Wow, Panda. That's a level of ire I reserve for tripe like the Twilight series. I didn't much care for HP beyond the third book (and the third book WAS damn good. So were the first and second, really), but I certainly don't mind the series and appreciate what Rowling did with it. I mean, you're not going to find anything hugely new or unique in fantasy anymore, but she still did a darn good job tweaking some of the tropes for her own use so they seemed fresh. The books are well written, the characters are good, the plots are intriguing (if very, very slow for my taste like you said--but Wheel of Time exhausted my patience that way too, and its a good series as well.)

I can understand not liking HP, but I've never seen *anyone* actively hate it that much.

Ice2SeeYou wrote:

Didn't Robert Jordan die? I've heard a lot about the Wheel of Time series, but I'm reluctant to start if it the author died and never finished it. I thought I heard that his son was continuing it, but that doesn't really do it for me.

He did, and his son did (or is) finishing the last books. I think one he did has already been released, and was well-received by fans. Its better than leaving the story forever unfinished, anyway--I doubt Jordan would have wanted that.

Although really, I do sympathize. My favorite author as a kid was John Bellars, he wrote a ton of awesome, awesome books, but died while in the middle of one. His family (forget who) finished and published it (and a few subsequent books), but it just wasn't the same. I felt like I could tell the exact place in the book where he left off and someone else took over. It made me kinda sad.

Pandajuice wrote:

To discount the entire series just because the author died is doing yourself a disservice.

That I do agree with. I'm not the biggest WoT fan in general, but it is good, and absolutely worth checking out if you're into fantasy. Its pretty unique. Or at least as unique as this genre gets.

joshwoodzy wrote:

I'm not saying I'm an adult and shouldn't be reading books intended for a child in the first place, but....well, that is what I'm saying. I like my fantasy to be mature, for adults with characters I can actually care about.

Some of the best, most creative (and most mature) fantasy in the world was originally aimed at kids. See: The Chronicles of Narnia, DragonLance, Alice in Wonderland, etc. Although its less common in sci-fi, there are examples there that fit the bill too. The Giver is easily read and understood on a basic level by a middle schooler, but the world it creates and the ideas and questions it raises are more than enough to keep a very mature adult entertained (and lying awake nights trying to sort it all out.)

^ Well, I suppose my interpretation of what is and isn't aimed at kids is open to debate on things like DragonLance.

Still, just because there's rape does NOT imply its aimed at adults. Many, MANY of the fairy tales well tell kids originally had absolutely overt sexual and rape (and murder, and abuse, and etc etc etc) themes in them. Granted they've been toned down as sensibilities change, but aiming a story that deals with underlying sexual themes at kids has never (for better or worse) been entirely taboo, in spite of the wailing of the "think of the children!" crowd.*

Also, its worth noting that Twilight is the single most popular kids' series (and yes, tweens are still kids) of our generation. And we all know what those books--especially the third--contain. We also know how hard they've been marketed not only to the kids themselves, but to the kids' parents as a great "gateway" book to get the little ones interested in reading. Compared to some of the horrors in that shit, I'd say young DragonLance readers get off easy in the potential mental scars department. And of course Harry Potter is equally popular, and marketed at an even wider (and younger) fanbase. As anyone who's read even a little bit of the series knows, HP is FAR from free of "romantic" (read: sexual) and violent themes. (Although thankfully, its actually handled with aplomb and some amount of maturity, unlike Twilight.)


* Please note this isn't an endorsement of selling rape-fiction to little kiddies. I'm just saying the themes are indeed present in books and stories marketed to children.