James Potter and the Hall of Elder’s Crossing Chapters 17-End
We pick up with James and his friends trying to stop the Muggle interlopers from exposing Hogwarts and more importantly…the evil forces from trying to bring back Merlin to power. Eventually most of our mysteries are wrapped up and more pieces are put into place for the next installment in the series, just like JKR would do. At the risk of sounding mean…I believe Lippert is a talented writer who mimics a lot of what is amazing about JKR’s style but is missing the x factor that made me read her books like an addict looking for a fix. Not his fault, very few people can write as well as she can, and Lippert did excel at plotting and mysterious elements.
I really enjoyed the descriptions of the grotto where Merlin is kept with the dragon’s skeleton, it’s very spooky and I could picture it so well. The mystery fit so well into place, little clues and payoffs abounded, from Ralph’s unusual wand, James being able to steal the cloak so easily, the mystery of who contacted the Muggle press, etc. The twist with Ralph’s dad being a Dolohov, a squib who got his revenge and money on the wizarding world, was fantastic.
I also adored the sequence where Merlin tricks the Muggles visiting that Hogwarts is a school of illusionist magic, not what the reporter insists. It was so clever and fun!
Plus this pic is HILARIOUS:
Merlin himself is a total savage, saying current clothes are “shapeless bags of tenting” and other such snarky winners, and he was the best character in this story to me.
I also enjoyed the setup for next stories, how Tabitha really just believes the nonsense about Harry and Voldemort, because that’s realistic and incredibly ominous at the same time.
As for things I liked less…Delacroix constantly saying “dat” was a bit
to me. Also I feel her entire plotline was badly explained. She’s evil, then a half rotting corpse, then back helping Merlin? Ehhh? Was I just skimming her scenes because the “dat” stuff was setting my teeth on edge?
Also apparently everyone just rides Grawp around like a horse now which I found weird and kind of condescending to Grawp as a being, but whatever.
Hermione is a boring buzzkill some more, which is legit one of my least favorite tropes. YES canon Hermione can be a boring buzzkill, but it’s in a different way, and surrounded by her being interesting and awesome in a hundred other ways!
Franklyn is hitting on everyone…and again, I feel I must point out the syphilis? Also, Ben Franklyn was kind of hideous? Yet the women and girl folk are all giggling and blushing about his flirting?
My biggest gripe, however, is the lack of interesting female characters. I think Lippert’s just not great at writing them, but I missed having some girls into the mix.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and am intrigued by the next! What did you think?
As of now, the book club will be on hiatus so I can concentrate on craft blogs and other content! Let me know if you want to meet again and if enough people show interest we can restart. 🙂
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