Harry Potter influences and analogues Potter" involve an average eleven-year-old, better at sport than academic study, who is sent to boarding school. Upon arrival, the boy gains a best friend (in Tom's case, East, in Harry's case, Ron Weasley) who helps him adjust to the new environment. They are set upon by an arrogant bully – in Tom Brown's case, Harry Flashman, in Harry's case Draco Malfoy. Stephen Fry, who both narrates the British audio adaptations of the "Harry Potter" novels and has starred in a screen adaptation of "Tom Brown", has commented many times about the similarities between the two books. "Harry Potter –
Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders working on a new gyroscope, which was also briefly introduced in the previous volume. In Europe, World War I continues to rage, and several European governments have expressed an interest in Tom Swift's new gyroscope, as safety devices for use in the aerial aspect of the war. When envy drives Tom to join the expedition, Tom hands the gyroscope project over to his father, Barton Swift, and it is not heard of for the rest of the story. Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders Tom Swift In The Land of Wonders, or, The Underground Search For the Idol of