Need a Harry Potter fix?

Some books are like drugs. (I mean, from what I’ve heard. Hey, Dad!)



Sometimes, you can get so high on a character or a fantasy world or an adventure that finishing a book can feel almost physically painful, wrenching. And you go back and reread the opening chapters a dozen times but you never really get that full headrush, the euphoria, the weightlessness again. It can feel like a breakup. Or a bad comedown.



I know that feel, bro.



This is the first of an occasional series in which I hope to pass along some literary methadone.



Let’s start big.





HARRY POTTER.



So immersive, so tangible, so seamlessly in line with our young fantasies that some of us are still praying an owl shows up with our Hogwarts letter. We watched Harry, Ron and Hermione grow from fumbling, ragamuffin tweens into battle-hardened heroes. We grew. They grew. We hoped some of their courage wiped off on us.



And then it all ended in 2007. I cried as I finished the last page. (Shut up, you did too.) An era was over and Platform 9 ¾ was forever shut.



And while I doubt that a series will so effortlessly sweep the world off its feet again this generation, there are some books that can give you a bit of the magic back.



What I wanted to know, you say, is what happened to the whole HP gang once they finished high school. Goes straight from the end of high school to BAM! serious adulthood epilogue. Way to skip the party years!



Lev Grossman is happy to fill you in.



His The Magicians and The Magician King undoubtedly owe some homage to Harry, but they break new ground in exploring the tempestuous adulthood of the sorcerously-gifted. In Grossman’s world, promising students are culled for Brakebills, a university of magic tucked away in upstate New York. The Magicians has all the secret-hidden-magical-society, enchanted-place-of-learning, friendship-between-unlikely-allies you could hope for. It also has a full measure of the unrepentant alcoholism, hookups, social grievances, ennui and debauchery that one expects from a book about a college where you can basically learn to do anything. And it’s got some thinly-veiled Narnia references thrown in for good measure.



But don’t go looking for an exact adult translation of Harry Potter. Grossman’s hero, the indubitably dorky Quentin, isn’t as virtuous or courageous or loveable as Harry. And that’s okay.



Brakebills is chock full of lushes, hobags, and dumbasses and everyone, including Quentin, moves their way down through the Vice Buffet from time to time. And that’s also okay.



Graduation doesn’t leave our heroes in impeccable relationships and friendships with clear career paths and a straight shot to marriage, kids and a white picket magical fence. And that’s okay, too. In this case, it’s actually good.



(To say too much about Quentin’s post-collegiate life would be an unforgivable spoiler. Let’s just say… it’s fantastic. And you won’t see it coming.)



Lev Grossman doesn’t sand down any raw edges of humanity. (Read: do not give this book to your children.) He gives us a magical world, yes. But it’s brimming with an unvarnished view of humanity that amuses, disgusts and delights us in turn.





Now, wait a dadburn second! says you. Keep that adult tomfoolish hanky-pankery away from my unsullied memories of Hogwarts.

For something a little more along the lines of morally-unambiguous-young-adult-fiction-with-magical-learning-environment,-Chosen-Child,-epic-quest-with-two-boy-and-one-girl-group-of-friends, try Rick Riodan’s Percy Jackson series.



Instead of witches and wizards, you’ve got the demigod bastards of the Olympians. This premise allows for some interesting separation of magical powers and personality typing, on a level much more specific than the Harry Potter houses. If you were the dorky child I know you were, you’ll remember the stories from your well-thumbed copy of D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths, and there are some fun modernizations of gods and creatures.



And the gang’s all here! In the obligatory Group-O’-Buddies-Against-the-World, there’s the heroic and slightly rebellious leader Percy, the bossy but brilliant girl Annabeth, the awkward but stalwart best friend Grover. In the first book, when mighty Zeus’ lightning bolt goes missing, it’s determined that these three adolescents are the best options of heroes to track it down and save the world.

Riordan provides an enjoyable, fast-paced adventure. These books won’t quite fill the Harry-shaped hole in your heart. But they’ll take the edge off.





Upcoming Bibliofixes will most likely include Hunger Games, Animorphs (15 years later, I’m still hankerin’ to kill some Yeerks), Goosebumps, Twilight, and American Gods. Send other popular titles you miss or suggested alternatives to books@allieghaman.com.

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