Gotta catch 'em all
David has been extolling the wonders of Suikoden V to me, which is good news to my ears but unfortunately mere tantalization, as I won't be able to investigate the game until summer. I never actually finished Suikoden IV, which is something I ought to remedy (in my save file I actually have 107 Stars of Destiny), but really the game was just so critically flawed that it harpooned my faith in the franchise. In this respect it is much like Harry Potter V, or perhaps the combination of Harry Potters V and VI. David assures me that Suiko V will at least partially restore my faith, which is good news-- who knows if the same will be true of the final installment of Rowling's series?
I find myself actually wanting the seventh HP book to flop. Because while I would like to like the series again, no matter how good the final climax is it will always be preceded by two mediocre installments. What this means, in effect, is that while I believe in the possibility of the final book being excellent, there is no possibility in my mind of it saving books five and six. If the seventh book is good, it will only create a paradoxical tension in my mind regarding my overall judgment of the series, and that's something I'd rather live without. There are plenty of fantasy sequences in the world with no mediocre installments (for examples please take Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence and Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain).
Harry Potter, at this point, is a little like Star Wars-- I have no problem admitting I like Star Wars, but frankly episodes one and two were pretty awful, and three had its issues as well. Star Wars is a little less problematic because it divides itself neatly into two distinct trilogies, and I can easily say "I like the first trilogy thoroughly, and though I enjoy parts of the newer movies on the whole they are mostly laughable." With Harry Potter, it's a little bit more complicated-- my summary might go something like "the books were starting to get rather good, but Harry became a dick" or "I stopped caring so much when Rowling decided she was going to drop all of her interesting characters and focus on the boring ones" or maybe "Yeah, Harry Potter-- why aren't we all just reading Philip Pullman again?"
What really irks me is that I'm curious to see what happens in the final installment, but the only reason I will buy it is because it would just feel wrong owning six of the seven books. The only aspect of my character willing to support Rowling's excessive wealth is my unapologetic materialism.
Oh well. I hope someday that college students will buy my terrible fantasy novels.
How did I get onto Harry Potter? Oh, through Suikoden. Well, needless to say, if there are Stars of Destiny to collect then I am obliged as a world-saver to collect them. I kinda skipped over Suikoden Tactics because of my distate for IV, but maybe I ought to give that a go as well upon my return to the states. So much catching up to do.
Do you know that I actually apply the "Stars of Destiny" concept to my own worldview on a fairly regular basis? That's right, I'm that influenced by RPGs. I actually think to myself that there are probably a hundred and eight important figures in my life that I ought to find and appreciate, and I secretly judge the people I know by conferring unto them "Star" or "non-Star" status. Some of them I'm not sure about because of the nature of my relationship with them (is Pat McCabe a Star? What about Penny Orr?), but-- and this is absolutely terrible of me-- there are people I have spent time with on a regular basis that I refuse to acknowledge as Stars. I say to myself, "do I really want these people hanging around in my castle? I'm never going to actively put them in my party. I don't know if I want them clogging up space on my 108 roster."
Of course, the Stars aren't mine to choose. I should probably acknowledge this at some point. But still-- there have been times in my life when I've looked around me and said "where are Viktor and Flik? Where are Georg and Pesmerga? I've collected a shitload of Stars and the game is sticking me with Hoi and Zamza. And Mukumuku."
Would Hix and Tengaar be too much to ask?
I find myself actually wanting the seventh HP book to flop. Because while I would like to like the series again, no matter how good the final climax is it will always be preceded by two mediocre installments. What this means, in effect, is that while I believe in the possibility of the final book being excellent, there is no possibility in my mind of it saving books five and six. If the seventh book is good, it will only create a paradoxical tension in my mind regarding my overall judgment of the series, and that's something I'd rather live without. There are plenty of fantasy sequences in the world with no mediocre installments (for examples please take Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence and Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain).
Harry Potter, at this point, is a little like Star Wars-- I have no problem admitting I like Star Wars, but frankly episodes one and two were pretty awful, and three had its issues as well. Star Wars is a little less problematic because it divides itself neatly into two distinct trilogies, and I can easily say "I like the first trilogy thoroughly, and though I enjoy parts of the newer movies on the whole they are mostly laughable." With Harry Potter, it's a little bit more complicated-- my summary might go something like "the books were starting to get rather good, but Harry became a dick" or "I stopped caring so much when Rowling decided she was going to drop all of her interesting characters and focus on the boring ones" or maybe "Yeah, Harry Potter-- why aren't we all just reading Philip Pullman again?"
What really irks me is that I'm curious to see what happens in the final installment, but the only reason I will buy it is because it would just feel wrong owning six of the seven books. The only aspect of my character willing to support Rowling's excessive wealth is my unapologetic materialism.
Oh well. I hope someday that college students will buy my terrible fantasy novels.
How did I get onto Harry Potter? Oh, through Suikoden. Well, needless to say, if there are Stars of Destiny to collect then I am obliged as a world-saver to collect them. I kinda skipped over Suikoden Tactics because of my distate for IV, but maybe I ought to give that a go as well upon my return to the states. So much catching up to do.
Do you know that I actually apply the "Stars of Destiny" concept to my own worldview on a fairly regular basis? That's right, I'm that influenced by RPGs. I actually think to myself that there are probably a hundred and eight important figures in my life that I ought to find and appreciate, and I secretly judge the people I know by conferring unto them "Star" or "non-Star" status. Some of them I'm not sure about because of the nature of my relationship with them (is Pat McCabe a Star? What about Penny Orr?), but-- and this is absolutely terrible of me-- there are people I have spent time with on a regular basis that I refuse to acknowledge as Stars. I say to myself, "do I really want these people hanging around in my castle? I'm never going to actively put them in my party. I don't know if I want them clogging up space on my 108 roster."
Of course, the Stars aren't mine to choose. I should probably acknowledge this at some point. But still-- there have been times in my life when I've looked around me and said "where are Viktor and Flik? Where are Georg and Pesmerga? I've collected a shitload of Stars and the game is sticking me with Hoi and Zamza. And Mukumuku."
Would Hix and Tengaar be too much to ask?
posted by Nate at 8:36 PM
2 Comments:
Though the potency of the nerdhood which this last post of yours so boldly displays discourages me from responding to it - I understand your reference, mind you. I just don't want people to KNOW that I do - I must take a moment to rush to HP's defense. Know that I've read the books now - I can't remember whether or not I've told you that - and I'd actually argue that five and six are plenty good books, that one and two (if any) are the shitty ones, and that Harry Potter was NEVER an interesting character to begin with and that he starts acting like a dick is at least better than the nothing of a personality he had before. Fact of the matter is, the supporting characters have always been more interesting to start with. Is it a flawed series? Yes. Hideously. But I feel like you should give those two another chance. They're better than all that. I'd be happy to discuss this with you at greater length.
My problems with books five and six are multifarious and at times hard to define. I've been told that giving them a second reading will probably improve my opinion of them (and I feel like if I afforded FFVIII that courtesy, then certainly I should do the same for HP), but ultimately I just don't care that much. This is certainly not the full extent of my problems, but Harry felt much like a blank in the first four books, which allowed me partially to step into his shoes. The sudden emergence of a rather unappealing personality was jarring and distasteful to me-- as though Crono had begun to speak halfway through Magus' Castle, and turned out to be a total jerk.
There are plenty of other issues as well-- mostly I agree that the Harry Potter books are good, but I resent their wildly unparalleled success because there's so much children's fantasy that's enormously better, and most people will never get around to it because they're biased or because they simply don't read.
Post a Comment
<< Home