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asked:
Is this book going to be considered a fanfiction since the characters are, to the extent of my knowledge, based off Harry, Ron, and Hermione from the J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series?
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River
It really angers me when people think of Carry On as a Harry Potter fanfiction. Don't get me wrong, I love Harry Potter, but Carry On is a whole different book, with different, beautiful characters. Okay, so there is a pair of enemies, one an orphan, one from a rich, old family, and there is magic, and a threat to the magickal world. But the World of Mages is not Harry's world, there is a completely different concept of magic, and Mages need normals, whereas wizards don't need muggles. Also, and I can't say this enough, the character's are unique and beautiful, and completely Rainbow Rowell's. So, there are parrallels, but that's the case with a lot of books, but, Carry On is not Harry Potter fanfiction, and it is beautiful.
Angelica Aisling
The connections to Harry Potter, while obvious, turn out to be vague and limited. The similarities are limited to some of the most basic aspects of the story (the setting and a few of the character personalities), and could easily be chalked up to standard storytelling tropes (i.e., the "chosen one," the "scholar," the "antihero[1]," the "beautiful one," etc.), more than an actual relation to the Potter universe. The story is its own thing, in its own right, and is not intended to be some kind of Potter fanfiction thing. In Rainbow Rowell's afterword, she says she wanted to do her own take on the "chosen one" storyline, and she takes it in a completely different direction than the Potter series did.
[1] before anyone tries to correct my word choice, I don't mean villain, I mean antihero - as in, someone you're meant to despise, but you can't help but sympathize with - not as in "anti-hero."
[1] before anyone tries to correct my word choice, I don't mean villain, I mean antihero - as in, someone you're meant to despise, but you can't help but sympathize with - not as in "anti-hero."
Rachel Moore
I wouldn't say they're based off Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The popularity of the Simon Snow series is meant to parallel the popularity of the Potter series, but Harry Potter also exists in the FANGIRL world (it's mentioned in the book). So no, this is going to be its own thing.
Joeldipops
It's not Harry Potter fanfic, it would probably more accurate to call it Harry Potter satire.
Rowell has done a good job at striking the balance between making her "World of Mages" distinct enough from "Magical Britain" while maintaining obvious homages to Harry Potter that make it undeniable that this is a reference to that series.
Rowell has done a good job at striking the balance between making her "World of Mages" distinct enough from "Magical Britain" while maintaining obvious homages to Harry Potter that make it undeniable that this is a reference to that series.
ｄａｎｉｅｌａ
It's more like an AU Fanfiction. Take the characters, change their names, and create a different setting and plot. But its still recognizable for the most part as a fanfiction.
People only point out the obvious characters of Simon(Harry), Baz(Draco), Penelope(Hermoine/Ron) and the Mage(Dumbles/Snape). But if you read the book, you'll see there are more similarities. You have the crazed aunt(Bellatrix), the dead romantic interest/saint mother(Lily), the sensitive caretaker(Hagrid), and the evil mutation(Lupin/Greyback).
The only thing that really impressed me was the difference in villain. It still held a self sacrificing nature to the end, but it was still well executed.
People only point out the obvious characters of Simon(Harry), Baz(Draco), Penelope(Hermoine/Ron) and the Mage(Dumbles/Snape). But if you read the book, you'll see there are more similarities. You have the crazed aunt(Bellatrix), the dead romantic interest/saint mother(Lily), the sensitive caretaker(Hagrid), and the evil mutation(Lupin/Greyback).
The only thing that really impressed me was the difference in villain. It still held a self sacrificing nature to the end, but it was still well executed.
Ece
and also Baz is kind of Malfoy
Kim Tim
Lol someone just liked the book and went off on you, but yeah, it does look similiar to a harry potter fanfiction, and i love harry potter but this does look like a run-down version of it
Nicole Manville
From an interview with Rainbow Rowell, "I intentionally set up the Simon Snow story so that it would take up the same place in Cath’s world as the Harry Potter series does in ours. (That let me make lots of fandom jokes and references.)
But the characters and plots are different. Simon isn’t Harry, and Baz isn’t Draco or Snape (or Edward)."
But the characters and plots are different. Simon isn’t Harry, and Baz isn’t Draco or Snape (or Edward)."
Keri Engel
No, it's not based off Harry Potter at all. The first time she mentioned how popular Simon Snow is of course it is going to immediately remind you of Harry Potter because we haven't had another series that has been as successful yet. In the book FanGirl she mentions that Harry Potter also exists. Simon Snow is different series that becomes popular later on.
Laura Lissau
I have to admit that in the beginning I thought it was just a Harry Potter rip-off but as I got further into the book (maybe 50 pages) it was clear to me that it definitely wasn't. The world, characters and story is unique even though there are of course some similarities but it's kind of hard to avoid that.
Marianna
I think that while Rowell has cleverly appropriated from the Harry Potter series and the cultural phenomenon of fan fiction, she has developed her own original world, plot and characters to such an extent that Carry On stands as an original piece of work. I think Rowell is just a very clever, original author.
Sara Q
To me, it actually borrows more from the graphic novel series The Unwritten about a "magical chosen one" called Tommy Taylor. I think his vampire frenemy might even be called Baz but I can't remember.
Francesca
I thought it was compared to Harry Potter (popularity wise) not based of it. Like, wasn't Harry Potter in the book? Though, I could be wrong.
Saya etc
No. The characters and story are different from Harry Potter, the thing that was based of Harry Potter in Fangirl is the HP fandom more than the actual books
Beautrix
Carry Ontter and the Simon Snow
Elliott
I like to think of it as part parody, part homage.
Austin
This answer contains spoilers…
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Harise
I really do not see which of those caharcters Baz should represent. He'd be Malfoy if any, but he obviously isn't a part of the hero trio of Harry Potter.
Ellie
You're definitely right about the characters being incredibly similar to the Harry Potter books, but Ron is actually Draco in this novel. Also, the magick discussed in the book is in a totally different category than the Harry Potter books. It's not a fanfiction of the Harry Potter books because it is definitely different in many aspects, however, there are some similarities.
Elise Ahaja
Carry on is a whole different book, and it has nothing to do with the Harry Potter series. the World of Mages is completely different from Harry Potter's world
nocturnskies
not the best way to put it... i would say they are parallel worlds
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