Seriously, Do Not Give Rowling Any Attention Or Money. Do Not Watch her shows. Make it tank.
Rowling needs to stop. Her money has been harming my community and our youth in deadly ways. Don't watch her show, don't watch her movies, don't read her gross books.
I get it. It's so famous and well known. But seriously, there's so much better stories out there.
If you really want to enjoy a magic series with teens dealing with learning how to use their magic I recommend:
- @dianeduane's Young Wizards Series. It's FANTASTIC. It's magic, space, time, and teenage shenanigans in all its glory. It's Blurb:
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... if you’ve got the smarts and the strength to make it through your wizardly Ordeal, your world can change overnight. You don’t need to go to a special school. All you need are the spells inside your wizard’s Manual and the ancient Speech once used to build the world. Want to carry your magic in a laptop or an iPad? No problem. Prefer to go old-school with a rowan-wood wand soaked in moonlight, or hybrid with an old car antenna loaded up with edgy machine magic? It’s your call.
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A wizard’s missions may take them across the planet or across the Galaxy, in company with wizards who’re human or those who’re very much not. But wherever young wizards go, their Oath makes them part of an age-old battle against the lone Power that went rogue at the dawn of time and turned death loose in the universe.
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- Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic series. Sandry, Tris, Briar, and Daja all have unusual magic and their teachers are gay as fuck (and lovely).
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Circle of Magic covers how their four teachers find them and start their learning; all while a crisis is happening in their city. Pirate invasions, plagues, natural disasters -- they'll face it all and grow into a loving found family.
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The Circle Opens is them separating to go with their respective teacher on their first big foray outside of the university where they spent their teen years. But alas, danger walks with them no matter where they go.
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Will of the Empress is them coming back together after their time away to help Sandry deal with a conniving Empress. Found Family is the best.
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- For a TV show, we have Charmed! There's the original cult classic show and its reboot. Both are charming, somewhat silly, and quite a bit of fun. It's three sisters learning how to control their magic and take on increasingly dangerous magical and demonic entities. All while dealing with their day jobs and relationships.
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- The Magicians is a more recent TV show that takes place at Brakebills University, and is much darker than the above three recommendations. The wizards and witches work together to learn how to control their powers, learn new magic, and protect the world from evil. (There's even a musical episode with songs from Les Mis!)
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- The Umbrella Academy is a campy, wild TV show centered on a family of adopted kids who grew up under the tutelage of a father obsessed with their magical powers. They're all misfits, struggle to get along, but must band together to save the universe. Except it spins them through time, with each attempt causing new alterations to the timeline.
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- Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone book series is also a TV series that is reasonably okay. Alina discovers she is the Sun Summoner, but forces that want to kill her start to converge on her training. (Ironically the fan favorites is less our protagonist Alina than the thief trio who end up helping her survive.).
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- Any of Rick Riordan's series is full of magical and fantastical stories. Percy Jackson is the most well known of his series, where we follow Percy who goes to a school for kids whose parents are gods or demigods. It chronicles his adventures. Another series features Magnus Chase who learns he's Asgardian and will have to master Thor's magic.
Anyway, that's to get folks started. Go and avoid Rowlings' vile transphobia and explore far better series with much better storytelling! It'll be a blast, I promise.
