Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
Oh, the disappointment. Maybe it was inevitable seeing as how the Harry Potter series was so ingrained into my teenage years and were the first books that actually made me fall in love with reading. Maybe it's the fact that no one can write about Hogwarts and its wizarding world quite the way that J.K. Rowling can. Maybe it's because this is in a sense fanfiction. (Wait, it can't be that one because I actually love well-written fanfic about my favorite TV shows and have actually read published fanfic). Regardless of the maybes, I was just utterly disappointed in James Potter and the Hall of Elder's Crossing.
Here's the thing: when you write fanfiction you have to go one of two ways: either you're going to write about the characters and the world you're borrowing from and keep it somewhat in canon or you're just going to do everything your own way and pretty much make it an alternate universe with just the names of the characters that you are borrowing but with everything else different. Lippert pretty much didn't do either (or rather did a mix of both).
One issue I had with the Hall of Elder's Crossing was that it didn't follow Harry Potter canon. The classes were mixed. There were fifth years in classes with first years. Ummm, no. In J.K. Rowling's world, the first years were in classes with the first years. The fifth years were, therefore, in classes with the fifth years. Most people would probably view that as just a small thing, but I think if you're going to actually disregard canon while borrowing someone else's world, then you probably shouldn't be borrowing it (unless of course you're going to go the whole AU route).
However, my main issue with The Hall of Elder's Crossing was that it was boring. Which was baffling to me. How on Earth can a book about the wizarding world, about Hogwarts, about Harry Potter's offspring, be boring? I don't know, but oh my God, it was. Don't get me wrong. James, due to his parentage was just bound to be interesting (at least semi-interesting). The same thing goes for Teddy Lupin. I even found Zane to be somewhat amusing. But the plot...was just not the least bit intriguing. For me, it was like a person reading Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone...and not being entranced by the goings on of the sorceror's stone. Or like reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and not caring one whit who the half-blood prince is or what that whole plot brings to the table. I couldn't care less about the Hall of Elder's Crossing. I wasn't enchanted by it. I wasn't dying to find out more the way I was in the actual Harry Potter books.
James Potter and the Hall of Elder's Crossing just wasn't a page-turner. While I liked the idea of the existence of an American Wizarding school, it wasn't written in any way that was integral to the plot. You could take that aspect out of this book completely and just replace those American teachers with new Hogwarts ones and it wouldn't have made not one difference. Great idea. Poor execution. In fact, the same can be said for this book as a whole.
The fact is no one can do Harry Potter the way J.K. Rowling can. James Potter's tale just wasn't nearly as enthralling as Harry Potter's tale was. And that is just something I can't get over. I can forgive the little dips outside of canon, I can forgive the addition of a completely unnecessary school. I can't, however, forgive a book that takes the wizarding world and morphs it into something that's just downright boring. The characters were somewhat there. The plot just...wasn't. Therefore, I have no desire to pick up the rest of this series and actually regret even starting it. I say skip it.
Here's the thing: when you write fanfiction you have to go one of two ways: either you're going to write about the characters and the world you're borrowing from and keep it somewhat in canon or you're just going to do everything your own way and pretty much make it an alternate universe with just the names of the characters that you are borrowing but with everything else different. Lippert pretty much didn't do either (or rather did a mix of both).
One issue I had with the Hall of Elder's Crossing was that it didn't follow Harry Potter canon. The classes were mixed. There were fifth years in classes with first years. Ummm, no. In J.K. Rowling's world, the first years were in classes with the first years. The fifth years were, therefore, in classes with the fifth years. Most people would probably view that as just a small thing, but I think if you're going to actually disregard canon while borrowing someone else's world, then you probably shouldn't be borrowing it (unless of course you're going to go the whole AU route).
However, my main issue with The Hall of Elder's Crossing was that it was boring. Which was baffling to me. How on Earth can a book about the wizarding world, about Hogwarts, about Harry Potter's offspring, be boring? I don't know, but oh my God, it was. Don't get me wrong. James, due to his parentage was just bound to be interesting (at least semi-interesting). The same thing goes for Teddy Lupin. I even found Zane to be somewhat amusing. But the plot...was just not the least bit intriguing. For me, it was like a person reading Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone...and not being entranced by the goings on of the sorceror's stone. Or like reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and not caring one whit who the half-blood prince is or what that whole plot brings to the table. I couldn't care less about the Hall of Elder's Crossing. I wasn't enchanted by it. I wasn't dying to find out more the way I was in the actual Harry Potter books.
James Potter and the Hall of Elder's Crossing just wasn't a page-turner. While I liked the idea of the existence of an American Wizarding school, it wasn't written in any way that was integral to the plot. You could take that aspect out of this book completely and just replace those American teachers with new Hogwarts ones and it wouldn't have made not one difference. Great idea. Poor execution. In fact, the same can be said for this book as a whole.
The fact is no one can do Harry Potter the way J.K. Rowling can. James Potter's tale just wasn't nearly as enthralling as Harry Potter's tale was. And that is just something I can't get over. I can forgive the little dips outside of canon, I can forgive the addition of a completely unnecessary school. I can't, however, forgive a book that takes the wizarding world and morphs it into something that's just downright boring. The characters were somewhat there. The plot just...wasn't. Therefore, I have no desire to pick up the rest of this series and actually regret even starting it. I say skip it.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I'm glad it was a free download, the formatting was a little difficult to read through at times. The characters were fun to read about and it was an ok story.
This book brought me back to HOGWARTS. It has a great storyline and follows the way Rowling wrote the original series. Although, this is not an official sequel, it is nice to think about the way things worked to the next Potter Generations. Lippert truly has an amazing imagination.
Though an entertaining continuation of adventures and times at Hogwarts, I missed the voice of Rowling's narrator. It seems obvious, despite best efforts, that Lippert is not British and does not understand the dialect he is attempting to write.
I waffled between enjoying the story of this book and not liking that someone who isn't JKR touching this world. I'm still not sure how I feel about it.
It is actually a really good 'Fan fiction' writing of the future of Harry's son James.
I was quite impressed.
I was quite impressed.
I generally don't read e-books. I get a headache from sitting by the computer for too long, but I figured, since it was Harry Potter, I should give it a go. And I did.
Although it's kind of like the Deathly Hallows, with the three reliecs, and the writer trying a bit too hard to be funny sometimes, it was a good read. I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next, mind you.
The story focuses quite a bit on how James always feels like he is in the shadow of his father, but I suppose James Potter would feel that way. To be the son of Harry Potter wouldn't always be a great pleasure.
The main annoyance I found, was that some characters were a bit different than how they are supposed to be. Like George weren't married to Angelina, although, that could happen later since Jo Rowling never stated when Fred II and Roxanne was born. Enough rambling and back to the main plot here.
I think that bringing Merlin into the whole story was a bit too much, especially the fact that he stayed after saving the wizarding world from exposure, but that's the way the world of fan fictions work, so I suppose it's okay. I would believe that he would have fulfilled his destiny, and gone back to waiting for a new moment to return. Although, if that was the case, he probably should have come back during the Second Wizarding War.
To wrap it up, if you like Harry Potter, and are keen on a sequel, then read it. Don't expect too much, and you won't be disappointed. As I said, it's a good read, but it seems like Lippert is trying a bit too hard to be funny, and a bit too hard to write exactly like Rowling.
Although it's kind of like the Deathly Hallows, with the three reliecs, and the writer trying a bit too hard to be funny sometimes, it was a good read. I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next, mind you.
The story focuses quite a bit on how James always feels like he is in the shadow of his father, but I suppose James Potter would feel that way. To be the son of Harry Potter wouldn't always be a great pleasure.
The main annoyance I found, was that some characters were a bit different than how they are supposed to be. Like George weren't married to Angelina, although, that could happen later since Jo Rowling never stated when Fred II and Roxanne was born. Enough rambling and back to the main plot here.
I think that bringing Merlin into the whole story was a bit too much, especially the fact that he stayed after saving the wizarding world from exposure, but that's the way the world of fan fictions work, so I suppose it's okay. I would believe that he would have fulfilled his destiny, and gone back to waiting for a new moment to return. Although, if that was the case, he probably should have come back during the Second Wizarding War.
To wrap it up, if you like Harry Potter, and are keen on a sequel, then read it. Don't expect too much, and you won't be disappointed. As I said, it's a good read, but it seems like Lippert is trying a bit too hard to be funny, and a bit too hard to write exactly like Rowling.