Book Review: James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing

Title: James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing
Author: G. Norman Lippert
Pages: 549

*Warning: This review contains spoilers so please do not continue reading if you want to avoid them*

First off, it should be known that I have an odd relationship with fanfiction. I believe that it's fun to read and fun to write, but I am against these writers gaining notoriety for a work they've made on the backs of others' hard work. This is why I did not get on the 50 Shades of Grey bandwagon when it came through town. That being said this book is one of the best Harry Potter fanfiction works I've ever read and my opinion on fanfiction has slightly shifted because of the hard work and originality of the author.

This book (and series) is about Harry Potter's eldest son James Potter in his first year at Hogwarts. For seasoned readers of Harry Potter novels you will be pleased to find that the old cast of characters are very true to the original series. Harry as a parent was fun to read. While slightly encouraging James to take the Marauder's Map and the invisibility cloak, Harry still made sure the boy was grounded for stealing them. My expectation of James was met too: what a shadow that poor kid would have to grow up in being the firstborn of the great Harry Potter! Lippert understood this very well. As the book progresses James has to come to terms with his father's looming shadow and how much he differs from Harry. One great thing about Lippert's take on James is that the kid is just a  normal but curious boy. Right off the bat James fails at Quidditch and learns that he has to work at it which is very unlike Harry's freakish natural ability to excel at the sport on his first broomstick ride. And where Harry's greatest weakness was not being able to ask for help, it appears that his son has overcome that flaw. I really enjoyed that the story had a solid plot and obvious character development. Technomancy is such a great original idea and I hope the other books in the series include this technical analysis of magic.

The only negative thing I have to say about this book is that the author does not seem to know how an eleven year old boy thinks. At some point in the book one of the trio mentions wooing an older student and I just shook my head at the absurdity that someone of that age would have any real sexual interest in the opposite sex. Lippert must have realized that too because a couple of lines later another character commented on the fact that they were too young to care about that stuff. I don't know, that might be just me thinking that - I was never an eleven year old boy to accurately judge the portrayal of one.

Anyways, if you're looking for a little magical fix to soothe that Harry Potter hole in your heart I'd recommend downloading this. Because Lippert can't actually make a profit off these novels they are available for free in ebook format on a really nice website here: http://www.elderscrossing.com/