

Rowling’s fantastic writing, and find myself hungry for more of the Harry Potter world.


It will surprise no one that Rowling has penned yet another thrilling tale but just this once, the movie may be better.In a recent SignumU panel on the films Rogue One and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (see below), I admitted I was disappointed with the original Fantastic Beasts book.

However, as a companion volume to the movie, this gorgeous book with its beautiful blue-and-gold cover and illustrations is a worthy addition to the ever-growing Harry Potter library. It is up to the actors to communicate the despair and elation hiding behind the text. Readers looking for the complexity of the Potter series may be disappointed, as there is barely any room for reflection on the margins of an action-packed screenplay. Since these splendid beasts are at the core of the story, the magic is lost on the reader who has to visualize them in her mind. But unlike in a movie, where the viewer’s senses will be kept busy by the sheer variety of outlandish creatures, it becomes difficult for a reader to distinguish between a Demiguise and a Mooncalf after a point. From that point, pages were turned faster than the Niffler pockets shiny things. For this reader, the entry of the endearing Queenie, the aforementioned mind-reading sister, did the trick. It may take more than a few pages to settle into the story, given that it is written at the pace of the movie, but Rowling knows better than most how to draw her readers in. Fitting, considering Newt writes one of the textbooks assigned to Potter in his first year at Hogwarts. Some, like the Bowtruckle and Niffler, are familiar to us from Potter’s Care of Magical Creatures lessons. Swooping Evil, Occamy, Diricawl and other names are accompanied by descriptions no less magical in nature. Rowling’s prodigious imagination is hard at work, conjuring up one fantastical creature after another. Add to that the American version of the ministry of magic, struggling to keep the community hidden from Muggles, and a group that is determined to unearth witches, and you have a rollicking story that barely gives the reader time to breathe. In his quest to recover them, Newt gets three companions-a No-Maj (American for “muggle"), an ex-Auror with a heart of gold and her sister who can read minds. Rowling, Little, Brown, 293 pages, Rs699. View Full Image Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: By J.K.
