Some light sneerclub content in these dark times.
Eliezer complements Musk on the creation of community notes. (A project which predates the takeover of twitter by a couple of years (see the join date: https://twitter.com/CommunityNotes )).
In reaction Musk admits he never read HPMOR and he suggests a watered down Turing test involving HPMOR.
Eliezer invents HPMOR wireheads in reaction to this.
It was a hype at the time, but given the size of the target audience, it’s not surprising that quite a lot of people found the universe engaging enough to generate a vibrant fandom (which I believe is mostly comprised of adults).
In fact I believe a big drag on HP as a franchise is that “kids today” see it as something their parents like.
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Kim Newman has written 2 books (Drearcliff) that expand on the general concept (magic in English public schools) which I feel are deserving of more readership:
I also found Lev Grossman’s Magicians series highly entertaining
I was schooled in a British school (with houses!) and read quite a lot of interwar stuff (Swallows and Amazons, for example), so a lot of the tropes in HP felt familiar. JKR caught lightning in a bottle and was savvy enough to bank on it.
@gerikson @gnomicutterance
Naomi Novak wrote the Scholomance trilogy ( starts with Deadly Education), and I really enjoyed that one ( though it’s aimed at young adult, I think, it hits the spot).
I have never cared for HP, but a lot of people have extremely strong positive emotions on it, and I have no interest in fighting them over their favorite books.
Such a shame the author then also turned into such a visibly terrible person.
@gerikson This is to say nothing of the whole English public school/boarding school genre, much of it written by the hyper-prolific Charles Hamilton (1876-1961) from 1907-1940.
Rowling is just a straightforward Hamilton rip-off, with added magic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hamilton_(writer)#Literary_output
@cstross @gerikson Don’t forget Enid Blyton, who also wrote large numbers of such (Malory Towers, St Clares, & the background to most of the other “adventure” book protagonists) who JKR undoubtedly read & whose career is quite comparable.
I’ve read some Blyton, along with the other Edwardian children’s book author whose name I cannot remember now but is in the same vague area. I also read Tom Brown’s School Days (wisely skipping the first chapter, per the introduction, to get to the good parts), and to be honest my view of public school life was also colored by watching “If…” which gives it altogether another spin.
Harry Potter is an anomaly in that being sent off to boarding school is an escape from a horrible family situation. Weasley has a support network in the form of family there, and Hermione seems to be just fine without her parents around, but you gotta wonder about all the other poor 7 years olds who had to live far away from home for the first time…
I grew up on the interwar stuff. Honestly I would have adored a fantasy take on Noel Streatfield. Gifted theatre kids who just want to do stage or music but ugh the stupid government demands they pass their potions exams, or their magical curate dad doesn’t approve of playing tennis instead of being an enchanter vicar.