Eva answers “How many of the real HP books should one...”

Joab Pascal asked this question about Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality:

How many of the real HP books should one read before starting on this one?

Eva If you plan to read the Harry Potter series eventually anyway, you should read all of it before reading HPMoR, because HPMoR contains multiple spoiler…moreIf you plan to read the Harry Potter series eventually anyway, you should read all of it before reading HPMoR, because HPMoR contains multiple spoilers for the original series (even though things happen differently, most story and world conditions remain in place, and many surprises are revealed much earlier in HPMoR than in the original). I had read books 1-4 years ago, started reading HPMoR, realized I was getting some content ahead of where I'd reached in the original, went back and reread the first five and then picked up HPMoR again, reading them in parallel for a while, which was fun, but then I realized I was getting spoilers again, so I finished books 5-7 before continuing and finishing HPMoR. So. Since things are out of order and it's not really possible to stay completely ahead of spoilers otherwise, I'd recommend reading the whole series first.

If you don't plan to read the original, you can understand most of HPMoR having only read part of the series, but why put yourself at that disadvantage? HPMoR can often be a challenging read, leaving the reader to exercise their own rationality to figure out why something would or wouldn't work, what options are available that Harry or another character should use, or what's really going on. Or--to recognize a joke.

Besides, the books are enjoyable and highly influential. They've shaped the thinking of a generation. So it's good to know what it's all about.(less)

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Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

by Eliezer Yudkowsky (Goodreads Author)

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