its not. Its mediocre and needs time travel to work.
This mentality misses the point, IMO. Even if the Harry Potter books were written in such a way that made even the staunchest critic go, “Wow, these books rival the works of of J.R.R. Tolkien and Shakespeare,” that should have zero bearing on whether or not any given individual makes the decision to boycott an author’s work on idealistic grounds.
I like plenty of art that could be classified as schlock; not everything we enjoy has to be masterpiece theatre. I’ve boycotted all HP content ever since Rowling became a professional asshole, but I won’t pretend I didn’t enjoy the books and the films as a teenager.
Here’s a hard pill to swallow: shitty people can make good art. We can condemn bad people unequivocally without simultaneously needing their art to be bad. Michael Jackson was my favorite musician for many years, but hearing his music in 2026 always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But I won’t pretend that it wasn’t my jam and I certainly won’t suggest that the music was mediocre.
Edit: And although it goes without saying: this decision is always up to the individual. I have trans friends who don’t concern themselves with Rowlings’ sociopolitical views and continue to enjoy HP content. I don’t begrudge them for that; we all have different, if arbitrary, boundaries.
Card is confounding because those first few Ender books are unequivocally about the importance of empathy and recognition of common personhood, even across seeming-impenetrable species boundaries, and how mutual respect and love are the most important quality a person can have. And then… yadda yadda yadda, OSC is a gigantic bigot. The. Fuck?
Ebony becomes so angry at this perceived betrayal[e] that she runs crying into the Forbidden Forest, where she is approached by Lord Voldemort. Voldemort, speaking in faux-archaic English, gives her a gun and demands that she kill Vampire.
There is also a cameo by a gothic Marty McFly, who gives Ebony a black DeLorean time machine able to transform into an iPod, allowing her to travel forward in time.
Time travel is mostly used as a deus ex machina to solve a problem a writer has written themselves in. Like in HP, the time travel bit is only for students to learn more, not to erase attacks by Voldemort, because reasons. In other words, they could have stopped the death if Harrys parents, but did not want to, because reasons.
I get that if used well and as a consistent plot device, it can work. But in HP, its simply a one-oft drama device. Its boring and lazy writing.
Edit, ah, I see
My Immortal is popularly regarded as one of the worst works of fan fiction ever written
I have the same one talk over and over with my wife. No other author gets that much slack from their fanbase.
“But its such great storytelling”
its not. Its mediocre and needs time travel to work.
This mentality misses the point, IMO. Even if the Harry Potter books were written in such a way that made even the staunchest critic go, “Wow, these books rival the works of of J.R.R. Tolkien and Shakespeare,” that should have zero bearing on whether or not any given individual makes the decision to boycott an author’s work on idealistic grounds.
I like plenty of art that could be classified as schlock; not everything we enjoy has to be masterpiece theatre. I’ve boycotted all HP content ever since Rowling became a professional asshole, but I won’t pretend I didn’t enjoy the books and the films as a teenager.
Here’s a hard pill to swallow: shitty people can make good art. We can condemn bad people unequivocally without simultaneously needing their art to be bad. Michael Jackson was my favorite musician for many years, but hearing his music in 2026 always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But I won’t pretend that it wasn’t my jam and I certainly won’t suggest that the music was mediocre.
Edit: And although it goes without saying: this decision is always up to the individual. I have trans friends who don’t concern themselves with Rowlings’ sociopolitical views and continue to enjoy HP content. I don’t begrudge them for that; we all have different, if arbitrary, boundaries.
Orson Scott Card.
I bought Ender’s books before knowing what kind of shit is OSC. Now I wouldn’t download a free pdf of anything from him.
Card is confounding because those first few Ender books are unequivocally about the importance of empathy and recognition of common personhood, even across seeming-impenetrable species boundaries, and how mutual respect and love are the most important quality a person can have. And then… yadda yadda yadda, OSC is a gigantic bigot. The. Fuck?
She’s a bad writer AND a bad person AND a billionaire AND a political figure AND is successful AND is getting richer
My Immortal, a masterpiece in coherent plot, needs time travel to work too. I fail to see the alleged problem here.
How dare you compare an established monument of contemporary literature to something like Harry Potter?
I kinda want to read it now.
Enjoy!
My Immortal is an internet classic, and a bizarre time capsule of what youth subculture was like ~20 years ago.
Time travel is mostly used as a deus ex machina to solve a problem a writer has written themselves in. Like in HP, the time travel bit is only for students to learn more, not to erase attacks by Voldemort, because reasons. In other words, they could have stopped the death if Harrys parents, but did not want to, because reasons.
I get that if used well and as a consistent plot device, it can work. But in HP, its simply a one-oft drama device. Its boring and lazy writing.
Edit, ah, I see
STOP FLEMIN DA STORY, PREPZ
This comment rivals My Immortal on grammar and spelling.
Fucking spellcheck and different languages. Arg
It’s like the inverse of Liking Something Before It Was Cool. I never liked this problematic thing even when it was cool.