Harry Potter And The Methods Of Rationality (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Greatest fan-fiction I have ever come across. Harry Potter was raised by his Aunt Petunia and a scientist. Not only are there incredibly funny and thoughtful references to the original material, not only does it teach the reader so much about how to think rationally, HPMOR even has an incredible, heart-felt story. Still waiting for the final chapters to come out, but I am expecting great things. This was everything I never knew I wanted out of the Harry Potter universe. This work is still in progress, but I have set it as "Read" as I have read all that the author has written so far. It has numerous flaws, and at times can be a bit dark for my taste. So, the question is, why did I rate this 5 stars?When I originally read the Harry Potter series, I enjoyed the series as a nice children's book of fantasy, magic, and discovery. However, a few points bothered me. How was Harry Potter so well adjusted? Consider that he was raised in a household where he was physically and mentally abused, forced to live in a squalid room under a stairwell, and treated little more than as a slave. Abusive households rarely produce people like Harry Potter. In addition, Harry Potter was a re-active protagonist rather than proactive. Rowling seemed opt for a re-active response for the purpose of dramatic tension. Lastly, there was seemingly no accountability in the series, with the adults playing the usual "Adults Are Useless" cliché while the children saved their bacon.Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is an exploration of what would happen if Harry Potter were raised by a mother who showed genuine love and taught him common sense, and by a father who was excessively logical and arrogant (think "Spock" from Star Trek). The author also made Harry Potter a scientific child prodigy, in much the same way as he is a magical child prodigy. This invariably creates a Harry Potter who actively pokes and prods at the nature of his world to see its limits.This Harry Potter does not act his age. The frivolity of childhood was stripped from him by his upbringing and his need to gain his father's approval. In addition, his father's cold training has instilled a contempt against everything that does not meet his own sense of logic. But, he has gained instead a confidence to confront and challenge his peers, any adult authority, and even the fundamentals of this new magical reality.One of my personal favorite moments is Harry Potter's first encounter with Severus Snape. In the original Harry Potter book, the students and the teachers refused to confront or defy this obviously abusive and cruel teacher. This alternate Harry Potter, however, handles it quite differently, resulting in a hilarious exchange and subsequent series of consequences.J.K. Rowling's world of Harry Potter is a wonderful world of fantasy that is held together by ancient rules of magic, the monolithic wisdom of the elders, and a reverence for established authority. What happens when this magical world is confronted by an arrogant, impossibly intelligent, magically potent child who defies everything on principle? You get Eliezer Yudkowsky's "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality".For those of you who cannot tolerate the arrogance than often accompanies an overly-logical, scientific mentality, you should probably skip this book. But, maybe you love seeing the establishment shaken by the actions of a character who's "crazy like a fox". Or maybe you struggled with wanting Harry Potter to think a bit more before he acted. Or perhaps you just would like to see peanut butter science get mixed up with chocolate magic. If so, then this will be a fantastic read.
What do You think about Harry Potter And The Methods Of Rationality (2010)?
Literally one of my favorite pieces of fiction, ever. While it has it's downfalls (too-classic protagonist who is obsessed with his own intelligence, the fact that it's set in a very well-constructed world with the advantage of hindsight), overall I would say that it is an incredibly well-put-together piece of literature, and highly recommended on almost every count. Definitely worth every hour. Warning: there are a lot of them. While the author is not too bad at dramatic tension, it is a long fanfiction. To wrap up this sunny review, I would finally like to say that despite the main character's general brattiness, I do have this feeling of trust in the Author. It is not that I trust him to not mis-use these characters who are so dear to me. It's more that I trust him to tell it like it is, despite our mutual affection for the characters. I also pretty much love this guy more than any guy I know. I think that he is very, very good at making these characters truly jump out of the page. Although I would probably like this fiction more if it was more mature. It's not that I dislike 11year olds, but they're too removed from me for me to really connect. He should be able to avoid the classic pitfalls of fanfiction while having characters with more realistic ages.
—Candice
Some parts are really good. I really like the long conversations Harry has, particularly the ones with Professor Quirrell and the ones with Dumbledore. I think these conversations are really what make this book unique and great. They're entertaining, but they're also insightful. You'll be learning many lessons from them throughout the book (which is actually the motivation behind writing the book).And there are some good action scenes as well. The author does an impressive job of keeping the tension up throughout such a long book, and certain parts will really have you on the edge of your seats.However, there are some boring parts. I think the battle scrimmages between Harry, Hermione and Malfoy are a little boring.
—christina
Cant wait for the final arc in the book.
—kennedymarie15
