Harry Potter -- What Next?

[YmoBeThere]

As for other series. I enjoyed The Sword of Shahara by Terry Brooks (and then the next two as well), and you can always read Piers Anthony Books. He has some fun Xanth novels, as well as the series about the Apprentice Adept (especially the first three).

I was wondering when someone would suggest these. I still have all of them on my bookshelf...

[Rich]

Yesterday I picked up Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" as a bridge to something more prolific and consuming. I didn't want to go straight from HP to another series, but I think I'll try "His Dark Trilogy" next. I saw the entire trilogy is in one 900+ page soft cover book at Borders for about $25.

[JBDuke]

...Definitely do not read Lord of the Rings. The definition of slow and boring...I enjoyed The Sword of Shahara by Terry Brooks (and then the next two as well)...

Um. Wow. To have read both of these and come off liking Brooks's work better (and it's Shannara, not Shahara) just blows my mind. I felt like the latter was a cheap rip off of Tolkien's masterpiece - almost to the point of a copyright violation. My biggest problem with that assertation, though, is that it elevates Sword of Shannara to a level it doesn't deserve.

I know - to each his own - and that's no more true than when discussing what books one prefers to read - but this still blows my mind.

[JasonEvans]

Try the series by Christopher Paolini. Right now, Eragon and Eldest are out in paperbook. He's working on the final book of the trilogy. They are good books about the return of the dragon riders and their battle against the evil king. My 13 year old nephew recommended them to me and they are great. A movie has been made for Eragon. It has been on HBO recently.

It is called the Inheritance Trilogy... at least it used to be called that. It is now called the Inheritance Cycle, as the author Christopher Paolini says there is just too much stuff for the 3rd book so he is dividing it into 2 and making a 4th book. The 3rd book will be published in September of 2008. No date yet on the 4th but it has taken Paolini like 3 years to write each of the other books so I would not expect book 4 until 2010 at the very earliest. He is a verrrry slow writer.

Paolini is a strange story. He is home-schooled and "graduated" from high school at the age of 15. He then started writing full-time and his parents published Eragon for him when he was just 18 years old. The big publishing company Knopf picked the book up a year later and 19-year-old Paolini was a best selling author at that point.

I am really torn about how I feel about the series. I read the first 2 and while I got very engrossed in the story and the characters, the books are simply waaay too long and tedious at times. Book 2 spends endless amounts of time journeying from place to place and with Eragon learning the ways of the Dragon Riders from an old elf. What's more, the books always end awkwardly with a cliffhanger pointing toward the next book.

FWIW, everyone that I know that was a fan of the books ended up hating the movie. The box office numbers point to a disappointment with the general audience as well. I'd stick with the books.

The movie could not have sucked any more if they tried. It looks like it was made on a shoestring budget and the effects are laughably bad even though it cost $100 million to make. Because the story from the first book ends so strangely and in such an unfulfilling way, the movie too ends in bizarre fashion. It actually did better boxoffice than many in Hollywood predicted but there are no plans to make book 2 into a movie yet. Frankly, the movie changed the role of a key character in book 1 and that character does some really important things in book 2 that would make a movie out of book 2 almost impossible. It would almost be like having Snape be Harry's friend in one of the early Harry Potter movies-- it would ruin an ongoing storyline that impacts all future movies.

Does that make sense?

If you want a page-turner with some sci-fi elements, try some Chricton. The Jurassic Park books are really great and I also enjoyed Timeline, Sphere, and Prey. Stay away from Airframe and his latest book on global warming.

-Jason "if you just want a good page turner, start reading Clive Cussler's many, many Dirk Pitt novels-- Inca Gold and Night Probe are two of my favorites" Evans

[DevilAlumna]

It is called the Inheritance Trilogy... at least it used to be called that. It is now called the Inheritance Cycle, as the author Christopher Paolini says there is just too much stuff for the 3rd book so he is dividing it into 2 and making a 4th book.

This reminds me of Douglas Adams' Hitchikers Trilogy, which ended up being 5 books. If you like British humour, I'd also recommend these.

[cspan37421]

I'm now 118 pgs into it and I find it quite good (BTW, no hint of atheism yet - only that of institutional corruption in both church and state - like that's news!). Keep a dictionary handy, and know that the lexicon of this particular fantasy world can be rather unusual. You will be trying to say in your "mind's voice" some words of Scandinavian origin and for most folks that will lead to a choppy pace.

On Terry Brooks, I read the Sword of Shannara and I thought it was terrific. Oh, but there's a catch. I was 11 at the time and not a particularly accomplished reader. Nearly every person who has read both Brooks' stuff and Tolkien's believes the former is a shameless ripoff of the latter. I attempted LOTR myself as an adult and didn't care for it. I thought it absurd and initially chalked that up to the fact that I'm a grownup and not a big fan of fiction, so it is hard for me to let myself be immersed in the world of fantasy. That's what I thought. But then I read JK Rowling's books to my son (before he was quite old enough to read them himself) and enjoyed them immensely. So I guess it is just a matter of taste, and the LOTR was not to mine.

[godukerocks]

Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events isn't too shabby...nice mix of humor and tragedy.

[darthur]

Ender's Game should be a no-brainer for any Harry Potter fan, even though only one person's mentioned it so far. It also has a bunch of sequels, although they are not uniformly good. IMO Speaker for the Dead and Ender's Shadow are great, but the rest are meh.

I'm also going to give one more plug for Song of Ice and Fire. It is about my favorite thing in print, but it is pretty dark and not for everyone.

Finally, if you are looking to try something different within the realm of fantasy, Neil Gaiman's Sandman series is pretty incredible.

[snowdenscold]

Ender's Game should be a no-brainer for any Harry Potter fan, even though only one person's mentioned it so far. It also has a bunch of sequels, although they are not uniformly good. IMO Speaker for the Dead and Ender's Shadow are great, but the rest are meh.

I'm also going to give one more plug for Song of Ice and Fire. It is about my favorite thing in print, but it is pretty dark and not for everyone.

Finally, if you are looking to try something different within the realm of fantasy, Neil Gaiman's Sandman series is pretty incredible.

I loved both Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, but really liked Xenocide - more so than Speaker for the Dead. Of the second (shadow) quartet, I thought the middle two were so-so, but necessary because I really liked the way things built up and then came to a conclusion in Shadow of the Giant.

[darthur]

I loved both Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, but really liked Xenocide - more so than Speaker for the Dead. Of the second (shadow) quartet, I thought the middle two were so-so, but necessary because I really liked the way things built up and then came to a conclusion in Shadow of the Giant.

I'll have to give Shadow of the Giant a try then. I think I gave up after books 2 and 3 in the Bean series.

[snowdenscold]

I'll have to give Shadow of the Giant a try then. I think I gave up after books 2 and 3 in the Bean series.

Yeah I read them back-to-back-to-back so I don't know how it will be if you took a long time off in between...