by Victoria Johnston

Created on: January 29, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

I really don't see the problem with fantasy of any kind, as long as those reading it understand that it IS fantasy... the whole business of Phillip Pullman a few years ago really brought this to my attention.

All that really matters, in my mind at least, is that a book has a good story, well written and doesn't preach about one political (or religious position) without giving the opposite side as much honest attention. I am a baptized Christian and was actually quite shocked when my youth leader stood up before the congregation on a Sunday and proclaimed 'His Dark Materials' as evil. He cited the author's portrayal of God as an inept and senile angel and the proliferation of magic and witchcraft (not to mention that the heroine was a world-class liar) as devilish works... Now, come on!... i had already read the books, and was using them in my Ba dissertation, and i saw none of that. I read a book, a well-written book with an ensemble of original and individual characters... so what if the Authority was portrayed as a senile old creature... i read that to be the old (ie. pre Christ) god - probably even the god of the fuddy-duddies who preach against technology and buttons - PP has no faith of that kind, but he needed a suitable character and i understand exactly why he chose to write what he did.

As for HP, and JKR... she got lucky with the first book, it was not particularly well written, and has glairing gaps in the plot, but to her credit she has become a better author as the series continues.

As for witchcraft... try and name a fantasy book that does not contain magic of one form or another, even Tolkien mentions the magic of the elves, and Aslan is all about magic. Like with political sentiment, any book that does not demonstrate both sides of the argument then it is unfair. JKR demonstrates the good and bad sides, and by making Voldemort such an evil character - and by making HP face his own dark side - she gives a fair narration of the story and i see nothing wrong with that.

As for the children who read the books - and their parents - if a child is old enough to read themselves then they are probably old enough to understand that there are things that 'bad' people do. But if the parents think their children are not mature enough then they have two choices;

1. Don't buy (or allow any of your family to buy) the books that you feel may be inappropriate.

2. Read those books before you allow your child to read them, or better still, read them TO your child, that way you can explain any difficult problems and you can learn more about your own child than packing them off to school or to the babysitter. If possible, take turns with the child's mother/father so that you can both get some quality time when they're young, 'cos before you know it they'll be touching 13 and they'll hate you for never spending any time with them...Hate is probably a bad word... but you get the idea.

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