Books: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child By Jack Thorne, JK Rowling, John Tiffany (2016)

"It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places."

Despite some negative views from long-time fans who felt the magic and fantasy of the original seven books in the franchise is missing in Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, I really liked the story. It is defiantly more adult and darker than Rowling’s other books (though by The Deathly Hollows, the series had grown up), but this rehearsal edition script of the new play, written by Jack Thorne and based on an original story by Thorne, JK Rowling and John Tiffany, works fairly well here.

Mostly because I believe this is probably the next logical step in the evolutionary life of Harry Potter, which makes the risk of doing this as play much smarter than doing another novel. Cursed Child is, of course, different than a movie, as it’s more character driven (well, it is a play, so like all plays, it relies on the visual effect of the actors performance and not some people behind a computer) than films. It also takes on a lot of different emotions that Rowling avoided in seven book series, such as the believable relationship baggage that sometimes happens between a father and son -and those scenes could be the most decisive for fans, I think as well. While it’s clear Rowling did not write the book, Thorne’s style is not horrendous as some might say, just different. But he still is able to bring right bit of mischief to Albus that harks back to the original novels. I also adored Scorpius, the son of Draco Malfoy, and his obvious puppy love for Albus (who possibly has some mixed feelings as well) along with returning favorites.

The story is somewhat muddled though, using time travel as a plot device. This allows for these new characters introduced here to (sometimes) interact with action and scenes from the previous seven novels, but it also creates a few paradoxes that befall any story that relies on this conceit –and which everyone conveniently ignores for the best. But while I had no real issue with this, those scenes packed an emotional wallop for me when we get to see Severus Snape again, which makes me hope they never try to make a movie of this play. Alan Rickman can never be replaced. 

Mischief managed!

Books: Career of Evil By Robert Galbraith (2015)

“When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality. With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time running out for the two of them.”

As I read Career of Evil, the latest thriller from Robert Galbraith –J.K. Rowling- I can further sense why fans of Harry Potter may not be interested in reading this series. The characters in these books are mean, including the heroes, and the tales are lurid and extremely unpleasant. Even though the Harry Potter books did show a dark part of life, that death was always just around the corner and people where ignorant, racist, and evil, but in the genre of fantasy, readers don’t notice the disquieting undercurrent so much. This can be why fantasy and science fiction work so well, insofar that while the writers do balance out their fantastical worlds with real human issues; the fantastical worlds are just that –a fantasy. 

But with these Cormoran Strike books (and even her Casual Vacancy novel), the author fully puts the mean streets of England on display, using course words and with darkness hiding very openly in the light. So, I could see why fans of Rowling, whom so adore her Hogwarts world, would see these books in conflict with how they perceive the magical world of Harry Potter. 

There is an interesting dichotomy here. I mean, one does not picture a person like Rowling (which maybe why she originally tried using the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith) associating or even knowing about the people she writes about in these thrillers. You sort of picture her as this high society woman who had nothing once and now is one of the richest people in England. And maybe that’s the point, that maybe before her huge success with those HP novels, she swam and spent time with folks whom have questionable morals. 

I do like that Robin and Cormoran continue to grown in their partnership. There are ups and downs to them (I’m still irritated by Robin’s fiancé, a character I don’t particularly like), and it’s interesting to note that while they genuinely like each other, they’ve not fully yet developed their whole Nick and Nora personas that readers may think they should’ve been by now. I think this slow relationship building feels more real and not designed to placate readers brought up on a diet of detective novels where everyone is getting along by the second book.

Books: The Silkworm By J.K. Rowling Writing As Robert Galbraith (2014)

In The Silkworm, J.K. Rowling’s (writing as Robert Galbraith) follow up to The Cuckoo’s Calling, prickly detective Cormoran Strike is called into investigate the disappearance of an author who was rumored to have written a scathing novel that uses real publishing world folks as characters and revealing secrets most would not like the general public to read about. 

Leonora Quine, the dowdy wife of the novelist Owen Quine, hires Strike find Quine. And at first, no one suspects anything is amiss, as the author has vanished for days before. But Leonora, taking care of her developmentally handicapped child Orlando, realizes that nearly 2 weeks have passed since her husband vanished, but instead of filing a missing persons report, she hires Strike. 

But this is a mystery novel and it’s no surprise to the reader when Quine is discovered dead –by Strike- who has also been gruesomely slaughtered in the exact way a character is killed in the mysterious novel the author was penning, Bombyx Mori.

Now Strike (and his Girl Friday, Robin) must navigate the apparent under belly of the publishing industry, and Rowling seems to take great pleasure in taking pot shots at it. The book comes across as a mystery, of course, and her prose style is brutal and modern as most crime thrillers have become, but it can be seen as a satire of the celebrity tell-all and of the genre itself. 

To me, had the world not discovered that Galbraith was Rowling, this second book might’ve been seen as one authors attempt at showing how difficult it can be to get anything published (although two characters echo one problem that exist today in the book publishing industry –a lot of authors releasing books, but not a lot of people reading them), especially in this time where ebooks and self-publishing are becoming more common than ever before.

Still, as modern a thriller as this is, The Silkworm also comes off as a classic whodunit from the 1950s, which would appeal to more traditional readers of the genre, as we get a gaggle of odd and eccentric characters who all have reason to want Quine dead. Strike even has a friend in the police department who is willing to pass on information (the officer is in debt to Strike for saving him in the Afghanistan war). And yet Robin, his once temporary secretary, is given a bit more to do here, even while she still comes off as little underdeveloped. But while they seem “meant” for each other, their relationship seems to be built on mutual appreciation for each other’s talents they bring to the table.  

It’s well paced and plotted and as brutally honest as Strike can be, it’s also refreshing to read a story where the reader has to question whether they like the main lead or not. And it’s that balancing act that makes Rowling an intriguing writer and Strike an original hero.