The Hallmarked Man: The Strike series answer to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? (Spoilers for both!)

The thematic connections between the first seven Cormoran Strike books and the corresponding Harry Potter books is something I and other Strike enthusiasts have written about extensively.  Some examples include:

• My Harry Potter Academic Conference talk from 2023. 
• The Troubled Blood-Order of the Phoenix parallel noted at the time of publication. 
• Irvin Khaytman's essay on the connections between The Ink Black Heart and The Half-Blood Prince
• Beatrice Groves' magazine article on the same topic.
• Connections between The Running Grave and The Deathly Hallows
• Links to dozens of other posts on the topic. 

The thematic similarities between the first seven Strike books and the Harry Potter series makes me think it is highly likely that, as reported by UK Sunday Times Arts editor Richard Brooks in February 2014, Rowling initially planned the Strike series as seven books. The Times was, after all, the paper that used forensic literary analysis to document similarities between Cuckoo's Calling and other Rowling works, and it seems unlikely they would publish that claim unless they had reason t believe it was true, although their source of information may have been out of date  Galbraith immediately denied that seven books were planned and by July 2014, announced there would be more than seven books, perhaps even an open-ended series.  By April 2023, the author had decided the series would be complete at ten. The simplest explanation is, after being outed much sooner than planned, "Galbraith" rethought the series plan. And, as we well know, whether writing as Rowling or Galbraith, this author is selective about how much of the planning process is shared. 

So, is there any point in considering the Parallel Series Hypothesis, now that we've hit #8 in the Strike Series?  Find out after the jump. 

As regular readers know, my proposed solution to the 7 does not equal 10 problem was to suggest the series might be constructed in two overlapping seven part rings, in a model I call the Double Wedding Band, with books 4, 5 , 6 and 7 shared between the two rings. As Book #5 on the second ring, The Hallmarked Man would be predicted to have substantial thematic connections with Book #5 on the first ring, Troubled Blood. I think there is support for that hypothesis, with the most obvious connections being the three missing men of THM who turn out to be dead (Jason Knowles, Niall Semple and Taylor Powell) having fates almost identical to those of Kara Wolfson, Louise Tucker and Margot Bamborough,, with Danny de Leon a mirror image of Steve Douthwaite.   

So, what about Harry Potter links?  The simplest solution for me is, the last three books on the second ring should link to the last three Harry Potter books:  The Hallmarked Man to Order of the Phoenix, Book 9 to The Half-Blood Prince and Book 10 to Deathly Hallows. So, were there links to OotP?  Absolutely.  I made note of many as I was blogging my way through the initial read. Here are a few of the more obvious:

• A secret society at the heart of the story, and referenced in the title: the Order of the Phoenix for Harry Potter, the Masonic Hallmark for Strike. 
• The news media sets out to defame and discredit the books' male protagonists through misleading and outright false stories. 
• The protagonist's female best friend advises him to speak with a journalist he knows who is willing to publish the truth from our hero's perfective (Rita Skeeter, Fergus Robertson). 
• Protagonist has a Valentine's Day row with their partner. 
• Protagonist is interrogated in an over-decorated room by a powerful foe to tries to insist they have a drink. (Dolores Umbridge, Dino Longcaster).
• Dino's oil paintings of dogs and horses and his live ornamental white purebred dog remind us  Umbridge's tacky kitten plates. 
• Obnoxious female character who has been troubling the protagonist for the entire book gets comeuppance at the end that initially seems just deserts and even comical. 
• However, when considered fully, there are troubling aspects of sexual violence embedded (Kim Cochran nonconsentually viewed and photographed performing sex acts; Dolores Umbridge left traumatized after being carried off by creatures best known in mythology for raping women), 

But, on my initial read-through, I kept thinking of another Potter work, the so-called "eighth book" of the series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Let me say from the outset that I am not in the cohort of Potter fans that hates Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  I eagerly anticipated the publication of the script and  I bought it on day one, and participated in the local festival celebrating the release, the Queen City Potter Party, now known as the Queen City Mischief and Magic Festival, which is still going strong after 10 years. (I'm playing Professor Sprout this year!)  Three years later, I traveled to New York to see the original two part play on Broadway, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I am very grateful I saw the full, two-part production before it was shortened to a one-parter. 

But, Cursed Child is definitely a mixed bag. There were aspects I loved,  and parts I thought really missed the mark.  I didn't need to see Harry wetting his bed in the cupboard under the stairs, characters swearing by Dumbledore's name, or Hermione waxing nostalgic about Godric's Hollow (Hello?  Do you remember what happened there?  It wasn't a fun trip!) And the whole premise of the script was, at heart, pretty lame and some of the characters were not who we expected. Mr. Diggory, who didn't blame Harry for Cedric's death in Goblet of Fire, expects Harry to fix it two decades later?  Hermione, always the brains of the outfit but not so much of a leader, turns out as Minister for Magic? Harry is more interested in weeping with Dumbledore's portrait or his sufferings in Privet Drive than saving his own kid?  As I said in my original review of the theater production:

Voldemort fathered a kid with Bellatrix? Harry is a lousy dad?  But, with a strong cast, amazing staging and a heavy dose of nostalgia, a great show can emerge, even from a precarious premise. The comparison I like to make is with my favorite of the Star Trek: The Original Series movies:  Star Trek IV:  The Voyage Home. The premise is:  an unknown space probe arrives at Earth to talk  to a humpback whale. It is able to nearly destroy the the planet when this conversation does not happen.  After an elaborate time-travel adventure, a pair of whales is produced, and after a 10-sec conversation, the probe is satisfied and flies away, with no one apparently interested in what it was or where it came from. The Voyage Home works because fans didn't show up to hear the story of the probe; they showed up to see the voyage home:  Kirk touring  the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Spock nerve-pinch a dude on a bus with an overly loud boom box, Scotty attempt to operate an Apple IIe and proud Russian Chekov get captured on a naval aircraft carrier. Similarly, a chance to re-visit the wizarding world and see the characters will love in unique settings and situations is an incredible homecoming experience, and something for which I, at least, am willing to overlook the shaky premise of the play itself. 

Though billed as "the eighth story, nineteen years later," the Cursed Child story itself was not Rowling's exclusive work, but a collaborative effort with two others, one of whom adapted the idea into the script. It was clearly not part of the original vision she had for the series of seven novels.  As I said in 2019:

 I think it was a mistake to mark this as the “8th book” in the series, since it clearly is not. The opening dialogue on Platform 9 3/4 does not match either the book’s or the film’s; where Harry is clearly shown to have a loving relationship with Albus Severus and be OK with him being a Slytherin. That fundamental precept must be changed if the Cursed Child storyline is going to exist. For that reason, I belong to the camp that rejects the play as canon, and considers it a fan-fiction adjunct, albeit the best type, the kind that gets the approval of the Author Herself.

 A Guardian review of the streamlined Cursed Child says it "still feels like Rowling based in on a cheese dream" but that it offers "plenty of surprise reunions with dead characters." That was certainly true. Every time a familiar character appeared on stage, from Hagrid to McGonagall to Moaning Myrtle*, the audience broke out in wild applause. But it is hard for me to see how anyone unfamiliar with the seven book series, or at least the films, would enjoy the play, or even understand what is happening 

Because I don't consider Cursed Child the eighth Harry Potter book, it did not occur to me to look for thematic connections between it and A Hallmarked Man. But, that is a bit how I felt with my first read-through. The book  felt, in many ways, like a gift to the fans. No book in the series to date has had as many references to past characters and events. We had expected Culpepper to reappear, and we thought we might hear more about Mitch Patterson's prosecution. It was a surprise but a delight to hear some follow-up details from the UHC, like Noli Seymour being dropped from her film and Giles Harmon being in hiding. But we have never seen as many people from old cases pop up. Nina Lascelles is back, complete with black strapless dress and snotty, "What are you doing here?" Ciara Porter (not Parker!) returns to modeling! Marco Ricci is up to no good! And who didn't laugh out loud when Marguerite turned up at Lucy's Christmas party, still eyeing Strike as if he were a tasty morsel placed just out of her reach?  Those all felt like yummy Easter eggs, set up for the long-time readers to find. 

Yet, at the same time, something felt off, both in the way the major mystery unfolded and in the way our favorite detective pair responded to each other, and to other people. I've been trying to figure out why, even as familiar characters appeared and reappeared, Strike and Robin themselves seemed, not quite right. It wasn't just the missed signals regarding their long-suffering romance; it was little details like Robin being wary to ask if Strike's leg is hurting, and Strike getting snippy because she didn't. It was a murder case so complex that even Strike had a hard time believing it, and this from the guy who solved the Owen Quine and Jasper Chiswell killings. It's ethical inconsistencies like being concerned whether it's fair to take Decima's money, then turning around and not only counter-spying on Two-Times for his wife, but continuing to take Two-times' money for a job that was pointless. And so on. 

In any case, this is why, though I think the prediction of thematic connections to OotP bore fruit, I also felt a bit like I was watching Cursed Child again. And that is definitely a mixed blessing. 

*except for Umbridge. I think she got booed.