The Hogwartians Group discussion

So, the Harry Potter books are done, and in a few short years, the movies will be too. Now what do we do? Any good books or tv shows or movies that seem good for HP fans? (No debating, just sharing your suggestions.)

I'll start:
It originally aired on the BBC, but now on NBC, there is a tv show called Merlin. http://www.nbc.com/merlin/ It takes the Arthurian legend and gives it a new twist. Forget everything that you think you know about Merlin, in the show, he is not an old man with a beard who slightly resembles Dumbledore. No, he is about seventeen or eighteen, and he helps the court physician, Gaius. Uther Pendragon (the king) has banned any kind of magic, and so Merlin, who has been able to do magic since before he can walk, must not allow the king to find out that he can do magic, while answering questions that can only be solved by magic.(such as, why has a deadly illness come to Camelot, and how is it spread?)
Though he should keep his head down, so to speak, he manages to make an enemy on the very first day. A pompous, obnoxious bully about his own age: Arthur Pendragon. For anyone who have strict or semi-strict parents, it's TV-14 and there is some mild language, such as the time Merlin is told that his destiny is to protect and help Arthur. Merlin answers "Then there must be another Arthur, 'cause this one is an idiot." There are some very clever lines and familiar faces (was that Lancelot?)
And, we Hogwartians may notice a familiar voice. The Great Dragon is voiced by John Hurt (Ollivander. And, if you don't remember him, you can't possibly be a Hogwartian :)

Neat discussion! As for Merlin, I watch an episode and loved it! The costuming is really good!

Savannah wrote: "Neat discussion! As for Merlin, I watch an episode and loved it! The costuming is really good! "

Yeah. I never watch tv, but it's my new favorite show. The costume and set people deserve an award. Out of curiosity, what episode?

Cool! John Hurt is also the guy who played the voice of Hazel in Watership Down, I knew that name sounded farmilar. I love Ollivander in the book and in the movie!!

'Merlin' sounds like a really cool show! What channel is it on??

Well for me, it's channel four, cause I'm in California. I'm not sure what it is. You may want to go to http://www.nbc.com. They might have a "find my station" option.

A note: You can watch Merlin online, but only for a limited time. They took off episodes one and two, but I'm sure you can find them elsewhere. It's on Sunday at 8PM (I think). It may be different other areas.

Ok, thanks!

I can't remember the name of the episode, but it was the where Lancelot tried to become a knight by pretending to be a fifth son of some guy that never had a fifth son, Merlin helped him, and in the end, they killed the griffin together.

Oh, I like that episode. It's called Lancelot (really creative name for an episode, isn't it). The one that came on last night was intense, though...

Anybody else? What other HarryPotterish things do you like?

Um...HarryPotterish? Well, um....here is a really funny HP quiz, I got 39% ^^ (=obbsessed)
It's fun!!

http://www.fuuko.com/hpquiz.html

Oh, how sad. I only got a 24% (I probably have a real life) Ha!

My friend Kendall did too! Oh well, it's good you have a real life =) Some of those questions were funny!

that's me!! Yeah, I have a real live!! I thought i was obsessed, but I guess not!! Lol!

Kendall the Dolphinfreak! wrote: "that's me!! Yeah, I have a real live!! I thought i was obsessed, but I guess not!! Lol!"

I know. I thought so too...A real life?

I was 70something% I don't have a real life!

There is a series that is really good, called Percy Jackson and the Olympians. and It is really really good!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've read that series, I liked it very much!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28... first book

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28... second book

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56... third book

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21... fourth book

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45... last and best book

I would also recommend the Chrestomanci Chronicles by Diana Wynne Jones
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume I Charmed Life / The Lives of Christopher Chant
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume II The Magicians of Caprona / Witch Week
and The Dark Is Rising series. I haven't read the two last Dark Is Rising books, though.
Over Sea, Under Stone
The Dark Is Rising
Greenwitch
The Grey King
Silver On The Tree

And, before anyone says that they copied Harry Potter, both series came out well before HP did. :)

I read The Dark is Rising, I got half-way through the book. But I thought Under Sea, Over Stone was the fourth book or someting...

And I started The Chronicles of Chrestomanci volume I a year and a half ago, exept I had to return it to my friend because it was orginaly his; he accidenlty left it and our house. It was on CD, the narrator was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Janeen-san (The Girl Who Lept Through Time FAN!!) wrote: "I read The Dark is Rising, I got half-way through the book. But I thought Under Sea, Over Stone was the fourth book or someting..."

Janeen, Over Sea, Under Stone is technically the first book. I view it as the prologue, sort of. You could read that or The Dark Is Rising first. I don't think it really matters.

I love the Chronicles of Chrestomanci. Do you know who the narrator was?

And, everyone else, I'm sure that you have favorite HarryPotterish books, tv shows, movies, etc. What are they?

He is Gerard Doyle, he also narratored the Interitance cycle by Christopher Paolini. Have you ever read those books? The first one is Eragon.
HE IS THE MOST AWSOME NARRATOR EVER!!! HIS VOICE IS AWSOME!!

Personally, I LOVE Jim Dale! He is so amazing! Also, have you guys read The Princess Bride by William Goldman? It's such a good story and the movie is great too!

I read Eragon. My one complaint is that it was written by a high school guy, and you can completely tell. I can't be too mad at it though, it was the first long book that my brother (10 yrs) finished. And...he asked to read the sequel.

The Princess Bride! Love love love the movie. Must admit I haven't finished the book, though.

I went and looked Jim Dale up, and he narrated another of my favorite series. I knew that name sounded familiar. If anyone's interested, it's this series:
Peter and the Starcatchers
Peter and the Shadow Thieves
Peter and the Secret of Rundoon
It's basically the backstory of Peter Pan. I read them to my siblings, and we all loved them. It's a lot different than J.M Barrie's story. The new one comes out in October, I think.

I really want to listen to the Harry Potter audio books narrated by Jim Dale: he sounds great.
I've only seen bits of The Princess Bride and haven't read the book, but I've been wanting to for a while. I didn't enjoy the Inheritance Cycle or the Starcatcher books, though I didn't know there's another book comiing out in the Starcatcher series (is there an actual name for the series?). Is it a continuation of the series from where it left off, or is it more like a companion book?

As for one of my for one of my favorite fantasy (maybe a bit like Harry Potter) series, I'd say the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. I think they're pretty fun reads and I like all the characters, including one of the main characters who isn't all that likeable.

The new book is Peter and the Sword of Mercy, I believe. I don't think that there's an official name for the series, my siblings and I just refer to it as the Peter series. There's a large time gap in between Secret of Rundoon and Sword of Mercy. I think that the new one takes place with Wendy, somewhat like the original. It'll be interesting to see what the authors do with the story.

I haven't heard of the Bartimaeus Trilogy. What's the premise? (Although, I am on Goodreads and could just look it up...)
EDIT: I did look it up, and I recognize the covers from the bookstore, though I've never read them. I echo Savannah...Are the books good?

And, you've only seen bits of the Princess Bride? Inconceivable!

Pandy, you should really look into read The Princess Bride . I've heard of the Bartimaeus Trilogy. Is it good?

Yeah - I'm going to read The Princess Bride. I've only seen bits of the movie because I was watching it on a tour bus and I kept falling asleep - not because the movie was bad though. :)

I really think the Bartimaeus Trilogy is good (it's my fourth favorite series). Most of it takes place in Britain, where the government is controlled by magicians and the commoners are oppressed. The magicians' power comes from their ability to summon and control spirits, such as the djinni Bartiameus. The commoners are aware of magic, but are not learned in it. The trilogy revolves around Nathaniel – an ambitious young magician, Kitty - a commoner who is part of an underground resistance movement against the magicians, and Bartimaeus - a witty djinni summoned by Nathaniel. The chapters alternate between third and first person narratives (the first person chapters being told by Bartimaeus.) The Bartimaeus chapters are my favorite part, as they’re quite funny and are full of enjoyable footnotes.

Jordan wrote: "I read Eragon. My one complaint is that it was written by a high school guy, and you can completely tell. I can't be too mad at it though, it was the first long book that my brother (10 yrs) finish..."

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE PETER PAN!!!! JIM DALE IS AMAZING!!! I LOVE THE STARCATCHER BOOKS I'VE ONLY READ THE FIRST ONE THOUGH I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!

Pandy, Thanks for the information of the series. I think I just might start reading it! I probably should finish the 3 other books I'm reading right now before I start another one though...

Good idea

yeah... I have a problem with reading too many books at one time.

I've done it with fifteen books, and it's not a pleasant experience...My brain gets all mixed up about who's in what book, and what they're doing...

fifteen?? that a ton!

I KNOW!! I should have taken a picture so I could show you...My nightstand is to the left of my bed, walking into my room, you'd see the foot of my bed. I don't (unfortunatly) have a picture, so hopefully this will do, and your imagenation will polish it up:
Eleven books were piled on my nightstand, and they were really thick ones, like Eldest and Inkspell, and a bunch of others I cant remember the titles of.
Two more were on top of my lamp on my nightstand, and the other three were on my bed.
It was really hard to read all those books at once, and I still don't know why I did.

wow...

Hee heee...

:D

And guess what?! In two days I'm going to a booksale!! EVEN MORE BOOKS!! AHH!! :D

Book sales are dangerous! At least for me they are!

They are?

They're dangerous for me too. If I had my way, I'd have so many books that I'd probably be crushed by them. It's always been my dream to have a huge library, sort of like the Beast's library in Beauty and the Beast (the Disney version) with wall to wall books. Say it with me "Ahhhhhhhh."

But coming out of dreams and going back to books, I'm reading The Princess Bride, and it's written very well.

More fantasy...I love the Chronicles of Narnia. At first glance, they might seem childish, but C.S Lewis weaves so many deep themes into the stories. The Phantom Tollbooth is also amazing, and has themes hidden deep within, though there's no wand waving in either. The author of The Chrestomanci Chronicles also wrote Howl's Moving Castle, which is an amazing book. (and an amazing movie by Studio Ghibli)

Me and my sister love that movie, it's sooo good! Anything by Studio Ghibli IS AMAZING! I love the Princess Bride movie, but I haven't read the book.
I love the Chronicles of Narnia, too! Those are good! I've only read the first four, though, I haven't had time to read the fifth one yet. (What is the title?)
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! There, I said it with you! I LOVE BOOKS!!!!
This year at the book sale I only got eight good books. I was hoping I'd get more like I did last time though ^^
Oh well at least I got books I want to read ^^

I've always wanted a huge library too!
I love fantisy! I am reading http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38... right now and it is soooooooooooooo good! I am about to start the first Lord of the Rings books too!

Cool that book sounds good!!! When you finish the Lord of the Rings can you tell me if you liked it or not? I have all the books in one volume and I don't know if I should read them or not

I LOVE the Lord of the Rings. I've read the books them millions of times (I have a one volume edition, but it's probably time to buy another one, since it's in several pieces. The world Tolkien creates is so epic and amazing, as are the languages and cultures of all the races. The story is engrossing and I really care for the characters. It's not always an action orientated story, but the beautiful descriptions, are some of the best parts in my opinion; it's wonderful to take the time to read them. The movies are good too - nothing can beat the books, but Peter Jackson did an excellent job capturing their spirit.

I don't think book sales are dangerous for me because I'm super-picky about buying books - checking them out too, for that matter. It takes me forever to get a single book in a library or book store.

I really like the Phantom Tollbooth, but I've never read Howl's Moving Castle or the Chrestomanci Chronicles. I think I should. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is alright, but the rest of the Narnia books didn't hold my interest at all.

I other most favorite series, along Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, is His Dark Materials. It's a brilliant story, with superb writing and characters. I'm trying to argue with anyone or anything, since I've heard some of you aren't allowed to read the books - I just thought I'd say it since I love it, it's fantasy, and could be liked by those who enjoy Harry Potter.

What was your favorite part of The Phantom Tollbooth?

I will let you know about LOTR(Lord of the Rings).

Pandy, I love it when people give their full opinions like you did! Thank you for sharing!

I am almost done with The Amaranth Enchantment .

Is it good??

Really really really good! the author, Julie Berry, always leaves the chapters with a cliff hanger, so I was up for an hour last night trying to stop myself reading, but it took a while. you should read it!

OK!

I finished it! It was soo good! The end was a bit predictable, but it was still great!