Rating: 
Summary: Awesome
Review: This book has wonderful illustrations and accurate information on many of the creatures and magic you hear about in the books. It is a great resource for anyone wanting to know the story behind the creatures.
Rating: 
Summary: Folklore 101
Review: This is a good book that covers a lot of basic mythology, folklore, superstition and history, and (tangentally) connects it to the Harry Potter series.First, the good stuff: it includes a lot of entries (accurate - so far as I can tell) about a lot of supernatural creatures, beliefs and other topics. Want to know the different mythologies of the phoenix from different countries, and which parts J.K. Rowling made up for her books? It's here. Want to know the historical beliefs about unicorns, how they differ from the "classical" interpretation of the glowing white horse with the long slender horn, when (and possibly how) these beliefs came about? You got it. Also good: there are many helpful illustrations. The writers treat the superstitious beliefs of different times and places with a certain respect, not saying "man, they were idiots for believing in ghosts!" or anything like that. But skeptics won't be disappointed, either. For example, when frankly talking about how many alchemists were charlatans who only pretended to create gold with the "sorceror's stone" (or, more accurately, the philosopher's stone) --- it even tells you HOW it was possible to fake this wondrous transmutation. Nice. On to the bad stuff... actually, not BAD stuff, but things you should know the books is NOT about. While it uses the Harry Potter books as a jumping off point, it doesn't really go into depth about the HP series. For example, no entries on Argus, Remus or Minerva (despite some famous residents of Hogwarts who bear those names, often as none-too-subtle cues on their characters). It won't comment on the (rather obvious) symbolism of Dumbledore having a pet phoenix, when one of his hallmarks is giving people a second chance. [Still, it's rather disturbing to read the negative reviews of some people on Amazon who refused to read the book simply because it was about the mythology of magic, and not enough about Harry + co. Don't get me wrong - I love Rowling's work. I bet she'd be a little dismayed to learn that her writing has caused some readers to be interested in only her writing, and not inspired them to read more about different, if related, subjects.] The book also shouldn't been seen as an in-depth guide to mythology, but then, it wouldn't be easy for any one volume to do that. Vampires, for example, get 2 pages here, but whole books could be written just on the mythology of vamps in different cultures (and pop culture). There's some mention of literature - Bram Stoker is referenced in the vampire entry, the one on cauldron's refers to the famous "eye of newt" scene in MacBeth. But there's only a little of this. No commentary on the influence of, say, Tolkien, on Rowling's work. Including "Harry Potter" in the title of this book is quite possibly a bid to increase sales. That being said, it's a good read, and a solid intro to the mythology of the magical.
Rating:
Summary: Wounderful
Review: Harry Potter is a wounderful book for young and old. I loved the Harry Potter books so much that I have read all of them twice. If you haven't read the Harry Potter books you are missing out on somthing really wounderful.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This book is so interesting! It combines greek myths and medevial legends to explain almost all the magical creatures and tools in Harry Potter. I read this book once and then read Harry Potter. I recognized almost all the creatures, and their connection to the real world. It made reading Harry potter lots of fun! Do YOU know that there was a real Nicholas Flamel?
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book Ever Writen
Review: This book is Amazing! The perfect compaion to the Harry Potter series. As well as excellent illustrations and facinating facts that one could learn nowhere else.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting!
Review: This book was totally awesome! If I learned something at school yesterday, it's nothing compared to what I learned in this book, I didn't know a thing about banshees before I read this! By all means, buy it!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I bought this book for my mom, who plays HP trivia. I thought it would give her a heads up for some hard questions. It has nothing to do with HP. This is a book about history, folklore and mythology. If you want to learn about HP and Hogwarts don't get this book. If you want to know about the history of magic then this book is for you. The title is deceiving.
Rating:
Summary: Quality HP related stuff
Review: I would highly recommend this book for a couple reasons. First of all is the quality. Though it's paperback, it's a well-made book. A book that looks nice on the outside as well as the inside always attracts me. Secondly, the information contained inside is very interesting and well-reasearched. It takes many of the magical phenomena named in Harry Potter and gives much more information on it. It's not a book about Harry Potter, just a supplement, which entertains and informs. I would recommend it for any HP reader who is interested in what exactly faeries and bogarts are, and what arithmancy is, anyway... Yes, it's worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: Got to read it!
Review: Great historical content, has the orgins of many things that seem to be made up, but whose history acutually goes back thousands of years. It has funny things that you can do like arithmancy and divination. Worth buying
Rating:
Summary: It's NOT about Harry Potter!
Review: As an adult fan of Harry Potter who is going through withdrawal
until the next book comes out I eagerly bought The Sorceror's Companion. I was very disappointed to find so little specifically about Harry Potter in this book. There IS a great deal of mythology and explanation for the sources of alot of J.K.
Rowling's ideas though. If you are looking for the background this book will help you but I didn't finish reading it and returned it for a much better book- Beacham's study guide which goes into a great deal of detail about Harry Potter.
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