The Books of Magic

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Long before J.K. Rowling ever wrote about Harry Potter, there was another owl-toting, bespectacled young wizard with a destiny.

Las fuerzas de la oscuridad siempre están entre nosotros, niño. Y la luz siempre pide a gritos la venganza." Alternate Universe: The concepts of alternate universes and alternate versions of people is brought up several times, most notably with Tim's "Other." Of course, Life During Wartime takes place in an alternate universe — several of them, in fact.Deity of Human Origin: Queen Titania was originally a human peasant girl during the Middle Ages. She is such a powerful sorceress that to all practical intents and purposes she is a Physical God and appears to be The Ageless. Titania easily outmatches most mythological gods in the modern age, as she does not depend on worship for power. The supernatural community in general simply regards her as the godlike Queen of Faerie. The depiction of Tim Hunter's life continued in a five-issue mini-series called The Names of Magic, in which Tim learnt his true name (Timothy Hunter; Tamar, son of Tamlin; the Opener; the Merlin; Magic) and was accepted into the school of magic, known simply as White School, which exists across the Multiverse of Worlds in DC. I was drawn to it as a Harry Potter fan that noticed the similarities between the characters Harry Potter/Tim Hunter and then found out that this story was published 7 years before The Philosophers Stone. Of course as a naive younger fan I suspected plagiarism but as I started to read more and learn about stories I realized how it was more so the Hero's Journey and a few coincidences. With the creator of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, being publicly transphobic, many fans of the beloved franchise are looking for other media that can fill the gap left by Harry Potter. Tim Hunter and the Books of Magic series are a wonderful way to continue enjoying the story of a young boy on a quest to learn magic, and his place in the world, without the painful connections to such a harmful and polarizing creator. The Cameo: When Tim visits the Dreaming in issue #5, several familiar faces appear, including Eve and Matthew.

Magically-Binding Contract: The focal point of nearly every other plot point, particularly in Faerie. Changeling Fantasy: Tim is apparently the illegitimate son of Queen Titania and her human falconer Tamlin , raised by mortal parents. At least at first. Then Auberon says that Tim has no faerie blood and it seems he's the illegitimate son of Tamlin and Mary Hunter, and the changeling son of Titania and Tamlin is his half-brother whose fate is unknown. But it's never completely certain. A third possibility raised is that Mary Hunter was a faerie nursemaid under a glamour who smuggled Tim out of Faerie at Titania's request to hide the fact that Her Majesty was a human sorceress under a glamour and the baby, having been fathered by Tamlin, was fully human. So the only thing really certain is that Tamlin is Tim's biological father and William Hunter isn't.Irvine, Alex (2008). "The Books of Magic". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The Vertigo Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. pp.38–41. ISBN 978-0-7566-4122-1. OCLC 213309015. Tanger and Tim head into Hell to rescue Molly and Crimple, who are being held by the strict governess Miss Vuall - the trainer of the multiple Mollies who are Sir Timothy Hunter's docile and dutiful companions. Sir Timothy, however, no longer needs the girls, as he has succeeded in releasing himself from Barbatos' control - only to be persuaded by a gang of dragons to become one of them because of his sadness and self-hatred. Molly and Crimple best Miss Vuall, and as Tim arrives the two children's love puts the finishing touches to her corner of Hell. Barbatos drags the children and the dragon Sir Timothy into another layer of Hell, where he attempts to salvage victory from defeat by trapping the two children in a fairy tale world where brave knights kill dragons. [18]

The faerie market in Gaiman's novel Stardust has many similarities to the one presented in the original miniseries. This may not be surprising as it's simply a case of Gaiman borrowing a portion of one work to use in the other. In Book 2: The Shadow World, Tim accompanies John Constantine in the present day and meets a variety of characters that will be familiar to anyone who reads Vertigo or DC. From Dr. Fate to the Spectre, Constantine introduces Tim to the myriad cast of characters who make up the DC magical ensemble. Prequel in the Lost Age: Both the first Books of Faerie mini-series and Auberon's Tale qualify as this, telling of the younger days of Titania and Auberon. Gaiman, Neil (April 19, 2008). "Fair Use and Other Things". Neil Gaiman Journal . Retrieved June 3, 2008.Beyond the story, the artwork is beautiful in each volume, but different from artist to artist. Not in a jarring way, just noticeably different. For that matter, one of the series' central figures is John Constantine, the cynical working-class, anti-hero magician. After battling baddies in the present, the character shows up as a kind of cosmic fool at the end of time, still mysterious and still as cool as ever while the universe around him experiences heat death. Whether Constantine will actually be around millennia from hence is an open question, but he's survived the quarter century well enough. The first season of Constantine the television series just ended in February. Don't Fear the Reaper: Tim meets Death from Sandman several times; the first is at the end of all time (when the only thing left is Death), the second is when he's in the Afterlife Antechamber because his body is dying from manticore poison. He bumps into her a few other times throughout the series.