Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany

 Harry and Ginny's youngest son, Albus, is starting at Hogwarts. He has never been close to his famous father, and when he makes friends with Scorpius Malfoy, the gap between them widens. One day he overhears his father talking with Mr. Diggory who is pleading for Harry to use a time twister to go back in time to save Cedric. Albus decides to go back himself and right some of the wrongs he believes his father has committed. With the help of Scorpius, they go back to the year of the Tri-Wizard tournament and try to keep Cedric from winning, but their meddling has disastrous results. Once again Harry, Ron and Hermione must jump into action and try to put the timeline back before it is too late. 

When this play script was first released as a book I made a decision not to read it.  I had heard that it wasn't that good, and I didn't want to mar my memories of the series with a below par sequel.  Recently, however, I heard that they were considering making a movie of the script so I decide I better read through it. I actually think the plot wasn't too bad.  The plot had some of the feel of the books, and some of the interpersonal relationships were in keeping with might be suggested in the books.  The thing that wasn't so great was the characterizations of the original characters.  They felt counterfeit.  Harry was kind of like Harry but not quite. Ron was a caricature of Ron, instead of the real Ron. Draco Malfoy was perhaps the worst.  He was one of the really deep and complex characters in the book, but in the play he is almost comic relief. 

After I read the play I found out that the rumors about the  movie are false.  The original cast is not willing to come back as their adult selves, and it wouldn't really work without them. After reading the script, if they had made the movie, I would have gone to see it. (2016, 343 p)