Review: James Potter and the Vault of Destinies

James Potter and the Vault of Destinies by G. Norman Lippert

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Of the three James Potter books, this one took me the longest time to read. I liked the book but I wasn't absorbed by it. Of all the characters, Petra was one of my least favorites and I wasn't thrilled that this book would focus on her. However, I'm not a fan of Merlin, either, so it was an even trade.

This book made me realize what Lippert sacrificed to write these books. By associating with the Harry Potter series, I don't believe he can profit from any use of the characters or ideas...but this book, with someone else as the main character, could have been the start of a stand-alone series. He could have contrived an American magical world, swapped out the obvious references and built an entire series of his own. While the characters were born in Harry Potter, they could have been any other children and a new wizard world would be born. I wish that he had because the details that I don't like wouldn't be in place - for instance, the changes to the way houses at Hogwarts inter-relate in the future - and there would be new magical terms to learn.

I stopped reading the first time after the silver thread bit. I mean, here's this 13 year old kid and this unstable adult and he loves her enough to die for her? Creepy and weird. I picked it back up but quit reading again when the crimson thread was stolen and he covered up the eyewitness account of Petra's presence just because he "knew" she was innocent. I started reading again for the 3rd time and got caught up in clutchcudgel and enjoyed hearing more from Albus...and then the end stunned me. I am really, really shocked by the character loss and the torch event (trying to be vague to avoid spoilers) and now I'm ready to start the next book...but it's not out there yet!

I want to read number four and I'll keep checking back and hoping it gets written. And if the author sees this, I vote for more Albus and Scorpius - they are two of my favorite characters!



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