Joi Massat

Retrospective: Fifty Years of Scooby-Doo!

I can’t believe the fiftieth anniversary of Scooby-Doo just crept up on me, despite me having written about The Fifty Names of Scooby-Doo.

Ruh-roh.

Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Pt. 5 of The Harry Potter Readstravaganza

Intro (Pt. 0)
Reviews:
Book 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 (pt. 1 + 2)
Book Covers:
Special Editions · International (pt. 1 + 2)

It turns out that the first major consequence of Lord Voldemort’s return to power is the institution of the No Wizard Left Behind program.

Harry Potter Special Edition Covers, Ranked

Pt. 4.5 of The Harry Potter Readstravaganza

Intro (Pt. 0)
Reviews:
Book 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 (pt. 1 + 2)
Book Covers:
Special Editions · International (pt. 1 + 2)

I’m still finishing Order of the Phoenix (it’s way too long). In the meantime, maybe this’ll wet your whistle.

It’s Harry time.

Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Pt. 4 of The Harry Potter Readstravaganza

Intro (Pt. 0)
Reviews:
Book 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 (pt. 1 + 2)
Book Covers:
Special Editions · International (pt. 1 + 2)

If Prisoner of Azkaban was “darkness to light,” then Goblet is a search for balance.

First Impressions: Pyrebound (A Web Novel)

Since time before record, the worlds of Ki and Kur have been entangled. Every fourth day, the boundaries of space and time are disturbed, so that each world is seemingly transposed with the other, and an alien sun rises in its sky, with catastrophic results. The light of Kur’s star is deadly to the life of Ki, and vice versa; every contact between the creatures of the two worlds likewise produces only violence, corruption, and decay. Yet contact is frequent enough, on the fourth day when the barriers put up by nature are thin and porous. Over many years each world has been colonized by invaders born under its enemy’s sun, spreading disease and death.

Civilized life still exists on Ki, but only at great cost. For those who are unwilling or unable to pay that price, there are other ways to live as well—but they are far from pleasant.

This is a review of chapters 1-3 of Pyrebound, a fantasy novel originating as a web serial. When this post was first written in May 2019, it was still publishing

From “Virtual War” by Gloria Skurzynski

“Now, Corgan, how did you get that broken skin on your hand?”

“Dammit, Mendor, I told you I don’t know.”

Mendor’s gasp was like a gale blowing through the Box.

“Where did you learn that word, Corgan?”

“What word?” But he knew exactly the word Mendor meant.

Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Pt. 3 of The Harry Potter Readstravaganza

Intro (Pt. 0)
Reviews:
Book 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 (pt. 1 + 2)
Book Covers:
Special Editions · International (pt. 1 + 2)

What a lumpy book.

Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Pt. 2 of The Harry Potter Readstravaganza

Intro (Pt. 0)
Reviews:
Book 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 (pt. 1 + 2)
Book Covers:
Special Editions · International (pt. 1 + 2)

I was wrong. This isn’t Matilda: The Fantasy YA Series. It’s Rugrats: The Fantasy YA Series.

Think about it.

Review: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (…or Sorceror’s)

Pt. 1 of The Harry Potter Readstravaganza

Intro (Pt. 0)
Reviews:
Book 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 (pt. 1 + 2)
Book Covers:
Special Editions · International (pt. 1 + 2)

Disclaimer: I don’t like J. K. Rowling, nor do I endorse her. I’m analyzing, critiquing, and mocking a book series which remains relevant because it’s been a pop cultural tour de force as long as I’ve been alive.

Never again will I wonder what Matilda would be like as the first book of a seven-part series. It is here before me: Harry Potter and the Sorcerolosopher’s Stone.

This is a good, upstanding, morally upright adventure. It gives me the impression that J. K. Rowling respects kids’ intelligence and urges them to trust their instincts, even when their hunches aren’t totally right.

There’s a part, though, where the narration says something like “maybe Harry was imagining things, but Slytherin didn’t seem very nice.” In this case Harry’s instincts are totally right, because all of Slytherin is so evil and awful. Prove me wrong.

Growing Up with Harry Potter (Without Reading It)

Pt. 0 of The Harry Potter Readstravaganza

Reviews:
Book 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 (pt. 1 + 2)
Book Covers:
Special Editions · International (pt. 1 + 2)

Harry Potter is just another series on my neverending list of stuff to read. I’ve never read it before, which is surprising because I grew up with the books, and fans of the books, and movies based on the books, and birthday parties inspired by the books, all around me. I claimed to like reading, too.