For me, the common thread seems to be an ability to imagine a series of events that leave the reader interested in knowing what the next event will be. I find that both, at least when they are at their best, grab me during the climactic scenes and make me care about the fate of the characters even though I rationally know that they will survive and even emerge victorious.
There doesn't seem to be much else like it. Indiana Jones, I suppose. Perhaps 24, although I haven't seen much of it. I think that JKR deserves particular praise because I can only imagine that it's much harder to create a roller-coaster ride of a book than doing it with a passive visual medium. Although I think that writers like Tom Clancy and James Clavell also have that gift. Can it be learned? I don't know, although I suspect that story-telling is an art that can be practiced more easily around the campfire than in front of a typewriter.
And I agree with you that aside from this talent and a whimsical eye for amusing candies and esoteric modes of communication and transportation, JKR's writing is uninspiring. Sensible people might disagree on whether she has emerged from mediocrity over the course of the heptalogy; I suppose we'll ultimately have to wait until she writes something other than HP to see.
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There doesn't seem to be much else like it. Indiana Jones, I suppose. Perhaps 24, although I haven't seen much of it. I think that JKR deserves particular praise because I can only imagine that it's much harder to create a roller-coaster ride of a book than doing it with a passive visual medium. Although I think that writers like Tom Clancy and James Clavell also have that gift. Can it be learned? I don't know, although I suspect that story-telling is an art that can be practiced more easily around the campfire than in front of a typewriter.
And I agree with you that aside from this talent and a whimsical eye for amusing candies and esoteric modes of communication and transportation, JKR's writing is uninspiring. Sensible people might disagree on whether she has emerged from mediocrity over the course of the heptalogy; I suppose we'll ultimately have to wait until she writes something other than HP to see.