J.K. Rowling or Rick Riordan?
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Re: J.K. Rowling or Rick Riordan?
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- Nanig83006
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One of the reasons the PJO movies didn't do very well is because they took very little from the books and made an entirely new plot. I watched The Lightning Thief before I read the book, and I found it just to be an awful movie (personal opinion). When I did read the PJO books, I read them quickly and thoroughly enjoyed them.Dezu44 wrote: ↑28 Jul 2015, 19:07 Hi, good question. I have to say that J.K. Rowling's books have sold better than Rick Riordan's for a reason. I won't even try to determine which author is better--that would produce very biased answers. I like Harry Potter more than the Percy Jackson series, but that's just me. Anyways, I will point out that J.K. Rowling was much more of a success commercially because it was incredibly original (one of the first times, wizards were shown in a positive light) and the movies were well done and stayed true to the novels. Percy Jackson while original, did not become a huge success in the movie theaters. When we change a book into a movie, it can either create a terrible movie or create an amazing one that only contributes to the book's success. In terms of commercial success, J.K. Rowling won.
I have since moved on to read other books by both authors. I have read the Magnus Chase trilogy by Riordan and I can see how much he has improved as an author, and I have read the first of the Kane Chronicles. This series was much more developed than PJO and showed character growth. The one thing I didn't like about the PJO series was that the characters remained static throughout their lives; Percy at 12 was the same as Percy at 16, which is problematic because those years are so important in personal identity formation. I mean, Percy could very well have known who he was at 12 and had little change, but I find that unbelievable.
I think the main difference between authors is that Rowling had her characters grow and mature throughout the books. They dealt with some heavy stuff and it impacted them personally. I really believe that this growth is what sets HP apart from PJO. Readers were able to literally grow up with Rowling's characters while Riordan's aged but did not necessarily mature.
I have also read The Casual Vacancy by Rowling. It was so beautiful and heartbreaking! I admit, not a lot happened regarding plot but I view it as more of a character study than a story. Her Gilbreath mystery novels are on my TBR list, but I haven't sat down to read them just yet.
Of the two authors, I return to Rowling more frequently. I prefer the books to the movies, but I will rarely turn away from the films as background noise. I think the commercial success of the movies has made her wizarding world tangible to readers, and the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios certainly doesn't hurt.
With all of that being said... they are both great authors. Riordan has a background in mystery, which usually revolves around adults who have formed their senses of self, and he had to learn to change his storylines to reflect that. I think he has done an amazing job, and it was just a small change he made. Instead of spreading out a series over several years, he has condensed his stories so that he can keep his characters the same with little changes along the way. Rowling, on the other had, did not have a specific background, although her growth is evident throughout the initial HP series.
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Exactly! The series started out like children's books but the stories started to get darker and more complex, and I think it represented the maturing of the characters well.
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