A Realization About Me and Harry Potter

Now let me start by saying I don't hate Harry Potter. I like the movies and the first book was fun. Then I started watching the movies and I didn't feel much like reading the books. This is rare for me, but there it is.

But yeah. I don't hate Harry and his world of magic, muggles, and meaty later novels that really seemed to need an editor not afraid to chop words from one of the world's richest people. I'm glad they exist, in fact.

But the funny thing is the reason I'm so glad is because the success of these novels managed to make it easier for authors to get books out I really like. As publishers try to discover the next Potter, I get a lovely mix of truly awesome fantasy.

Now why do I like this stuff better? Why do I think that, at least personally, these "Potter knock offs" are vastly preferable? Simple, as entertaining as the Potterverse is I actually don't care that much.

Magical boarding school run by Obi-Wan the Gray is a fun idea. Fighting Darth Noseless and his army of evil Sith witches is even more fun. And having the hero be Luke Skywalker crossed with Timothy Hunter (I still find the Hunter similarities a bit jarring) makes it even more fun.

But in the end it's not where my heart lies. I like fantastic worlds, superheroes, and utterly crazy stuff like that. So it's no surprise I prefer Potter for what he has enabled more than for his own sake.

So what sorts of young adult friendly fiction am I talking about? What series do I give a "thanks for getting publishers interested" nod to Mr. Potter while I simultaneously pass up all his books for? Glad you asked.

Or you know, you didn't. But I'm going to tell you anyway:

1) Abarat (Clive Barker)
The sheer imagination of this series floors me. I want to come up with crazy shit like this and have it hang together as well as Barker's setting. Unfortunately, I think the craziness of the setting on some level with always limit its success. Still, the books are fantastic and I eagerly await the release of the third volume of the series.

2)Percy Jackson and Olympians (Rick Riordan)
Okay so the movie was merely okay. But the book series of modern demigods fighting ancient Titans and monsters is crazy fun. And honestly it flows faster and freer for me than Rowling's work. It might not be as deep as Potter's world, but that's because it doesn't need to be. By basing the setting in Greek myth the story comes with centuries of stories attached and characters fit into this rather than have the setting's nearly completely fabricated cosmology molded around them. In that way it's like Supernatural v. Buffy. And while I like both, I have come to strongly prefer Supernatural. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

3) Skulduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy)
If Barker reaches the depths of imagination I envy then Landy wrote the story I wish I had thought of. A film noir style PI skeleton sorcerer fighting Lovecraftian style alien gods with the help of hot magic using swordswomen, unscrupulous tattooed librarians, the world's greatest boxer and tailor (same guy), and of course his plucky kid sidekick who is descended from a race of ancient sorcerers and kings? Seriously, sign me up and get out of my head!

4) Un Lun Dun (China Mieville)
I love the craft of Mieville's writing but I often find it almost obtuse for the sake of being obtuse. Not so his children's book of forgotten cities. Here we see almost Abarat levels of clever world-building mixed with some wordplay based ideas that are silly, even stupid, and yet totally awesome. And with writing that is skillful but very accessible. I don't know if China will ever write a follow up to this, but the book stands alone just fine.

5) Summerland (Michael Chabon)
I know, shocking isn't it that Chabon wrote a great book? A book about Norse mythology and baseball, no less. Not much more to say about it other than it's very good, very well written, and I'd like to see Chabon dip his hand into young adult lit a few more times.

There are others on this list, but a few are first books in a series and I'm not sure how they will hold up. I also leave out guys who are doing just fine witout any boost from the Potter success, like Gaiman. Still, I find myself beholden to Potter in the funniest ways. Especially since I've read nearly none of his adventures and probably won't any time soon.

Still, thanks Harry. Go get yourself one of those freaky ass jellybeans on me.

Note: I didn't mention the current YA Wunderkind, Stephanie Meyer and her Twilight novels. There are two great reasons for this. One, I don't think she's blazing any new trails so much as just cashing in on the latest round of vampire romance crazy we get every few decades. Two, I think her books are terrible. While Rowling might seem a bit overrated and maybe not tailor made to my tastes I do generally like her stuff. I wouldn't read the entire Twilight series on a bet. And because of these two reasons I don't think she's going to inspire good "knock-offs" or "copycats" (instead we get crap like CW's Vampire Diaries) nor do I think her influence will last much beyond her own commercial success.