The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter, Third Edition Author: Allan Zola Kronzek Elizabeth Kronzek | Language: English | ISBN:
B0047O2FCG | Format: EPUB
The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter, Third Edition Description
The New York Times bestseller, now fully updated to includethe complete seven-volume series.
Who was the real Nicholas Flamel? How did the Sorcerer’s Stone get its power? Did J. K. Rowling dream up the terrifying basilisk, the seductive veela, or the vicious grindylow? And if she didn’t, who did?
Millions of readers around the world have been enchanted by the magical world of wizardry, spells, and mythical beasts inhabited by Harry Potter and his friends. But what most readers don’t know is that there is a centuries-old trove of true history, folklore, and mythology behind Harry’s fantastic universe. Now, with The Sorcerer’s Companion, those without access to the Hogwarts Library can school themselves in the fascinating reality behind J. K. Rowling’s world of magic.
Newly updated to include Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Sorcerer’s Companion allows curious readers to look up anything magical from the Harry Potter books and discover a wealth of entertaining, unexpected information. Wands and wizards, boggarts and broomsticks, hippogriffs and herbology, all have astonishing histories rooted in legend, literature, or real-life events dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. Magic wands, like those sold in Rowling’s Diagon Alley, were once fashioned by Druid sorcerers out of their sacred yew trees. Love potions were first concocted in ancient Greece and Egypt. And books of spells and curses were highly popular during the Middle Ages. From Amulets to Zombies, you’ll also learn:
• how to read tea leaves
• where to find a basilisk today
• how King Frederick II of Denmark financed a war with a unicorn horn
• who the real Merlin was
• how to safely harvest mandrake root
• who wore the first invisibility cloak
• how to get rid of a goblin
• why owls were feared in the ancient world
• what really lies beyond the Veil
• the origins of our modern-day “bogeyman,” and more.
A spellbinding tour of Harry’s captivating world, The Sorcerer’s Companion is a must for every Potter aficionado’s bookshelf.
The Sorcerer's Companion has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by any person or entity that created, published, or produced the Harry Potter books or related properties.
- File Size: 6261 KB
- Print Length: 384 pages
- Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 3 edition (October 19, 2010)
- Sold by: Random House LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B0047O2FCG
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,874 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #17
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Folklore & Mythology - #21
in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > History & Criticism
- #17
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Folklore & Mythology - #21
in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > History & Criticism
While the target audience of this book are clearly the legion of Harry Potter fans, this is actually a fascinating book for anyone interested in the history of human superstitions. From Egyptian beliefs around cats and beetles (scarabs) to medieval beliefs in witches and how they used cauldrons, from the spread of Banshees from a purely Irish belief to their appearance in other parts of Britain and the US, with the spread of the Irish to the 'origin' of Yetis this is a book that is filled with short, easy to read reviews of many topics of the superstitions and beliefs of humans around the world over the last few millennia.
A word of warning that has been noted by others: If you think that this is a direct tie in with the Harry Potter series, you may be disappointed. While all the creatures, processes and theories that I can think of in Hogwarts are referred to, and clearly the Harry Potter series is the underlying reason to pull this particular set of examples together, this is definitely NOT an investigation into the underlying motives and themes of the various books.
If you want an overview of the various sources of the mythologies and traditions referred to in the Harry Potter series, this is an excellent reference book. If you are looking for critical analysis of WHY certain things fit correctly into the world of Harry Potter, this is not the book for you.
By Colin Platt
A really fun and interesting read, and delivers on its promise to go into more detail about many of the creatures/beliefs in the HP books. As others have mentioned, the HP books are a jumping off point for more detailed descriptions on items such as palmistry, divination, etc.
I found it fascinating that so much described in the HP books was either real or had roots in actual beliefs: for example, Nicholas Flamel was a real person; mandrakes actually existed in medieval folklore; even the idea behind horcruxes was a belief throughout the ages.
I was surprised to learn that Rowling did not actually make up a lot of the stuff in the books. On the other hand, she more than makes up for it in the HP books by bringing in a phenomenal amount of creatures and belief systems that are either real (like Flamel) or have roots in hundreds of years of legend and folklore. Its incredible to learn that she knew about, and was able to integrate, such a vast amount of information into the HP books.
It was very helpful to have references at the end of each chapter in this book letting us know in which HP book and on what page we could find references to that particular item. I found myself going back to the HP books many times to look up the items referenced in the Sorcerer's Companion.
There is a lot of detail in this book, but you can read as much or as little as you want. I read many of the chapters all the way through, but skimmed some others.
My favorite chapter was at the end, which lists the derivation and meaning of many of the HP characters' names. That was fascinating--it confirms how clever and creative Rowling is.
Overall, highly recommended and fun for all HP fans.
By A reader from California
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