The Half Blood Prince

Hi there - since you mention Banks - have you given The Algebraist a go? My dad bought it for me some time back but I haven't got around to reading it yet. It sounds wicked though.

Dark Materials were great, though maybe the Amber Spyglass wasn't the brilliant finale it could have been? Still great though. They're a hell of a lot more involving than Potter, as far as I can ascertain. I'm reading the Potters at the moment (halfway through 4) because a friend's lent them to me. They are fine, though they don't really enthuse me like Dark Materials did. The repetitious elements from book to book are comforting but mean Rowlingville feels a lot smaller than Pullmanland. Rowling is also quite Blytony, with all the ripping yarn stuff. I like her most when she has fun with the incidental details.

I think you're right, I think that Pullman does deal in archetypes, but I'm also pretty sure that Rowling does too - and they are VERY familiar. Reluctant hero, his loyal friend, boffiny friend, spoilt brat enemy, evil enemy, unfair teacher, merliny/obi-wannish headmaster, etc...Something that seperates them for me is that there is a lot of repetition in the Potter. If everyone things that Harry's being arrogant when he isn't ONE MORE TIME I think I'm going to push a cotton-bud so far up my ear I kill my brain. Perhaps its in the nature of a series of books which are tied to a location and the structure of a school year, I don't know. But the unfolding of the plot feels more mechanical than HDM. It feels like there is less at stake somehow.I also prefered the unfamiliar quality of Pullman's world. Rowling has cross fertilized a fun, ripping school yarn with familiar fantasy and traditional magical elements. Pullman has made something darker, more unfamiliar, but equally as well thought out. Give me an alethiometer over an invisibility cloak (what... a cloak that... makes you invisible?Ye gads!) every time.I'm totally cool with you liking Potter, because many of my friends do, and its obviously just a matter of taste. Its just that so far (now more than half way through book 4) I'm still prefering Pullman. But I guess the very fact that I'm reading Potter still suggests that I'm enjoying them, and I am.Cheers