Well, I have to confess that I bought the book at midnight in a bookstore located in the Greater London Area. The amount of people queuing up to buy the book was unbelievable, it took me almost 30 minutes to reach the cash register once the midnight deadline was reached. There was live music from the movies to entertain the people within the bookstore.
A warning for our blog readers, this review will spoil the book if you read it.
Click ‘more‘ to read the review.
The thing that stands out the most is the level of bloodbath that happens in this book. Within the first 100 pages, two well know characters die at the hands of Death Eaters. Even though the level of violence is quite high in the in the book, I never felt that the three main characters (Harry, Hermione and Ron) where in danger until the end.
This is the most tragic book in the series, with one of the main surprises being his close relationship with between Dumbledore and Grindewald, with the book indicating that Dumbledore had very fascist ideas about the role of wizards in society when he was young. Only personal tragedy made Dumbledore realise what should have been important from the beginning.
This tragedy in a way is also mirrored by Snape, with the book revealing the sad story behind his complete loyalty to Dumbledore and the personal relationship that ties him to Harry. The backstory of Snape and what Harry must do once he learns of it, is the most emotional section of the book.
Is this the best book in the series? Almost. Some things are troublesome, such as when Harry finds the Sword of Griffindor in the lake, although how this happens is later explained, this is one of the weak sections of the book. Another issue is all the time the characters spend talking inside the tent they use for their travels, I just kept thinking that the story was not progressing in these sections.
Another thing is the situation with the wands and the rules that govern them, which proves critical at the end of the book in the defeat of Voldemort. The whole situation just is just a plot device to allow an inexperienced wizard like Harry to be able to defeat Voldemort.
Now, these are minor issues the book, and if you have read all the previous ones, you are used to this from J. K. The really big problem with the book is the epilogue, which in my opinion just serves the function of leaving open the possibility of expanding the HP series and to tell the reader that Voldermort was really defeated. Despite the large timeframe indicated, we don’t really learn what Harry did in that period, making the end feel less satisfactory. One thing I have to say is that I feared that she might pull the same stunt that Stephen King did with the Dark Tower series, where the end of the seventh book is such a slap in the face to the reader that I will never read another King book because of it. I should have been more confident that the author would not dissapoint the reader in this way.
Although this is a minor issue, we never learn what the hell did Aberforth do with those goats…
If you have read the entire series it is obvious that you will buy this book.
If you have not read the series, what the hell are you waiting for?
“If you have not read the series, what the hell are you waiting for?”
The movies…
Although clumsy the pictures are entertaining…
While waiting at the checkout in my local grocery last night, I saw a guy and his wife and daughter come in. As they walked around, he was reading the latest book. Couldn’t even put it down to help with the shopping. Don’t know if he ran into other people because he wasn’t paying attention.
#1, the movies will never have the level of humour that the books have. And in regards to the movies, the latest one is the best by far.
I read all 7 books this month, finally decided I wanted to find out for myself what happens to Harry instead of hearing it online or in the media somewhere. I must say I was quite surprised after reading the first 2 books and remembering back to the movies. Those movies were quite faithful to the books, the last 3 not so much, the last one in particular. (But that was an 870 page book)
All in all I think the level of carnage in the last book was appropriate. I would like to read a little more of the intervening year before the epilogue as well. (I’d also like to see Umbridge stuck in Azkaban for being too much of a tool to carry a wand.)
5–What I’d like to see evaluated is how this book(s) is so different from the myriad of other similiar books out there==or is it/how is it/ unique?
All I’ve read is that it creates a whole world that kiddies can relate to and it treats its young readers with respect. Thats not unique, so what gives?
I completly agree about the epilogue. I wanted to know so much more about how they rebuilt the community and the other chracters. Its just saying and they lived happily ever after which was a let down after the amazing climax with Voldemort!
#3
I have not read the books though my wife is an addict. We’ve seen all the movies which I enjoy but am not thrilled with. All the movies leave me feeling unfulfilled like they are incomplete. The latest was by far the worse from this stand point and my wife for once agreed with me.
#7, but if you have read the books, knowing what happens next because of the events of the latest movie, it quite powerful, especially towards the end of the movie. Of course, the book is more fulfilling since there’s the emotional outburst from Harry because of the death of Sirius.
Aahh, if only J.R.R. Tolkien had this much fan support, what would have happened to a Lord of the Rings sequel?
I finished reading the last book. It was good and yes bloody but had some logic gaps such as how Snape was able to locate the forest in which Harry and Hermoine were staying in order to plant the sword. There are other gaps such as why Harry couldn’t simply commune with any picture of Dumbledore (doesn’t have to be the one in the Headmaster’s office) to ask him about his plan. Simply having info about how to destroy the horcruxes would have saved quite a bit of time. It would also be interesting to know what Harry eventually does for a living since he did not finish his education.
Was it really necessary to run the review in the blog? It’s not like it isn’t everywhere else you look.
#10, When Harry is seeing Snape’s memories you find out that the picture of Phineas that Hermione took with them, overheard that Harry was in that forest and told Dumbledore, who instructed Snape to give Harry the sword. The fact that Harry could not talk to Dumbledore was to make the character of Harry chose between Duty (Horcruxes) or Power (Hallows).
#10, Harry eventually marries Ginny Weasley–who turns out to be a powerful witch in her own right–and they are forced by dark wizards to abandon Earth and hide in seclusion on Tatooine. There, on a fortnight’s holiday, they are discovered by Luke Skywalker. He recruits them for the Jedi Order to fight the newest threat to galactic freedom: Sith Lord Darth Snape.
OK, someone else can mash it up from here . . .
#9 – Aahh, if only J.R.R. Tolkien had this much fan support, what would have happened to a Lord of the Rings sequel?
If only… He did… After the Bible, The Lord Of The Rings is the most translated books ever and have never been out of print.
I wish that the whole HP series had been edited as tightly and well as the first two books. The tone changes and the story wanders around with story elements that never go anywhere, and meanwhile, really important elements are poorly explained. I can only blame the publisher for not upholding the higher standards once the author made money and started calling more of the shots.
I think the epilogue was ONLY because the publisher wanted to HOPE that the cash cow could continue with the continued tales of HP’s offspring. It didn’t make any real sense how 19 years past and blah blah blah. Seemed stiff and added on, like an afterthought. And, given that one evil wizard had come to power …means that another could, and the same story could be told over again if the author is ever “low on cash”.
The movies…though, suck. The first one was the best, the second…sort of okay, but the last few….are awful. They don’t focus on the story, but depend on special effects and “wow” to carry the show. They’re all fluff and popcorn selling devices, and hardly capture the spirit of the movie, nor even continue with elements of previous movies. I cannot understand how someone who’s never read the books would even KNOW what was going on. It’s like watching a script created from one page summary of a 700 page book written by someone who’s only read 120 pages of it and skimmed the rest!!! bleck!
If anybody out there has NOT read the series and finds themselves with a long commute, I highly recommend the audio version of Harry Potter. Jim Dale does a superlative job with ALL the characters. Heck, even if you DON’T have a commute, but can set aside time to read for pleasure, the audiobooks are well worth the time.
The 5th movie sucks. It was made as short as they could so they could cram another session at the movie theater,
I thought books 1 – 4 were really good… then it got booooorrrrriiinnnggg
typical of british authors
I have nothing to base this on other than the general feel of the quotes from Rowling, but I think you’re totally misinterpreting the epilogue. Rather than being stuck there to leave the possibility of more sequels, I think she wrote it to decrease her temptation to go into the world again. We basically know everyone lives happily ever after. Sure, there’s tons of stuff she could explore, but two decades out everything’s copacetic. With that set in stone, there’s no reason to explore the period immediately after Deathly Hallows. And she didn’t need the epilogue to set up a next generation sequel, that was always possible. I think she was trying to close the door with the (admittedly superfluous) epilogue.
Well, now I’m starting to think that the ending was just to indicate that HP finally found peace and forgiveness and that nothing happened in that period of time. Still, it feels incomplete. Who knows, maybe one of these days she will put on her blog an explanation about why she wrote it that way.