Parallels in other's fiction to that of JKR.

[John]

No: HPFGUIDX 192422

Hi All.

This is a post to explain an addition I made to the group's database for recommended reading.

Firstly assume this scenario....

Imagine a magical people living apart from the rest of humanity, keeping their special nature secret for fear of a resumption of earlier persecution.

The magical powers they have include the ability to levitate objects and to fly themselves, to magically cause the emission of light when needed, to store and recall memories using a special device, to heal magically, to read thoughts and feelings and in some of their number other powers also manifest. All of this created from the incredible mind and pen of a fantastic female author. :o)

So we're talking about JK Rowling's Witches and Wizards and her Wizarding World right?

Wrong! These magical folk are located in Arizona and are known simply as The People. They were the creation back in the late 1950's to the 1960's of an amazing author called Zenna Henderson, now sadly little known as Ms. Henderson died of cancer several decades ago.

Her large number of stories about The People, like Jo Rowling's Harry Potter ones all are interlinked, but unlike Jo's output most are in the form of short to medium length tales, rather than novels as such and may be satisfyingly read independently if one wishes. 

Like Jo Rowling's output Zenna Henderson's tales are almost all just as enjoyable to read for children, teenagers and adults and are engrossing stories about her invented magical folk. However Zenna's works are very different in 'feel' from Jo's brilliant work, they are, for the most part, simple, gentle little tales, charming, rural and almost bucolic, with no 'magical wars' or Dark Lords posing a threat. They are mainly simple stories of simple gentle folk who just happen to possess magical powers.

Knowing of The People and having loved and admired Zenna' work for most of my life I cannot help but see the parallels between the magic both authors created. But there are also great differences not only in the style of the two writers but also in the magic they describe, for one thing Jo's magic is far more 'formal' and structured, it uses wand techniques and spells, which can be taught provided one has magical powers, hence Hogwarts.

Zenna Henderson's magic, as possessed by her People is far more an innate gift which can vary slightly from person to person, some being slightly more able with some abilities than others.

To avoid any confusion or controversy I'd strongly stress that in no way am I implying any plagiarism on the part of JK Rowling in the creation of her Wizarding World. Indeed I very strongly doubt that at the time she was writing her Harry Potter stories Jo Rowling was even aware of Zenna Henderson's works as she was long deceased, nor that she had any knowledge of her People tales.

It is just such a strange coincidence that these two should write what they did and that several close parallels in their works should result. Parallels which I exploited recently by beginning a tale of my own, called No Different Flesh, in homage to one of Zenna's own stories. 

In this 'crossover' fan fiction I suggest that these two magical people might encounter each other, in the form of a chance meeting between Rolf and Luna Scamander whilst they are on one of their globetrotting Magizoological expeditions together, on the fringes of the Arizona desert. There the two sets of magical folk encounter each other and are amazed, as even the US Witches and Wizards who are mainly located on the East Coast of the USA have no knowledge of these 'other' magical folk. Luna, Rolf and The People that they meet get on extremely well after initially meeting due to a flying vehicle minor accident between them and begin to discover how alike and yet also how  different they are. Luna and Rolf also go on to find out about The People's origin, on a world torn apart by a natural cataclysm and their enforced 'Crossing' to Earth. The first chapter of this ongoing tale is now online.

So, to sum up, please do give Zenna Henderson's works a try, you'll be amazed at how good they are if you haven't read them. In their own way they are works of the highest quality, very entertaining and hugely enjoyable. That also includes her several other works not about her People, such as the amazing story Something Bright, and her many others. Her writing is perhaps not always as 'dramatic' as that which our dear Jo Rowling's genius created, but it is amazing. If anyone wants to know more please email me and I can point you to a source of online downloads of these 'out of copyright' works and to sources for more info.

Many Blessings All.
John, (Oriondruid).