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I never really did get into Harry Potter. I imagine that this is viewed as a crime by most everyone on this service. For some it is heresy. But, I refuse to stand shamefaced - Hogwarts just didn't do it for me.

I didn't think this would either.

However, I was more than pleasantly surprised. I am of a somewhat morbid streak, and the Series of Unfortunate Events books, I must say, tickles that grotesque bone in a way most pleasing.

The story of the Baudelaire Children is one filled with tragedy and dire peril. Orphaned after a massive house fire in which their parents burned to death, they are put in the care of their parents' will's executor until a distant relative, Count Olaf, comes to claim them... and their family fortune. The children however do manage to give him a run of it. In the end, they still have their money, but they simply are foisted off someplace else where there parents are still dead and their lot becomes more miserable. This is not a story for happy endings as the author will remind you, time and time again.

The real thing about the book that I love is the writing style and tone of the narrative. The author is quite the wordsmith, and he no doubt had it in mind that kids should be learning big, expansive words. He then mixes it up with subtle and unsubtle word play (in the fourth book, the narrator goes into the sensation of deja vu, and when you turn the page beginning that chapter it's the same page over again) that left me quite amused.

I only read about four of the books. The downfall of the series is that the villain never changes and the stories are all essentially the same at their core: the children go to live someplace horrible, and Uncle Olaf comes back to try and take their money. It's a one trick pony in that regard, but I really was quite taken by the wording of it.

It's worth the investment for the first book and it's a quick read. Give it a shot.