Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I love all the twists and turns this book takes as Harry learns more about his family history and himself. It is a heroic story arc in which Harry finds the strength to face the evil forces that killed his mother and father and are now after him.

I appreciate how brave Harry is, how he does not worry about omens of death and “You-Know-Who” but goes after the escaped convict from Azkaban, Sirius Black, who is an evil sorcerer like no other. Aside from all the great characters, some amazing creatures and magical time travel bring about some unknown… show more.

This is the third book in this seven-book series where Hermione Granger plays a more central part in the plot. It was around about the time this came out that I discovered Harry Potter and went back to read from the Philosopher’s Stone onwards.

I was always convinced, from the very beginning, that Hermione Granger is black with her ‘bushy brown hair,’ so I was disappointed when Emma Watson was cast in the subsequent film versions. As we now all know from the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hermione Granger is black. 

I often suspect that characters… show more.

Total gear shift, I know, but this is going somewhere, I promise.

I was late to the party with the Potter series, and whilst not many will have the luxury of experiencing this book spoiler-free, the reason I’m recommending this is because of the impact it had on my writing.

There I was reading a book about a magic school and then out of nowhere (okay there was some allusion and one helluva Chekhov’s Gun with that necklace Hermione was rocking) it went full-on sci-fi! This wasn’t just a brief foray into time travel either, it was an entire arc… show more.

This third Harry Potter book features a werewolf, Remus Lupin, as one of Harry’s professors. (Sorry if that was a spoiler, but his name is practically Werewolf McWerewolf, as the joke goes.) I found Lupin to be highly sympathetic and easy to love—hands down the best teacher Harry ever had. Despite being shunned by most of the wizarding world, Lupin still persists in living as good a life as he can, helping others, and not giving in to despair. That’s a true hero. I also like how Rowling uses lycanthropy as a metaphor for illness, as I have a chronic… show more.

I could recommend any of the Harry Potter stories as best fantasy Bildungsroman books, but I decided to go with Prisoner of Azkaban for this list because it has always been my favorite of the series. A good Bildungsroman shows a young person having to make their way in the world, and in Prisoner of Azkaban, that’s exactly what Harry has to do after he loses his temper and accidentally “blows up” his Aunt Marge. He’s thrust out into a dark world of danger, and the plot progression that tracks with his character growth leads to one of the… show more.