From his hospital bed, the sick man of Europe, Ross Gilman, recovers from surgery while plowing through as many books as possible. This week he has been Pottering....
No need for an introduction to the Potter heads, the latest book in the series explores a world (spoiler alert) ‘post’ he-who-must-not-be-named.
A lot has changed and our brave heroes have grown up, spawned children of their own and even got...jobs. Who ever said their Hogwarts education was for nothing? However, all is not well. Harry (remember him?) has 3 children, James, Lily and Albus. While James and Lily seem to be doing fine, Albus is a bit of a problem child and once at Hogwarts starts to question everything about his family past, as well as his own identity.
With regular and in some cases wonderfully subtle references to the sagas favourite characters, this really is a well thought out story with more than enough tricks and spells to keep you enchanted to the very end.
Written for the stage, and in script format I was extremely concerned (as the faithful fan that I am) that the story wouldn't translate anywhere near as well as previous entries, but I found myself pleasantly surprised. The pace of the narrative and little tips of the sorting hat (which I think the majority of potter fans will appreciate) make this a fluid journey exploring the complicated relationships between father and son, as well as the consequence of actions and an almost ‘butterfly effect’ reflection.
Typically when a story or a series of books are revisited, it can be met with disdain. In this case it seems an appropriate time and appropriate method of bringing the story to a close. The fact that it has been written for the theatre adds to the magic of the world that many will already have fallen in love with.
Harry Potter and the cursed Child is available in all good book stores and major online retailers.
