# Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

10 Hacker News commenters recommended Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a well-written, morally grounded fantasy series that an entire generation grew up reading. Some find it played out and object to the author.

## Why people recommend it

- Richly built, non-solipsistic magical universe (2 comments): "Harry Potter is not at all solipsistic: it mentions about three dozen countries beyond its main setting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46540767)) "The "mental powers" in Dune aren't that impressive. Compare, say, the Harry Potter universe." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50127672))
- Beloved by a generation of readers (2 comments): "There is a reason that an entire generation grew up reading those books." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49595427)) "I really enjoyed Harry Potter when I was young" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48930308))

## What people warn about

- Feels played out from overreading (2 comments): "everybody just had to read the same one over and over" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47690256)) "Harry Potter is played out. The author is a bigot." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47179803))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lord-of-the-rings.md): 66 recommend
- [The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hobbit.md): 49 recommend
- [Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dungeon-crawler-carl.md): 48 recommend
- [Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/harry-potter-and-the-methods-of-rationality.md): 19 recommend
- [Piranesi by Susanna Clarke](https://hackerapproved.com/p/piranesi.md): 12 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Harry+Potter+by+J.K.+Rowling&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling", https://hackerapproved.com/p/harry-potter/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).