Quidditch Through the Ages (Hogwarts Library)

by J.K. Rowling and Kennilworthy Whisp

Did you know that : there are 700 ways of committing a foul in Quidditch? The game first began to evolve on Queerditch Marsh? What Bumphing is? That Puddlemere United is oldest team in the Britain and Ireland league? (founded 1163) All this information and much more could be yours once you have read this book: this is all you could ever need to know about the history, the rules - and the breaking of the rules - of the noble wizarding sport of Quidditch.

• ISBN10: 0439321611
• ISBN13: 9780439321617
• Publish Date: 1 January 2001
• Publish Status: Cancelled
• Out of Print: 1 June 2017
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Scholastic
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 56
• Language: English

Reviews

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

Listening to Quidditch Through the Ages was such great fun! I've owned the physical copy for more than a decade now, originally purchased with the box set containing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. They are presented in text, as in audio, as Hogwarts textbooks.

Even though I always preferred Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (the textbook, not the movie) to Quidditch Through the Ages, I have to admit that the audiobook version of the latter ended up being my favorite. The majority of the content in Fantastic Beasts was more interesting to me than this subject matter of Quidditch Through the Ages, simply because I would rather hear about magical creatures than Quidditch facts. However, the last portion of the Quidditch Through the Ages audiobook gave me more enjoyment than the rest combined.

The last 30 minutes or so is a dramatized account of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup. With narrative from Ginny Weasley Potter, as sports commentator, and Rita Skeeter as gossip columnist, we are given a play-by-play of the Quidditch match between Bulgaria and Brazil (from Ginny) and the movements of the Potter/Weasley/Longbottom/Lovegood crowd watching from the VIP box (from Skeeter). This scene takes place about three years before the "19 Years Later" epilogue in The Deathly Hallows and The events of The Cursed Child.

This bit of the book was absolutely brilliant! I could practically see it playing out before my eyes. We were even given some juicy information about the characters. For example, Skeeter mentions that Luna Lovegood wore a rainbow colored wedding dress with a tiara made from unicorn horns when she married Rolf Scamander. That absolutely made me crack up! She also noted that Neville Longbottom is the godfather of Albus Potter. I'm sure that has been mentioned somewhere before, probably on the Pottermore website, but it was new information to me.

As I mention in every Harry Potter-related review, I'm the kind of Potterhead that craves whatever I can get my hands on. Therefore, there was no way I wouldn't love Quidditch Through the Ages. It was so great to return to the Harry Potter universe and get an adorable little glimpse into the lives of our favorites. Rowling's writing has this wonderful ability to automatically transport me back into my childhood. Quidditch Through the Ages was no exception.

Narration review: The 2014 World Cup scene was a wonderful surprise once I arrived at the end of the audiobook, but what I was most excited for from the very beginning was Andrew Lincoln's narration. In case you don't know, Andrew Lincoln is the magical man who stars in The Walking Dead. And what I didn't know was that he isn't American. That was another fantastic surprise courtesy of Quidditch Through the Ages.

In The Walking Dead, Lincoln has one hell of a southern drawl that this southerner actually thought was authentic. Apparently not (I googled him to confirm) and his natural British accent is just as amazing. This man could read the phone book and I would think it was the best thing I had ever heard. Quidditch Through the Ages also boasts a plethora of sound effects, all done very well, especially during the Quidditch World Cup scene. The Foley (sound effects) was so immersive it made me feel like I was actually there watching the match. ♣︎

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Everything you ever wanted to know about Quidditch!

Quidditch Through the Ages is a fun companion book to the Harry Potter series.  Originally sold in 2001 as an effort to raise money for the Comic Relief charity, Quidditch Through the Ages was part of a two-part "Hogwarts Library" series (later joined by The Tales of Beedle the Bard).  If you want to know the history, rules, and teams behind the popular wizarding sport, this book is a must have.

At only 56 pages, this is a quick read.

This book is not intended to give you the mechanics of how to bewitch your broomstick or a play-by-play of the first World Cup.  It's the type of thing that nicely supplements reading the Harry Potter books, and gives a loose background.  It's a one-sitting type of read.

I really enjoyed the way the book is balanced with narrative as well as excepts from letter, journals, and newspaper clippings.  These tidbits break up the "non-fiction" elements really nicely, and it's neat seeing quotes and clipping from familiar names (could Brutus Scrimgeour be a relative of Rufus Scrimgeour?).

This is a great read for Harry Potter fans.

Unfortunately, it does have a pretty limited demographic.  While I like this book a lot and think it's loads of fun, I can't image anyone who doesn't love the Potterverse caring about it?  Not that it's unaccessible, because you don't need any background at all to read it... it's more that it's a fun little thing that Average Joe wouldn't think to pick up.

If you like Harry Potter, if you think Quidditch is interesting, or if you want to read about fictional sports, Quidditch Through the Ages is the book for you!

Find this review and others like it at The Literary Phoenix.

[KitsuneBae]

Enjoying this more than Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was a big surprise for me because I've never been a sports enthusiast. Perhaps, my entertainment can be largely blamed to the fact that the historical accounts by the first witnesses of the game were funny. It made some of the sport jargon easy to understand and relatable.

I just wished that there were more illustrations particularly about the different pro-Quidditch teams. Wish the new edition will have that.

Recommended to Harry Potter fans and Quidditch enthusiasts.


PS: Is there a possibility for the Queen to write a script for a film adaptation of this book?

[Sarah Says]

Oh, the thrill of the chase as I soar through the air
With the Snitch up ahead and the wind in my hair
As I draw ever closer, the crowd give a shout
But then comes a bludger and I am knocked out.

This poem take this book from OK to Awesome LOL I loved the poem.

[inlibrisveritas]

A fun little "accessory" book to the Harry Potter series that fleshes out Quidditch and for those young ones who like the thought of having a "text book" from their favorite story. For a hardcore enthusiast it has all the rules, regulations and history blurbs that you could ever want on the fictional sport.