Harry Potter!

Hey everybody,
It’s Birthday Week here at spalanz.com, and this week is devoted to that beloved franchise all about the wizarding world, which has captured the hearts and minds of millions of people, young and old, across the globe. Taking off after the first novel was published way back in 1997, it has proven to be more than just an international hit – it’s a force of nature!

I first came to the franchise at Easter 2003, when my folks bought the second film. I don’t honestly remember if I’d watched the first one when it came out, but the folks were having a back-to-back screening in the living room, so I thought I’d see what the fuss was all about. Up to this point, the most contact that I’d had with the series was to read the opening paragraph of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the local Woolworths, and my cynical, teenage hipster self had dismissed it as “kid stuff”.

Well, questionable child acting aside, I actually really enjoyed the films, once I’d gotten into them. There was still an element of teenage cynicism about me, though, so when I decided to read the third book, and see what happened next, I felt as though I had to almost hide this fact from the wider world!

That Easter break, I read and re-read all four of the books that had then been published, thoroughly enjoying myself and the unbelievable immersion the books offer. I was hooked!

This week, I’ll be taking a look, as ever, at a related game, but my focus will firmly rest on the books. As well as offering my thoughts on this beloved series, I thought it might also be fun to go back through some of the fan theories that did the rounds, and we’ll try to briefly look at the new film series, Fantastic Beasts!

Stay tuned!