Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany, Book #8 of The Harry Potter series.
Introduction
This book is billed as the eighth story in the Harry Potter series. It is actually a copy of a stage play. The play was co-written by the play’s director and staged in London. It is set nineteen years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, right after the epilog of that book. It follows the relationship of Harry Potter and his son, Albus, as he becomes a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Albus must deal with the legacy of being Harry Potter’s son and challenges of his own making.
Summary
In the course of the play, we follow Albus during scenes set at different times during his first few years at Hogwarts. Reading the play felt like hearing an oldies rock band replaying their hits. The sorting hat was from book 1, except Albus was sorted into Slytherin and his best friend became Scorpious Malfoy. Albus and Scorpious use the polyjuice potion from book 2. The time-turner they will use is from book 3. The main plot is derived from book 4’s Tri-Wizard Tournament. Cedric Diggory’s father, Amos, wishes to rewrite history. Albus and Scorpious attempt to do so with disastrous results. Was this play an homage or a fanfiction? You be the judge.
Recommendation
It was a fun, short read. I greatly enjoyed reading them playing their hits, but on reflection, I don’t feel that this book should be a canon part of the series. I did not believe the twist at the end was earned or made any sense based on the previous seven books. However, if you have read the first seven books then you must read this one.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29056083-harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child
A similar novel in the fantasy genre is the Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan. Adamat, Tamas, and Taniel fight gods and men in this gunpowder fantasy. This is a link to my review of the novel.