Recent content by Lizzie Brookes

George Orwell's 1984 and Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale are certainly interesting and powerful to read and study but like The Portrait of Dorian Gray, they can have a disturbing quality especially as the ending of 1984 in particular is deeply tragic. I tend to prefer series like Harry Potter...

Theoretically you could write and publish a fantasy series where the humanoids or other races did what we should have done all along - had wind farms, solar panels etc and how much better the fantasy world is because of that but unfortunately I'm not sure how much of an impact it would have...

Mainly the characters - the trio Harry, Ron and Hermione and the way they grew and developed from 11 to 17 and yes the ideas, the world and the storytelling. I realise many of the ideas were previously used - Dementors/Nazgul, Harry, Ron, Hermione vs Maud Mildred and Enid in The Worst Witch...

1. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) 2. Emma (Jane Austen) 3. Our Mutual Friend (Charles Dickens) 4. Bleak House (Charles Dickens) 5. Hamlet (William Shakespeare) 6. Much Ado About Nothing (William Shakespeare) 7. Harry Potter (all 7 books) 8. Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman with Subtle...

In my case it is usually a combination of caring about the characters and finding the plot interesting. Sometimes I read a book beginning to end and then reread my favourite chapters such as Mr Darcy's letter or Mr Darcy's first proposal to Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. Sometimes if a book...