I enjoyed the first book in this huge series. The unique take on magic, where humans interact with the elements through their “furies” was a refreshing break from the typical sorcery stuff of high fantasy. The story is compelling, building a large world with diverse races and kingdoms without being too overwhelming early on.
I didn’t love the finish to the series. Like most final books, I thought it delved too deeply into a quasi-religious rant. However, I have heard the perspective of friends that they enjoyed that aspect and the unique take on gods, God, angels, devils, and the like. If you made it this far, you should continue and finish the series. I didn’t hate it.
Book two of the series follows on strong with more adventure in this universe. It follows on strong from book one in an imaginative new world.
A very enjoyable, action-packed fantasy with a young main character set in an alternate-reality. It’s not heavy swords & sorcery, which is a nice departure. It’s a great start to the series.
All of these reviews are for the Stephen Fry recording, not the Jim Dale version on Audible. That version on Audible is complete shit.
I downloaded the Fry version years ago—around 2007—and recently purchased the Dale version of book 1 in 2018. Jim Dale’s reading was so awful I couldn’t tell the difference between Dumbledore and Hermione. Yes, it was so bad, a 10-year-old girl and a 109-year-old man sounded nearly identical. And yes Albus Dumbledore is 109 in book one.
With that out of the way, let’s talk Potter.
I believe the reason this series is such a part of the modern culture is because it does two things that very few other authors ever do: 1) the plot lines and the main characters grow up and become more serious in each book and 2) no plot lines are recycled from book to book. All the rest of the elements have been done before, yet even these are done well (or at least not overdone).
If you have never read Harry Potter—or haven’t read it in a while—I highly recommend jumping into the series with the Stephen Fry version, and opening the door to the wizarding world.