4 ms·

As a huge fan of the Wizard of Earthsea, I could never bring myself to read the other big wizard school books: Harry Potter. Harry Potter just seemed so trite,

As a huge fan of the Wizard of Earthsea, I could never bring myself to read the other big wizard school books: Harry Potter. Harry Potter just seemed so trite, superficial, and generic by comparison.. but since I never actually read them I can't say if my impression of them from the outside was accurate. Would any other Wizard of Earthsea fans who've actually read Harry Potter be so kind as to compare and contrast the two? Is Harry Potter really as atrocious as I'm dreading it is?

signal11 6y ago
I enjoyed both. I mean, for X to be good, Y doesn’t have to be bad. They’re different things. Ignoring wizardry and fantasy for a moment, Harry Potter is also a “school adventure”, which is a staple of British children’s literature, including works such as Enid Blyton’s Mallory Towers. Anyway — there’s so much good children’s literature out there. Read (or procure for the kids in your life) what you want!
hardlianotion 6y ago
Harry Potter is not atrocious - lots of people read it and it has inspired a lot of people. I think it seems trite to people who have read a lot of the fantasy classics and are steeped in Wizard of Earthsea, Gormenghast, Once and Future King and the like, but to people that are looking for something different, it is imaginative and the characters grow in a realistic and interesting way.
vmilner 6y ago
I'm a huge Earthsea fan and I enjoyed HP too - I just think they're different styles of books, in particular HP has a lot of comedy, and it's more directly aimed at children than Earthsea is. Similarly, 'The Worst Witch' is great for slightly younger children. To be honest, you could knock off the first volume of HP in a day or so, so the easiest thing is just to try it.
grey-area 6y ago
Earthsea is written for adults too, Harry Potter is written for children. Most of the significant differences stem from that.
nbernard 6y ago
It's difficult to answer as the Harry Potter books' complexity deepen during the series, as the characters (and the child reading the books?) grow. The first one is definitely a children book. The last ones less so (and can be quite dark).
tinco 6y ago
This might be a bit controversial since we're in a thread about how good Le Guin is, but in my opinion "Name of the Wind" perfects the subgenre. It is the same basic story, even based on the same magic system, but it's more polished, emotional, mysterious and riveting. The Harry Potter books are amazing, I don't think they're related to Earthsea in any significant way though. There's a reason that they're so popular, and it's not that everyone has bad taste.
bryanrasmussen 6y ago
I avoided Harry Potter for a time because in some ways of LeGuin and her critical article "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie", which helped solidify some perspectives I had regarding fantasy, whenever I would see excerpts from Harry Potter I found the language unenticing and mundane. However I did not give enough weight to the strengths of J.K. Rowling, which are in character and plotting. LeGuin in my estimation had the full package, but you can't discount Rowling's abilities either.

signal11 6y ago

I enjoyed both. I mean, for X to be good, Y doesn’t have to be bad. They’re different things. Ignoring wizardry and fantasy for a moment, Harry Potter is also a “school adventure”, which is a staple of British children’s literature, including works such as Enid Blyton’s Mallory Towers. Anyway — there’s so much good children’s literature out there. Read (or procure for the kids in your life) what you want!

hardlianotion 6y ago

Harry Potter is not atrocious - lots of people read it and it has inspired a lot of people. I think it seems trite to people who have read a lot of the fantasy classics and are steeped in Wizard of Earthsea, Gormenghast, Once and Future King and the like, but to people that are looking for something different, it is imaginative and the characters grow in a realistic and interesting way.

vmilner 6y ago

I'm a huge Earthsea fan and I enjoyed HP too - I just think they're different styles of books, in particular HP has a lot of comedy, and it's more directly aimed at children than Earthsea is. Similarly, 'The Worst Witch' is great for slightly younger children. To be honest, you could knock off the first volume of HP in a day or so, so the easiest thing is just to try it.

grey-area 6y ago

Earthsea is written for adults too, Harry Potter is written for children. Most of the significant differences stem from that.

nbernard 6y ago

It's difficult to answer as the Harry Potter books' complexity deepen during the series, as the characters (and the child reading the books?) grow. The first one is definitely a children book. The last ones less so (and can be quite dark).

tinco 6y ago

This might be a bit controversial since we're in a thread about how good Le Guin is, but in my opinion "Name of the Wind" perfects the subgenre. It is the same basic story, even based on the same magic system, but it's more polished, emotional, mysterious and riveting. The Harry Potter books are amazing, I don't think they're related to Earthsea in any significant way though. There's a reason that they're so popular, and it's not that everyone has bad taste.

bryanrasmussen 6y ago

I avoided Harry Potter for a time because in some ways of LeGuin and her critical article "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie", which helped solidify some perspectives I had regarding fantasy, whenever I would see excerpts from Harry Potter I found the language unenticing and mundane. However I did not give enough weight to the strengths of J.K. Rowling, which are in character and plotting. LeGuin in my estimation had the full package, but you can't discount Rowling's abilities either.