Harry Potter Before Harry Potter

March 13, 2015 | 3 books mentioned

The Books of Magic makes The Lord of the RingsThe AvengersHarry Potter, and even Twilight all look like entries in the same broad genre of tween-superhero fantasy, in which someone insignificant gets mighty powers, fights the forces of evil, and ultimately triumphs. …The pop culture landscape starts to look like an endless row of Tim Hunters, the same successful formula applied again and again.” From The Atlantic, a look at how Neil Gaiman‘s The Books of Magic prefigured the runaway success of Harry Potter and the modern YA fantasy-adventure craze.

is a staff writer for The Millions. She lives in New York and every so often writes things at kaulielewis.wordpress.com.