for the record, i would just like to point out that you are wrong

I think it was in an Agatha Christie book where I first read of this idea: you can go years without thinking or hearing about a particular idea, and then suddenly you will hear about the idea twice in the course of a week.

Well, three times since last Friday I have heard people call Twilight the new Harry Potter. Pffffffft, I say! Pfffffffffft! This is the most ridiculous notion I've ever heard.

First off, I would like to point out that I am authorized to comment on this notion because I have read each series. (Okay, I didn't read the last book in the Twilight series, but Lady MacBeth did, and I'm taking her word for it that it was awful.) (And technically I only skimmed 2 and 3 because I'd promised I'd read them, but really I read the synopsis on Wikipediea and then just bolted through them.) Also, I started reading both series before all the hype. So, I didn't jump in expecting them to be either good or bad. In fact, I had expected Twilight to be good by how much the book was recommended to me. I started out thinking it was an intriguing idea. It was only when I was about half way through I remember thinking - wait, where's the plot in this book? And once I'd finished I thought - wait, the villain didn't show up until the last chapter; did anyone else notice this book has no plot?

Harry Potter was different. I can specifically remember the third book coming out a few weeks before my birthday. I knew I was going to get the book for my birthday, but I still wanted to read it. I can still see myself reading the first few chapters in the bookstore, hoping I wouldn't get kicked out. And then I remember just reading all day through on my birthday. I still remember the shock I felt when I realized that Lupin had betrayed Harry by letting Sirus Black into Hogwarts. Lupin, we trusted you! Point being here - I fell in love with the series before everyone was saying how good it was; before the midnight release parties and all that.

So, why isn't Twilight the next Harry Potter? Well, first off, to call anything "the next" of something else kind of belittles the work of both parties. Both authors put in quite a lot of work. And second, despite Stephanie Meyer's hard work, Twilight really just isn't good. It doesn't have believable characters, it has hardly any plot, and the writing is just awful. I'm not saying Harry Potter is going up for any major awards in literature, but at least it manages to stay interesting. The characters are interesting, it actually has a plot, and you can tell that someone has edited it.

Now, I can actually see the draw that Twilight has for women. Bella thinks she is not very pretty and yet this amazingly attractive man (vampire) is in love with her. What woman doesn't feel ugly some of the time? And what woman doesn't want some god of a man fawning all over her for no other reason than she is what she is? I think one of the reasons this annoyed me so much in the books is that we are absolutely beat to death with this topic. It's pretty much the only thing the books are about - Edward is goreous and Bella loves him. There's nothing about personality or anything substantial. The vampire bit is just thrown in there to try to persuade us that it's actually a fantasy book and not a cheap romance novel.

Harry Potter, on the other hand, is way more believable. Yes, even with the elements of wizardry. The characters grow and progress. They make mistakes. There is a real antagonist who causes real harm, and yet every book has a distinct plot. They aren't just fighting Voldemort each time. The characters are human and flawed and relatable. And yet, there is humor in the books too - they don't take themselves too seriously. I wouldn't even say that Harry Potter is my favorite series of all time, just that it's loads better than Twilight.

Basically, it comes down to this: Harry Potter is about dealing with life and growing and adapting and also fighting real evil and doing the right thing. Twilight is about being unconditionally devoted to someone just because he's hot and wanting to have sex with him.

Harry Potter and Twilight are not even in the same category of books. They are just compared because they were both very popular. (Though, being popular is not the same as being good.)

And how do Edward and Harry feel about each other? (Sorry if you've already seen this.) (And it has PG-13 language, just FYI.)

Edward vs. Harry