Harry Potter influences and analogues From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Edited by Cody McCormack) Writer J. K. Rowling cites several writers as influences in her creation of her bestselling Harry Potter series. Writers, journalists and critics have noted that the books also have a number of analogues; a wide range of literature, both classical and modern, which Rowling has not openly cited as influences. The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising sequence of stories (commenced with Over Sea, Under Stone in 1965 and now more commonly bound in a single volume) have been compared to the Harry Potter series. The sequence's second volume, also called The Dark Is Rising, features a young boy named Will Stanton who, much like Harry Potter, discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is in fact imbued with magical power; in Will's case, that he is the last of the Old Ones, beings empowered by the Light to battle the Dark. The books open in much the same way, with Will finding that people are telling him strange things and that animals run from him.[46] John Hodge, who wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of The Dark Is Rising, made a number of very substantial changes to the novel's plot and tone deliberately to differentiate it from Harry Potter.[47] A Wizard of Earthsea The basic premise of Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), in which a boy with unusual aptitude for magic is recognised, and sent to a special school for wizards, resembles that of Harry Potter.[48] The hero encounters Jasper, a typically unpleasant Draco-like rival, in the Flashman tradition.[49] Le Guin has claimed that she doesn't feel Rowling "ripped her off", but that she felt that Rowling's books were overpraised for supposed originality, and that Rowling "could have been more gracious about her predecessors. My incredulity was at the critics who found the first book wonderfully original. She has many virtues, but originality isn't one of them. That hurt."[50] The Worst Witch Many critics have noted that Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch series (first published in 1974), is set in a school for girls, "Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches", remarkably reminiscent of Hogwarts.[51][52] The school is hosted in an ancient castle on a remote hill surrounded by a forest. Classes include potions, chanting and broomstick flying. Though the headmistress is kind and understanding, the hooknosed Potions mistress is harsh and unpleasant. She is particularly cruel towards the protagonist, a young witch named Mildred Hubble - but Mildred's nemesis is her pet student, Ethel Hallow, who is a member of a prominent witch family.[53] Murphy has commented on her frustration at constant comparisons between her work and Harry Potter: "Itʼs irritating … everyone asks the same question and I even get children writing to ask me whether I mind about the Hogwarts school of witchcraft and pointing out similarities. Even worse are reviewers who come across my books, or see the TV series, and, without taking the trouble to find out that itʼs now over quarter of a century since I wrote my first book, make pointed remarks about “clever timing” – or say things like “the Worst Witch stories are not a million miles from J K Rowlingʼs books”. The implications are really quite insulting!"[54] Charmed Life In Diana Wynne Jones' Charmed Life (1977), two orphaned children receive magical education while living in a castle. The setting is a world resembling early 1900s Britain, where magic is commonplace. Diana Wynne Jones has stated in answer to a question on her webpage: "I think Ms Rowling did get quite a few of her ideas from my books - though I have never met her, so I have never been able to ask her. My books were written many years before the Harry Potter books (Charmed Life was first published in 1977), so any similarities probably come from what she herself read as a child. Once a book is published, out in the world, it is sort of common property, for people to take ideas from and use, and I think this is what happened to my books."[55] Discworld Before the arrival of J. K. Rowling, Britain's bestselling author was comic fantasy writer Terry Pratchett. His Discworld books, beginning with The Colour of Magic in 1983, satirise and parody common fantasy literature conventions. Pratchett is repeatedly asked if he "got" his idea for his magic college, the Unseen University, from Harry Potter's Hogwarts, or if the young wizard Ponder Stibbons (who first appeared in 1990), who has dark hair and glasses, was inspired by Harry Potter. Both in fact predate Rowling's work by several years; Pratchett jokingly claims that yes he did steal them, though "I of course used a time machine."[56] The BBC and other British news agencies have emphasised a supposed rivalry between Pratchett and Rowling,[57] but Pratchett has said on record that, while he doesn't put Rowling on a pedestal, he doesn't consider her a bad writer, nor does he envy her success.[58] Claims of rivalry were due to a letter he wrote to The Sunday Times, about an article published declaring that fantasy "looks backward to an idealized, romanticized, pseudofeudal world, where knights and ladies morris-dance to Greensleeves".[59] Actually, he was protesting the ineptitude of journalists in that genre, many of whom did not research their work and, in this case, contradicted themselves in the same article.[60] Ender's Game Science fiction author Orson Scott Card, in a fierce editorial in response to Rowling's copyright lawsuit against the Harry Potter Lexicon, claimed that her assertion that she had had her "words stolen" was rendered moot by the fact that he could draw numerous comparisons between her books and his own 1985 novel Ender's Game; in his words, "A young kid growing up in an oppressive family situation suddenly learns that he is one of a special class of children with special abilities, who are to be educated in a remote training facility where student life is dominated by an intense game played by teams flying in midair, at which this kid turns out to be exceptionally talented and a natural leader. He trains other kids in unauthorized extra sessions, which enrages his enemies, who attack him with the intention of killing him; but he is protected by his loyal, brilliant friends and gains strength from the love of some of his family members. He is given special guidance by an older man of legendary accomplishments who previously kept the enemy at bay. He goes on to become the crucial figure in a struggle against an unseen enemy who threatens the whole world."[61] The Books of Magic Fans of the comic book series The Books of Magic, by Neil Gaiman (first published in 1990 by DC Comics) have cited similarities to the Harry Potter story. These include a dark-haired English boy with glasses, named Timothy Hunter, who on his twelfth birthday discovers his potential as the most powerful wizard of the age upon being approached by magic-wielding individuals, the first of whom makes him a gift of a pet owl. Similarities led the British tabloid paper the Daily Mirror to claim Gaiman had made accusations of plagiarism against Rowling, which he went on the record denying, saying the similarities were either coincidence, or drawn from the same fantasy archetypes. "I thought we were both just stealing from T.H. White", he said in an interview, "very straightforward."[69] Spellcasting series The text adventure game Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All The Girls (1990) is the first installment of the Spellcasting series created by Steve Meretzky during his time at Legend Entertainment. All the three games in the series tell the story of young Ernie Eaglebeak, a bespectacled student at the prestigious Sorcerer University, as he progresses through his studies, learning the arcanes of magic, taking part in student life, occasionally saving the world as he knows it. Each separate game takes place during consecutive school years as well, much like the Harry Potter books.[70] Wizard's Hall In 1991, the author Jane Yolen released a book called Wizard's Hall, to which the Harry Potter series bears a resemblance. The main protagonist, Henry (also called Thornmallow), is a young boy who joins a magical school for young wizards.[71] At the school "he must fulfill an ancient prophecy and help overthrow a powerful, evil wizard."[72] Yolen has been very critical of Rowling's work, and has stated publicly that she believes Rowling stole her ideas. In an interview with the magazine Newsweek, Yolen said, "I always tell people that if Ms. Rowling would like to cut me a very large cheque, I would cash it."[73] The Secret of Platform 13 Eva Ibbotson's The Secret of Platform 13 (first published in 1994) features a gateway to a magical world located on an underground railway platform. The protagonist belongs to the magical world but is raised in our world by a rich family who neglect him and treat him as a servant, while their fat and unpleasant biological son is pampered and spoiled. Amanda Craig is one example of a journalist who has written about the similarities: "Ibbotson would seem to have at least as good a case for claiming plagiarism as the American author currently suing J. K. Rowling [i. e Nancy Stouffer], but unlike her, Ibbotson says she would 'like to shake her by the hand.