Mapping the World of the Sorcerer's Apprentice: An Unauthorized Exploration of the Harry Potter Series

I am a college professor of english literature and composition, but I am also a huge Harry Potter fan. "Mapping the World of Harry Potter" appealed to both sides of my reading pleasure: it gave great insight into the HP books as well as providing really well-written and though-provoking literary analysis and criticism. I couldn't put the book down, and as I read each subsequent essay, I was more and more intrigued and it gave me so much to think about. Really fantastic!

Finally I found it. A book worth reading, with views offered by real intellects on this series. This book has been a great read and well worth the money spent on it. I find it fun and enlightening. Some of the chapters seemed to drag on but overall they are very good. I found the chapter on Neville Longbottom great, since I completely share the sentiment felt for this character. A lot of thought provoking ideas in here. BE WARNED that there is a chapter on the sex symbol that has become of Severus Snape...this chapter and book are intended for adults. Overall really great!

Loved it! I am an old lady who got hooked on Harry Potter so I would have something to converse about with a new step-nephew, and I tell you this book sparked huge discussions amongst everyone I know who read it. Great variety of essays.

This is probably the most enjoyable of the several different books of essays on the Harry Potter books that I have read. Perhaps it's because the contributors are, themselves, fantasy and sci-fi authors, which may give them a unique insight. Another possibility is that this is also the first collection to cover all of the books through Half-Blood Prince. As with any compilation of work by several different authors, the quality of the essays is uneven at best. The contributors stretch to come up with original ways to look at the series and, inevitably, they sometimes fail. The ones that fell the flattest, in my view, were "The Proper Wizard's Guide to Good Manners" (Roxanne Longstreet Conrad) and "Harry Potter and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Counselor" (Mercedes Lackey). At least, however, those two essays were near the end of the book. Throughout my reading, I never changed my view that the first essay, "Harry Potter and the Young Man's Mistake" (Daniel P. Moloney), was the one with the profoundest insight and most thoughtful probing of the pitfalls that Harry faces in his final struggle against Voldemort. Honorable mention also goes to "Harry Potter and the End of Religion" (Marguerite Krause) and "It's All About God" (Elisabeth DeVos), which should be mutually exclusive but, surprisingly, don't seem to be; "Hermione Granger and the Charge of Sexism" (Sarah Zettel), which should (but won't) dispose of that one once and for all; and "Why Killing Harry is the Worst Outcome for Voldemort" (Richard Garfinkle). All in all, a very enjoyable and satisfying read.

I have to admit, I'm generally not one to read companion books to my favorite series, be they literary or televised. Mapping the World of Harry Potter, however, is quickly becoming one of my favorite books. The essays are smart, funny, and well-written and have prompted me to look at my Harry Potter books in a new light. The essay on fanfiction Snape alone is worth the price of the book! (Though I wouldn't recommend reading it while drinking anything, particularly if you aren't familiar with fanfic!Snape. I may never recover from that.) I highly encourage any "grown up" HP fans to read this book.