Friday, April 17, 2009

Magic powers?


If you could have a magical power, what would it be? Invisible? Flying ability? Mind reading?

I must admit, ashamedly, to only recently becoming a convert of Harry Potter. Prior to this, I had been a sceptic. Yes, I was one of those people who screwed up their nose at anything that required any kind of thinking outside the square of reality. Aliens? No thanks. Space machines and time travel? I don't think so. Boy-child with broom and magic wand? I don't think so, that doesn't happen in the real world.

Basically, if it didn't happen in reality, it wasn't to be read. Moreso, I wasn't going to spend money on supporting J K Rowlings "childrens' books for adults", aka Harry Potter. I don't watch Star Wars, Star Trek, or Star Anything. I don't like the idea of small, slimey goblins chasing rings, even if it is in the green bliss of New Zealand. No. Science fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction - not for me.

Sigh.

A dear friend of mine couldn't believe that I could be so narrow minded. So, for my birthday, I received a box containing a blissful set of Harry Potter books.

I have recently dived in - held my breath, put aside my bias and scepticism, and tried to open my mind.

I now want my own Owl.

Ah, the bliss of the open mind. May it hit us all. I am only sorry it has taken me this long.

Who knows, maybe J R Tolkien is next...

2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the Harry Potter books too, but I do get a little peeved when some book bloggers don't mention the other wonderful children's fantasy writers and act like Rowling is a minor god.

    I hope you'll try Tolkien too. And Ursula le Guin. And Susan Cooper. And...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ah, that moment when a new author is found. Better yet, I accidently fell into a new genre and found I could fly!

    "Weaveworld" was that novel for me.

    Then I looked into some of the other authors fellow readers had been banging on about, and discovered there is an enormous amount of dross categorised as Sci-Fi and/or Fantasy.

    My personal favourites:
    Best short stories Ray Bradbury.
    Best Sci-Fi Frank Herbert tied with Larry Niven.
    Best Fantasy Robert Jordan.

    Funny - Terry Pratchett. Clever future time line - Greg Bear. Sad and disconnected - Phillip Dick. Futurist - Arthur C Clarke. Young adult/easy reading - David (and Linda) Eddings.

    I noticed film tie-ins in your blog. May I also suggest "Bladerunner" for "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and "The Matrix" failed to credit Australian author William Gibson for his work in Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive. The Trinity character in the books is a porn starlet/prostitute instead of a hacker. Plus the recent film release of "Tomorrow When The War Began".

    Nice blog. I'll revisit soon.

    ReplyDelete


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