okay guys they are just little creatures
(okay tranchelars creep me out so do scorpions but tiny spirers? )
chill

Nope. Because they are not "little creatures". They are not creatures at all. They are abominations. Crimes against reality. There is no need for these things when many other (most importantly, non-spider) things that fill their roles admirably without being spiders. Zuriel, I agree with you - I know my objection is personal and am willing to keep it in abeyance as long as they stay away from me, my home and my normal path. That's the Agreement I made with the god-king of spiders many years ago, so any that break the rule get the stomp, the smack or the fire.

Benedict Jacka: the Alex Verus series. Book 1, Fated, and book 2, Cursed, are already out, and book 3, Taken, is due out in three months. Jim himself has happily supplied cover blurbs to the series and has Jacka on his must-read list.

Its hard to believe, but there are people who have never seen Star Wars. Perhaps you could have a character like that be a straight man to the Star Wars quoter.

Even harder to believe are some people don't like Star Wars. Some think the movies are over-rated in terms of acting, plot, or other ("The last scene of star wars is like a Leni Reifenstahl film. Is Lucas a nazi or something?"). Others (like David Brin) dislike the medievalist trappings of Jedi Knights, and hereditary powers and see a whole agenda of anti-democracy at work. You could have one of these as a straight man. But you might enrage the fanbois and lose readers.

PS of course Brin had people with extraordinary abilities because of genetic engineering in his Uplift novels, so not sure why he disliked Star Wars and hereditary force powers.

All good points, but it ultimately comes down to this: you can't please all the people all the time. No one character is going to be universally likeable. Jim selected a character with certain traits... and that's it. Harry doesn't have to become accessible to all, just to the general audience Jim's aiming for. And, when it comes down to it, those outside that sphere could just as easily profit by giving it a shot, if for no other reason than getting a glimpse into the head of someone who doesn't do things the way THEY do.

Also, Jim's already done the "straight man" thing, primarily with Molly acting as a foil or balloon-popper to Harry's opinions (see the bit in Changes where Harry's going on a rant about expensive houses). That didn't enrage the anti-property people (and I do know some). But, in the end, Jim can't afford to spend all his time setting up foils to every Harryesque moment; that would get in the way of the story.

That does seem to be a Harry schtick.

Hey, Shecky, I didn't realise your Twitter avatar was Greebo.

Good one, innit?

The former posting champion, neurovore, is now back from a long break, so, before long, I'd imagine neither of us will have the title.

Don't worry about it; usually just a glitch.