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Is Post-Potter-Pain troubling you? Having finished your mammoth copy of HP6, are you lamenting the fact that it?ll be at least two years before you find out what happens in the final volume? Fear not ? there are miracle cures at hand, some so miraculous that you?ll wonder why you were exclusively a Potter addict in the first place. Even if we restrict ourselves only to books which are direct competitors to the Potter empire (books in the same genre and aimed at the same core age group) we?ll find magical words that will ease your troubles. Statutory warning: These cures will lead to new addictions.
Publishing for children and young adults is the most exciting and competitive slice of the global publishing pie, and, along with graphic novels, the fastest growing. Though the Potter phenomenon won?t last forever, it?s made publishers and audiences worldwide insatiably hungry for high-quality, best-selling children?s books. Throughout the world, popular children?s authors flinch and faint when their fans ask them the fatal question ? ?Are you the next JK Rowling?? It?s an extremely unfair question, especially as some of the authors in question have produced books that, as books alone, arguably outshine Rowling?s.
The current heir apparent to Rowling?s throne is 21-year-old American publishing sensation Christopher Paolini, whose debut novel Eragon, finished when he was 16, was released by US publishers Random House with a splash so huge it silenced the Potter drums for a few seconds. And the sequel to Eragon, Eldest (the second book of the Inheritance trilogy) comes out this August backed by a $500,000 advertising campaign and a one-million book first print run. The mega-budget Fox movie version of Eragon is supposed to be out next year. While Eragon, a hardcore fantasy novel, lacks Harry Potter?s genre-bending, age-transcending appeal, it?s a thrilling read for teenagers. The book tells the story of Eragon, a young boy who finds a dragon?s egg, and with it, his destiny; he embarks on a thrilling quest through dangerous lands in a plot that?s composed of familiar elements, but written out with great enthusiasm and attention to detail.
Before Paolini, the ?next JK Rowling? title belonged to Jonathan Stroud, who shot to fame with The Amulet of Samarkand, the first book in the Bartimaeus trilogy (the second book of the series, The Golem?s Eye, is out too). Stroud creates an England ruled by cold-hearted, power-hungry magicians who control djinnis and other magical creatures and force them to carry out their bidding, in a world that?s darker, funnier and far more comprehensively planned than Rowling?s isolated magical community. The writing is lively, witty and compelling; the two protagonists and narrators, Bartimaeus, a two-thousand-year-old wisecracking, loveable djinni and Nathaniel, his young, ambitious and amoral master, are superbly fleshed out and the plots of both the books are absolute firecrackers as the characters hurtle between countries and centuries, changing shapes, sides and powers. The story is further fleshed out by footnotes that add historical insight, character depth and a great deal of humour. The relationship between master and servant, with each constantly trying to outwit the other but owning to a grudging mutual respect and affection, is easily one of the best written in recent times. The inevitable big-budget movie will be made by Miramax.
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| (Clockwise from above): Philip Pullman with his book The Broken Bridge; Mark Haddon and his award-winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time; Terry Pratchett with a book from his Discworld series; Eoin Colfer with the Artemis Fowl book, The Arctic Incident; Jonathan Stroud with The Golem?s Eye, part of his Bartimaeus trilogy |
Miramax is also producing the movie version of Artemis Fowl, the 12-year-old Irish criminal mastermind who catapulted his creator, Eoin Colfer, into the literary spotlight (and yes, the inevitable ?next Rowling? title race). The Artemis Fowl series is now four books old with the publication of the latest installment, The Eternity Code. While the last few volumes haven?t matched the standards of the series opener, there?s no denying that Artemis Fowl is the coolest 12-year-old ever created ? he?s a super-smart anti-hero with a heart of gold and the kind of cynical composure that puts real-world supervillains to shame. The books tell the stories of his run-ins with the denizens of a hidden underworld ? fairies, goblins, trolls and dwarves ? but before you think of this series as another whimsical fantasy story, get this ? this series was marketed as Die Hard ? with Fairies. The magical creatures in these books pack heavy, high-tech weapons and aren?t afraid to use them. Colfer?s greatest strengths are sharp, sardonic humour and an eye for fabulous characters ? like Fowl?s Eurasian manservant Butler, the heroine Holly Short, a sharpshooting fairy police officer, the compulsively flatulent Mulch Diggums, a super-thief dwarf, and Foaly, a wisecracking centaur gadget wizard.
But the writer who?s most often considered vastly superior to Rowling because of the sheer depth and quality of his work is Philip Pullman, author of the classic His Dark Materials trilogy. The third book of this trilogy, the Amber Spyglass, was the first ?children?s book? to win the Whitbread Prize, and be nominated for the Booker. The trilogy won international critical acclaim (and huge sales, too) for its dark, complex vision of a universe composed of multiple worlds linked by portals, ruled over by a weak Authority, power-hungry angels and a corrupt, all-powerful Church. Two children from different worlds, Lyra and Will, brought together by fate to stand together and change the universe forever, are the protagonists of this gripping tale. Pullman?s writing is rich and inventive, his language powerful and his characters diverse and wonderful, from angels and spectres to armoured bears, witches and harpies. What really makes this series stand out is its dazzling scale ? Pullman explores the moral bankruptcy of organised religion and the nature of love, death, power, age and the soul over a story that had religious authorities the world over frothing at the mouth and calling for inquisitions and bonfires. Pullman is also the author of the highly entertaining Sally Lockhart series, tales of a tough female detective in Victorian times. Inevitably, a film is forthcoming; Tom Stoppard is writing it, and Pullman wants Nicole Kidman to play the beautiful and deadly Mrs. Coulter.
Any discussion of leading fantasy writers whose works appeal to young readers would be incomplete without Britain?s most universally popular author, the fabulous Terry Pratchett. Pratchett?s wildly successful comic/fantasy Discworld series is aimed primarily at adults, but he turns his hand to children?s writing with great skill as well. The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, a Carnegie Award-winning Discworld book for children, is a twist on the Pied Piper story, starring a wisecracking cat and a gang of eccentric rats who move from town to town with a flute-playing boy, conning people out of their money. Pratchett?s Johnny series, about a teenaged boy?s encounters with the supernatural, is also a must-read. Like all great children?s writers, Pratchett does not condescend to younger readers at all; he brings to his children?s book the same wit, wisdom and Wodehousian humour that reels in adult readers.
Moving outside the fantasy genre, we find a host of children?s books that don?t need spells to work their magic. Another next-Potter nominee is the eccentric Lemony Snicket (a.k.a Daniel Handler) whose A Series of Unfortunate Events has won over children and adults worldwide with its sharp humour and weird characters. Snicket chronicles the Baudelaire family, three orphans (one of whom is an all-devouring baby) who are left to the tender mercies of their evil uncle, Count Olaf (played with manic intensity by Jim Carrey in the recent movie) and his mad henchmen. Not only is the genre completely original (dark comic Gothic novels for children) but the marketing is off-beat to say the least ? Snicket warns readers away from his depressing books about three unlucky children, telling them that ?under no circumstances should anyone be reading these books for entertainment?. So far, no one?s paid any heed to these warnings ? the books have flown off shelves in millions.
Another author who shares Pullman?s and Snicket?s ability to appeal to both adults and children is writer, playwright, screenwriter, painter, teacher and cartoonist Mark Haddon, author of last year?s crossover classic, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Curious Incident is a must-read ? it?s the story of a brave autistic boy, Christopher Boone, who unravels uncomfortable truths about his family as he sets about, with a very unique math-based detecting style, to solve the mystery surrounding a dog?s murder.
And then there?s Anthony Horowitz, the creator of teenaged secret agent Alex Rider. A cross between Ian Fleming and Roald Dahl, Horowitz builds a world of fast cars, glamorous women, intrigue, violence ? and explosive bubblegum, bionic pimple cream and a flame-throwing palmtop organiser. Alex Rider is not just James Bond Jr. ? he?s a reluctant hero, constantly forced to choose between homework and saving the world. Horowitz is about to embark on a horror series, The Power of Five, billed as Stephen King for kids. While boys go ballistic over Horowitz, girls go ga-ga over Jacqueline Wilson. Books like The Illustrated Mum and The Suitcase Kid have won Wilson multiple children?s awards for her ability to deal wisely and warmly with the realities of daily life, far away from bearded wizards ? yet Wilson?s books are borrowed from libraries more than any other author?s.
We?ve just been dealing with contemporary work. There are scores of writers like Roald Dahl, C.S Lewis and Enid Blyton who still find their way into any children?s bestseller list with ease. And there are so many more wonderful books by current writers we haven?t even discussed ? Neil Gaiman?s scary, haunting Coraline, Zizou Corder?s charming futuristic fable, Lionboy and Mary Hoffman?s Stravaganza series set in an alternative Venice. It?s a great time to be young, and to be reading. And you thought the world began and ended with Potter?
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