overcoming some personal issue, some of their own growth. In fact, in at least one of the later books (The Wizard of Mars, I believe)


The Lone Power never puts in an appearance at all. At least, not as such. .

A great series needs a great villain. And while the Lone Power definitely outclasses Voldemort in terms of sheer power and threat level, he just doesn't have the style of a Tarquin or a Xykon. He's not human enough, not identifiable enough, to be a great villain, no more than a volcanic eruption is.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Sure and the story was less about stopping the Lone Power then surviving him and undoing his work. I actually like that.

I do like the YW stories better because it holds up better. The HP books got worse with time when they started making Voldemort out to be a big threat which just fell flat on its face for me. I couldn't take him as seriously as the books did and thus I couldn't enjoy the later books at all.

Kitten Champion
2012-09-07, 10:57 AM
I enjoyed the way Rowling mirrored Harry with Voldemort, alike in dignity but resolutely contrasted by their capacity for compassion. She has a gift for subtly representing emotional undercurrents with carefully crafted descriptions and dialogue that make her other characters come alive. I particularly appreciated her use newspaper articles, dream visions, journal entries, and Harry's experience with the Pensieve device to flesh out characters like Voldemort and Dumbledore who are otherwise misunderstood from the cryptic or terrifying encounters they have. Dumbledore is less than a saint, though only a mature Harry would realize this, and Voldemort is less than the devil, though no one -- especially his followers -- want to consider him as human.

Fallen Angel
2012-09-07, 12:40 PM
Duane does good TOS books. Honestly, I give not a single **** about Young Wizards or Harrp ****ter.

Damn crappy YA/Fantasy!

Pokonic
2012-09-07, 01:54 PM
I, for one, would not wish to be assulted with anything from The Goblet of Fire onwards. Especially in hardback.

You could kill a small dog by placing it in the general area of a copy of Goblet.

Pokonic
2012-09-07, 02:05 PM
I, for one, would not wish to be assulted with anything from The Goblet of Fire onwards. Especially in hardback.

You could kill a small dog by placing it in the general area of a copy of Goblet.