'Young Wizards' superiority acknowledged?!

[madderbrad]

I think some/many of us here abhor Rowling's immense commercial success because it wasn't truly 'earnt' or deserved. She was fine with the early books for the kiddies in waving her hands about and fabricating a whimsical magical universe in which things happened because MAGIC! but when it came down to the crunch in writing a satisfactory

Comments

[vermouth1991]

Great post, madderbrad!

It's funny because I've only recently heard of Diane Duane and her Young Wizards series (actually, I knew of the books, but hadn't connected the author's name to the books) and just yesterday I checked a couple of her books out of the library. And now I get this. :-)

If anyone want to hear D.D. talk about books and movies, I recommend episode 27 of the Anglofilles podcast.

[madderbrad]

Great post, madderbrad!

Heh, thanks. This is the only place, I think, where I've come across people who like both HP and the Young Wizards and aren't afraid to compare the two and acknowledge that Rowling's work is waaaaaay simplistic (and inferior, and trite, and superficial, and ...) compared to the other. :-)

It's funny because I've only recently heard of Diane Duane and her Young Wizards series -

I found her via her Star Trek novels (which I've got to read again one day), and then her own original stuff, including the YW.

As I recall a few books of Duane's also frustrated me with 'wave the hands MAGIC!' sort-of endings, but even there her solutions still seemed to have much more put into it than did HP. And certainly not the horrible plot holes that Rowling threw in without care or concern.

I'm definitely going to check out that podcast; thank you!

[borg_princess]

I love Diane Duane's SYWTBAW series. The last book not so much, because of the increasing focus of teenage romance, but the series as a whole is amazing. And I actually wrote a long post contrasting it with HP ages ago that was...controversial, haha.

[madderbrad]

The last book not so much -

Actually I ordered the last two-thirds of the Young Wizards series in December, hoping the books would arrive during my Christmas break for some holiday re-reading ... they didn't. :-( So I'm reading them now, leading up to the last book - Wizards of Mars? - which I *haven't* perused before.

I'd be worried about your reservation -

- because of the increasing focus of teenage romance

... but I quite like that aspect. :-) I didn't know I was a romantic until I started reading HP fan fiction. :-)

So, thanks to you, I'm now looking forward more than ever to when I get to open that last book. :-)

And I actually wrote a long post contrasting it with HP ages ago that was...controversial, haha.

I'm intrigued! Did HP come out of your analysis looking like mud? And were you ridden out on a rail by a horde of pro-Jo HP fans?

Do you have a reference to where you made that post? I wouldn't mind having a look!

[borg_princess]

Oops, I need to be careful about ascertaining what people have read before making comments about works as a whole - but I'm glad that in this case, it's just made you more keen on reading the book in question!

I actually am a romantic, but I don't ship the pairing in question, so DD exploring that did nothing for me, alas.

And certainly, if you want to read my tl;dr essay, it's over here. I don't read my posts because I tend to cringe at my younger self, so y'know, don't judge me! I did have a definite pro-YW/anti-HP bias, and I seem to think some commenters vehemently disagreed with me, but ah well, I knew going in that it was not going to win me brownie points.

[spongebending]

I just want to say I found your "tl;dr" post a fascinating read. It really does show how poorly thought HP was.
I also never heard of Young Wizards until today and
you've really got me wanting to check it out.
Great Essay! :)

[attilathepbnun]

Cool!
I'm not the only one!!

[madderbrad]

That's how I felt when I saw the reference to SYWTBAW! :-)