The Deathly Hallows are upon us...

It’s that time of the year again when a Harry Potter movie comes to the cinemas. The movie is a second last hurrah for a lucrative movie franchise. Die-hard fans would no doubt be happy that it isn’t ending yet but I just roll my eyes. Still, having watched the earlier six movies, I would probably watch it. Speaking of wizards, it reminds me of a book that belongs to my nephew that I’m currently reading, Magyk by Septimus Heap. I like the simple hardcover book with no illustrations on the cover, all you can see is a faint outline of the title on it. The book started off in the usual setting of a book in the fantasy genre: a land with a castle in it. How the story is started is a bit unusual though; lets just say in terms of storyline chronology, most writers wouldn’t start there. From there, the story was okay, children could enjoy the book. I do get annoyed with the numerous highlights used by the author. For example, you wouldn’t write “She knew it was the Book left by her Friend” when “She knew it was the book left by her friend” would’ve worked perfectly well. The book was probably not an ordinary book but you can always explain it in the preceeding sentences. These kind of sentences were interspersed throughout the story. I pity the poor copyeditor who had to edit the book. Back to the story, there were a few funny moments and several hints that the writer took a lot of inspiration from the setting and surroundings of JK Rowling’s story about a boy wizard. There’s a ghost in a castle that can communicate with the living, much like Nearly Headless Nick. One of the characters in the story gets a pet rock, which kinda reminds me of students at Hogwarts who have their own unique pets, some magical, some not. The character even names her pet rock after a character from Harry Potter. Granted, it wasn’t one of the main characters but still. Oh, and there’s a dark wizard rising and plotting to take over the land. This amount of similarities would usually turn me off. Of course I understand that no writer can produce a work that is completely original (except maybe for David Mitchell but that’s another story) but there is still a certain limit to it.
I don’t know why I kept on reading. Maybe it’s been so long since I read a fantasy book. Anyways, I didn’t progress very far. I stopped when a boggart jumped out and haven’t read it since. Don’t think I will. Unlike the Harry Potter books which children and adults alike enjoyed, I think this book is only for children.