Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

   2007; 784 pages.  Book 7 (out of 7) in the “Harry Potter” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Fantasy; YA; Adventure.  Laurels: Winner – 2007 Newsweek – Best Book; and others.  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

 

    It’s showdown time!  A duel to the death between the Boy-Who-Lived and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  Come out fighting and may the best wand win!  Or, for you Muggles out there, a contest of magic between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.

 

    Harry’s definitely the underdog.  Voldemort’s minions have taken over key positions at both Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic.  His Death Eaters are looking high and low for “Undesirable Number One”.  For the moment Harry’s friends are hiding him, but sooner or later his cover will be blown.

 

    Things look bad for the good guys, but Harry’s got one slim hope – destroying the entire set of horcruxes, each of which holds a piece of Voldemort’s soul.  Too bad Harry has no idea where those horcruxes are, what they look like, or how to destroy them even if he does find them.

 

    And we won’t even mention the prophecy.  You know, the one that says the only way Voldemort can be killed is if the Boy-Who-Lived dies also.

 

What’s To Like...

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh, and final, book in J.K. Rowling’s fabulous Harry Potter series, although there are some supplementary screenplays and short story collections for diehard fans.  The overall tone of the series continues to get darker, but that’s not surprising for a “showdown” story.

 

    Once again there are a bunch of riddles and mysteries for Harry and his two closest friends – Ron and Hermione – to solve:  What is “Grindelwald’s Mark”?  What is the Sign of the Deathly Hallows?  Who is the mysterious “R.A.B.”?  Where is the Sword of Godric Gryffindor?  And possibly most important of all, who is the owner of the Silver Doe Patronus?

 

    In addition to the riddle-solving, the horcrux-finding, and the Harry/Voldemort main storyline, there are a gazillion other characters with their own secondary plotlines to be tied up.  J.K. Rowling does an amazing job of this, devoting much of the first half of the book to do so.  You’ll come away with a good idea of what happens to the Dursleys, the ghosts, the house-elves, the centaurs, all the Weasley siblings, and even the owls after the series ends.

 

    I liked the drawings at the beginning of each chapter, as well as the captivating “Tale of the Three Brothers”, from whence comes the book’s title.  There are also plenty of spells and magic gizmos to marvel at; my favorites being the Polyjuice Potion and the Extendable Ears.  And it’s always a treat to have Peeves, Dobby, and Hagrid show up in a scene.

 

    The ending is, as expected, fantastic.  Everything builds to an epic, action-packed, several-chapters-long, final battle.  Most (but not all) of the good guys survive; most (but not all) of the bad guys are vanquished, and the series-long question of whether Snape is a white-hat or a black-hat is finally resolved.  Things close with an Epilogue, which takes place nineteen years later, and which left me misty-eyed.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.9*/5, based on 37,157 ratings and 6,133 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.57*/5, based on 3,288,633 ratings and 75,366 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “I couldn’t think what to get you,” she said.

    “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

    She disregarded this too.

    “I didn’t know what would be useful.  Nothing too big, because you wouldn’t be able to take it with you.”

    He chanced a glance at her.  She was not tearful, that was one of the many wonderful things about Ginny, she was rarely weepy.  He had sometimes thought that having six brothers must have toughened her up.  (loc. 1522)

 

    “His knowledge remained woefully incomplete, Harry!  That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend.  Of house-elves and children’s tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing.  Nothing.  That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.”  (loc. 8996)

 Kindle Details…

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sells for $9.99 right now, as do the other six books in the series.

“Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever.”  (loc. 672)

    It’s hard to find nits to pick about anything in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  As usual, there’s a small amount of cussing – I counted eleven in the first 50% of the book – and most of them are variations of the mild “hell” and “damn” invectives.  Oh, and Harry gets kissed once, but he’ll remember it for a long time.

 

    The book screams for a “Cast of Characters” section, but to be fair, in the Kindle version, which is what I read, when you click on someone’s name, even a minor player, it usually sends you to a link with a background about him/her/it.

 

    Finally, for those who loved the Quidditch and Hogwarts classroom antics in the earlier books, it should be noted that this book contains nary a trace of either.

 

    9 Stars.  It’s taken 20 years or so, but I’ve made it through the entire Harry Potter series.  I read them all in order and the first one in French.  This is a great series, one that keeps both YA readers and adults thoroughly entertained.  The Epilogue could possibly be used as the basis for a sequel, but J.K. Rowling hasn’t done so in the intervening fifteen years, and frankly, I think that was the correct decision on her part.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling

   2005; 652 pages.  Book 6 (out of 7) in the “Harry Potter” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Fantasy; YA; Adventure.  Laurels: Winner – 2006 British Book of the Year Award; 2006 Royal Mail Award for Scottish Children’s Books for Ages 8-12; 2005 Quill Award for Best Book of the Year.  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

 

    It’s going to be a good year at Hogwarts for Harry Potter.

 

    For starters, he’s entering his sixth year there, and I guess he’s now an upperclassman, since the normal full term for studying there is seven years.  That means he's now eligible to take Apparition lessons, the somewhat dangerous but extremely useful art of disappearing from one spot (“disapparating”) and popping up someplace else (“apparating”).

 

    Harry’s also been appointed to be the Quidditch captain for House Gryffindor.  The upside to that is that those who want to be on the team will be sucking up to him.  The downside is that those who don’t make the team might hold it against him.

 

    Then there’s the rumor flying around Hogwarts that Harry’s “The Chosen One”.  That happens to be true, but it also means everybody’s going to be looking at him like he’s some sort of freak.  Except for Headmaster Dumbledore, who's said he'll be giving Harry one-on-one lessons on the things he needs to know in order to fulfill “the Prophecy”.

 

    Good luck, Harry.  You might not like some of that information that Dumbledore's going to impart.

 

What’s To Like...

    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth, and next-to-last, book in J.K. Rowlings’ ultra-popular fantasy series and for Hogwarts habitués that means the times they are a-changin'.  A lot of background information about Lord Voldemort’s rise to infamy is revealed to Harry, courtesy of Dumbledore’s “Pensieve”, which gets used extensively here.  The final showdown is approaching, and Harry needs to prepare for it as best he can.

 

    At the same time, Harry and his friends are growing up, and feelings of “teen love” are sprouting up all over the place.  Quidditch takes a back seat: Gryffindor’s final and deciding game is missed entirely by both Harry and the reader.  The Order of the Phoenix plays a lesser role than in the previous book, as do Hagrid and the House Elves.  Classes outside of the Apparition lessons and Potions receive less attention, giving way to a frantic research effort to figure out what horcruxes are.  The tone of the book is understandably dark, although some bright spots still shine through, such as Arthur's term -of-endearment, "Mollywobbles".

 

    As always, J.K. Rowling weaves together a bunch of plot threads to keep you turning the pages.  These include: a.) how did Dumbledore injure his hand, b.) what mysterious dark object is Draco trying to get repaired, c.) who poisoned Katie Bell and Ron Weasley, d.) how and why does Draco periodically disappear, e.) who’s side is Snape on and what is his “Unbreakable Vow, f.) what memories is Slughorn hiding, and g.) why is Harry having trouble getting into the Room of Requirement?  But the most important question of all is: who is/was the Half-Blood Prince?  It is a credit to J.K. Rowling’s writing ability that all these threads are addressed and answered.

 

    There are a slew of characters and critters, both new and recurring, to cross paths with.  I thought there was a subtle object lesson in how Fleur was treated.  Anglicized spellings are nicely converted to American-ese, but British phrases remain untouched, including wotcher, wozzgoinon, pip pip, innit, Blimey, taking a shufti, and a dab hand.  Really, fellow Americans, we need to assimilate those into Yank-Speak, especially that last one which I’d never heard of before until encountering it twice in the past two months in books I was reading.

 

    The ending is both somber but satisfying.  None of the main baddies get their comeuppances, but the overarching “good-vs.-evil” conflict is now in the spotlight, and we get a glimpse of what is coming in Book Seven, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  I for one am looking forward to it.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Shufti (n.) : a look or reconnoiter, especially a quick one (a Britishism).

Others: Prat (British, slang); Satsuma (n.); Tea Cozy (n., phrase).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.9*/5, based on 27,206 ratings and 7,916 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.57*/5, based on 2,500,382 ratings and 44,933 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    Harry could not get near the shelves.  He stared around, looking up at the boxes piled to the ceiling: Here were the Skiving Snackboxes that the twins had perfected during their last, unfinished year at Hogwarts; Harry noticed that the Nosebleed Nougat was most popular, with only one battered box left on the shelf.  There were bins full of trick wands, the cheapest merely turning into rubber chickens or pairs of briefs when waved, the most expensive beating the unwary user around the head and neck, and boxes of quills, which came in Self-Inking, Spell-Checking, and Smart-Answer varieties.  (pg. 116)

 

    “I haven’t found one single explanation of what Horcruxes do!” she told him.  “Not a single one!  I’ve been right through the restricted section and even in the most horrible books, where they tell you how to brew the most gruesome potions — nothing!  All I could find was this, in the introduction to Magick Moste Evile — listen — ‘Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction. . . .’  I mean, why mention it then?”  (pg. 381)

 

“And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”  (pg. 56)

    There’s very little to nitpick about with a megahit like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  It is sometimes labeled a “children’s fantasy” book, but I think “YA fantasy” is more fitting.  The book is incredibly clean – I noted just five instances in the entire book, and those were limited to three “hells” and a pair of “damns”.

 

    One minor plot thread is left unresolved: the identity of the mysterious “R.A.B.” who absconded with a horcrux and left a note for Voldemort.  But I assume this was deliberate, as it also serves as a teaser for the next book.

 

    My last quibble is both the biggest and the shortest: the fox dies. (pg. 20).

 

    9 Stars.  To put things in perspective, Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince set records both for Amazon pre-orders (1.4 million copies) and sales within the first 24 hours after release (9 million copies) on July 16, 2005.  That latter record would last for two years before being shattered by – guess what – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling

   2003; 870 pages.  Book 5 (out of 7) in the “Harry Potter” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Fantasy; YA; Adventure.  Laurels: Winner - 2004 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio’s “Gold Medal”; Winner – 2003 American Library Association’s “Best Book for Young Adults” award.  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

 

    Once again, Harry Potter can’t wait for school to begin once again at Hogwarts.  That’s mostly because once again he’s spent the summer with the Dursleys, his aunt, uncle, and cousin, all of whom are Muggles, and all of whom are irritated by his presence.

 

    Harry’s also in a prolonged funk because it seems like all his wizardly friends, fellow students and professors have for some reason stopped communicating with him.  It’s almost as if they’re deliberately keeping him in the dark about what’s going on.

 

    That could be life-threatening for Harry.  The evil Lord Voldemort got loose last year, and Harry barely survived his encounter with him.  It would be helpful to know what foul deeds Voldemort is currently up to, and what the wizards are doing to restrain him.

 

    But maybe you don’t want to know, Harry.  Yes, you're stuck for the summer in the non-magical world of Muggles, but at least that’s someplace where evil minions don’t tread.

 

    Until now.

 

What’s To Like...

    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix continues two trends in J.K. Rowling's mega-popular series: the books keep getting longer and the tone keeps getting darker.  I view both of those as plusses, not minuses.  The paperback version I read clocked in at 870 pages, a hefty tome for the recommended reading age of 8-12 years (grades 4-7), which, for the record, makes it the longest book in the series.  And tone-wise, just about anything that can go wrong for Harry does so.

 

    There’s a slew of plot threads to keep readers turning the pages.  Some of these are: a.) Harry finds himself facing expulsion from both Quidditch in particular and Hogwarts overall, b.) Hagrid has gone missing, c.) Mrs. Figg, Mrs. Weasley, and Aunt Petunia are all acting a bit strange, d.) the Ministry of Magic is sending someone to evaluate every professor at Hogwarts, even Dumbledore, and not even Snape has a secure job, e.) why can Harry (and several others) see ghost creatures, f.) more importantly, why is he in such a crappy mood, even after he’s back at Hogwarts, and most importantly, g.) what’s Voldemort got up his sleeve?

 

    There are some fresh faces to add to an already lengthy Cast of Characters.  Most of the members of the Order of the Phoenix were new to me including the fascinating Nymphadora Tonks.  New student Luna “Loony” Lovegood is a great add to Harry’s circle of friends, and Cho Chang infuses just the right touch of a prospective romance to 15-year-old Harry’s life.

 

    The vocabulary is delightfully “English” (prats, gits, hosepipes, berks, skiving, etc.), but the punctuation and spelling are in “American”, which is the ideal combination for American readers.  It’s always fun to learn new phrases and words used across the pond, three of which are listed below.  I think we Yanks need to start using “Wotcher” in our daily lingo.

 

    As usual, there are a bunch of new beasties, spells, and gadgets for the reader to marvel at.  We won’t list all of them here, but my favorites in each category were: thestrals, disillusionment, and skiving snackboxes.  I finally figured out who Padfoot and Prongs were; years ago I had some blog acquaintances who had adopted those names.

 

    Everything builds to an exciting and memorable climax, with lots of wizards and witches casting lots of spells and counter-spells at each other.  The ending is spread out over three chapters:  one for the fighting, one for explanations, and one for an epilogue.  The plans of the baddies are thwarted, but most of them will live to fight another day.  The good guys will regroup and mourn their losses.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Taking the mickey (v., phrase) : affectionately teasing of making fun of someone.

Others: Wotcher (British greeting, slang); “Chuck us another Frog” (I never did figure out what this meant).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.8*/5, based on 21,936 ratings.

    Goodreads: 4.50*/5, based on 2,603,071 ratings and 44,161 reviews.

 

Things that sound dirty, but aren’t…

“Wand still in your jeans?  Both buttocks still on?  Okay, let’s go.”

 

Excerpts...

    “Excellent,” said Lupin, looking up as Tonks and Harry entered.  “We’ve got about a minute, I think.  We should probably get out into the garden so we’re ready.  Harry, I’ve left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry-“

    “They won’t,” said Harry.

    “That you’re safe-“

    “That’ll just depress them.”

    “-and you’ll see them next summer.”

    “Do I have to?”  (pg. 54)

 

    Even by Harry’s low standards of Divination, the exam went very badly.  He might as well have tried to see moving pictures in the desk-top as in the stubbornly blank crystal ball; he lost his head completely during tea-leaf reading, saying it looked to him as though Professor Marchbanks would shortly be meeting a round, dark, soggy stranger, and rounded off the whole fiasco by mixing up the life and head lines on her palm and informing her that she ought to have died the previous Tuesday.  (pg. 717)

 

“You can laugh! (…) But people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!”  (pg. 262)

    Those Amazon and Goodreads ratings listed above for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix are simply phenomenal, but I nevertheless found a couple nits to pick, albeit nothing of importance.

 

    If you avidly await the annual Quidditch matches at Hogwarts, you might be disappointed here.  Gryffindor’s initial game is presented in glorious detail, but all the others get kind of glossed over.

 

    I was a bit surprised how little the titular Order of the Phoenix impacted the story.  Yes, they supply some “magical muscle” for the final battle, but the faculty at Hogwarts could’ve done the same thing.  However, I suspect that they will play a bigger role in the next two books in the series.

 

    Finally, I failed to note any new puns introduced.  A couple of oldies, such as “Diagon Alley” and the “Pensieve”, crop up again, but if there were any new ones, I missed them.

 

    But I pick at nits.  Overall, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a fine addition to the series, and if you don’t believe me, check out those more than 44,000+ reviews that people have thus far left at Goodreads.

 

    9 Stars.  There was a three-year gap between the previous book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (reviewed here) and Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.  Do you think that any readers might have gone through “Harry Potter withdrawals” during this lull?  Well, when this book was finally published, it sold five million copies in the first 24 hours.  Wowza.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling

2000; 734 pages.  Book 4 (out of 7) in the “Harry Potter” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Fantasy; YA; Adventure.  Laurels: 2001 Hugo Award for Best Novel (winner).  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

    It’s going to be a great year at Hogwarts this year; Harry just knows it.  Even the summer break at the Dursleys hasn't been as bad as in previous years, now that they’re scared of what Sirius, Harry’s wizard godfather, might do to them if they torment Harry.

    First up will be to attend the Quidditch World Cup, and that’s something that Harry’s done before.  This year it’s Ireland versus Bulgaria in the final, and that’s a great match-up.  Overall, Ireland’s the better team, but Bulgaria has the best player around – a young superstar named Krum.  It’s hard to predict which team is the favorite.

    Then later in the school year, there’s some sort of top-secret competition that hasn’t happened for several hundred years.  Whatever it is, it involves Hogwarts and two other European schools of magic.  How awesome is that?!  Maybe Harry can swap spells with "foreign" students.

    But beyond all this excitement, there's still one thing that troubles Harry.

    Why is the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead burning like someone is pressing a hot wire into his skin?

What’s To Like...

    With Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire the series hits new levels of intensity   There’s a cold-blooded murder at the beginning, another one near the end, and the overall tone is markedly darker than the previous three books.  The forces of evil are focused and gaining power, and the forces of good seem to be doing the exact opposite.

    But that just means the storyline is packed with action, with mysteries galore for Harry and his friends to try to solve, two tournaments to provide lots of excitement, and no slow spots to bog down the pacing.  There are a slew of characters to keep track of, more-or-less evenly split between new and recurring ones.  I liked the introduction of other schools of magic.  It stands to reason that Hogwarts can’t be the only academy for wizards in the world, and it was interesting to see both the cooperation and the rivalry between the different institutions.

    There are some neat new gadgets, such as portkeys and omnioculars to try out; and some dangerous new spells, such as the trio of unforgiveable ones: Imperius, Cruciatus, and Avada Kedavra.  That last one should be used with extreme caution, but the Apparating/Disapparating spell is worth learning.  Critters abound: gnomes, witches, house elves, veela (huh?), leprechauns, goblins, blast-ended skrewts (what?), dragons (four different types), unicorns, grindylows, nifflers, and even a sphinx with her very own riddle for Harry to solve.

    There's lots of witty dialogue to lighten things up, and a couple of J.K. Rowling’s hilarious puns, such as the "Pensieve" in chapter 30.  The mangled French made me chuckle (“bong-sewer!), and I could relate to Harry’s dread of having to learn to dance.  J.K. Rowling subtly sprinkles some serious themes throughout all the fun and mayhem, such as equal rights (for elves), bigotry (against giants and “half-breeds”), and trust.  I liked the fact that throughout all the mayhem, Dumbledore still has complete trust in Snape.

    The ending is fantastic, including several twists plus the obligatory Harry-vs.-Voldemort showdown, which will keep even adult readers on the edge of their seats.  Evil emerges more powerful than ever before, and good will need to overcome their differences and prejudices and draw upon all their resources to even have a chance of thwarting Voldemort.

Kewlest New Word ...

Having him on (v., phrase) : persuading someone that something is true when it is not, usually as a joke.

Excerpts...

    A thousand years or more ago,

    When I was newly sewn,

    There lived four wizards of renown,

    Whose names are still well known:

    Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,

    Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,

    Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,

    Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.  (pg. 176)

    “Excuse me?”

    “Well – you know,” said Ron shrugging.  “I’d rather go alone than with – with Eloise Midgen, say.”

    “Her acne’s loads better lately – and she’s really nice!”

    “Her nose is off-center,” said Ron.

    “Oh I see,” Hermione said, bristling.  “So basically, you’re going to take the best-looking girl who’ll have you, even if she’s completely horrible?”

    “Er – yeah, that sounds about right,” said Ron.  (pg. 394)

“A troll, a hag, and a leprechaun … all go into a bar.”  (pg. 186 )

    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire won a Hugo Award, so it isn't surprising that there's not much to quibble about.  Cussing-wise, I counted two “damns” and one “hell”, which seems acceptably tame for a YA novel.

    The book is written in what I’ll call “Americanized British”.  The spelling and punctuation have been tweaked for us Yanks, but we still have to figure out words like swotty, manky, nutter, and kip, which I always enjoy.

    Finally, one might call the storyline formulaic.  We start with the usual drudgery at the Dursleys, tag along with Harry as he commutes to Hogwarts, attend his new classes, sit through a quidditch game, and cringe as he locks horns with Voldemort.  Is this how things went in the previous book? Yes.  Does it work just as well here?  Yes!

    I’m impressed with any YA series that can keep the interest of both teens and adults, and all the Harry Potter books thus far have done just that.  This one is fully deserving of winning the Hugo Award.  The only caveat is that you really should read these books in order.

    9 Stars.  I did have one question after finishing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and I’ll try to make this spoiler-free.  In Chapter 33, a number of characters are revealed to be Death Eaters, including several Hogwarts residents.  Their names are later revealed to Dumbledore, yet no measures are taken to remove these minions of Voldemort.  Some of them even show up later to hassle Harry.  Is this a plot hole, or did I miss something?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling

   1998; 341 pages.  Book 3 (out of 7) in the Harry Potter series.  New Author? : No.  Genre : YA; Adventure; Fantasy.  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

    Summer vacation is over, and it’s time to go back to school.  For Harry Potter and his best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, that’s a highly-anticipated occasion since they are all now third-year students at the Hogwarts School of Magic.  We’d call them “juniors”, but Hogwarts is a seven-year academy.  But at least they’re getting close to being upperclassmen.

    They’ll all be taking some neat classes this year.  Professor Snape is back to teach them even more about Potions.  Professor McGonagall will introduce them to the art of Transfiguration.  The aptly-named Professor Sprout (perhaps a nod to Robert Rankin’s character “Barry the Time Sprout”?) will bore them to tears with lectures on Herbology.  And none of them sees any future in taking Professor Trelawney’s class on Divination.

    A new professor has joined Hogwarts this year.  Professor Lupin will teach the course called “Defense Against the Dark Arts”; Harry and his companions are all VERY interested in that class.  The class has been offered at Hogwarts for years, but it seems like every professor who teaches it only lasts for one year. 

    Finally, Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, has been promoted to Professorship, now that his name’s been cleared.  He’s extremely excited about teaching a brand new course, “The Care of Magical Creatures”.

    All-in-all, it promises to be an exciting year for Harry.  Alas, it’s a pity that one of the most dangerous inmates at Azkaban prison has escaped and is coming to kill him.

What’s To Like...

    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book in J.K. Rowling’s boffo series, is every bit as good as its predecessors.  There’s a new Ultimate Evil to threaten Harry (who’s capable of slipping through the best Hogwarts defenses), a complex storyline that will entertain adult and teen readers alike, and of course, an exciting Quidditch season.

    There are a whole bunch of new critters (some good, some evil, all bizarre) to study and beware of.  You can see one, called the hippogriff, on the book cover image above.  There seemed to be a few less puns this time, but they’re still present : Diagon Alley, Owl Post Again, and the esoteric groaner, Madam Cassandra Vablatsky.  I liked the imaginative names of the Magic textbooks, such as “Broken Balls: When Fortunes Turn Foul”.  Ditto for the names of the various charms that can be cast.

    Besides the main storyline – Sirius Black, the escaped prisoner from Azkaban, coming after Harry, I counted at least six secondary plot threads.  1) Why did the Fat Lady go missing?  2) What’s up between Crookshanks and Scabbers?  3) What about the big shaggy black dog that keeps showing up at critical points in Harry’s life?  4) How does Hermione cope with taking a double-load of courses, several of which are scheduled for the same time slot?  5) Who’s poisoning Professor Lupin?  6) Will House Gryffindor sweep its Quidditch matches with Harry as its seeker?  

    As always, I loved J.K. Rowling’s attention to detail.  The Sorting Hat, Platform 9-3/4, the Whomping Willow, and the newspaper The Daily Prophet are all back, and you’ll be introduced to things like a Pocket Sneakoscope, a Broomstick Servicing Kit, a Knight Bus, O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S., and the ever-popular Dungbombs (they’re always a blast!).  And if you’ve forgotten the bizarre rules of Quidditch, they’re given again on page 143.

    Once again, there are a slew of characters to meet and follow.  Malfoy returns to bedevil Harry, but naturally he gets his comeuppance in the end.  I was particularly impressed by the way Professor Snape was portrayed.  Just because he’s mean and hates Harry, doesn’t mean he’s evil, does it?  Hmm.

    The backstory is given in Chapter One.  There are 22 chapters covering the 435 pages, which makes them of moderate length.  In my edition, each chapter starts with a drawing of the relevant theme of the chapter, which I found to be way-kewl.  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a standalone novel, in addition to being part of a series.  Last, and least, the phrase “bated breath” is used, and properly so.   As a part-time editor editor, I’m happy to see that grammatical debate put to rest on this.

Kewlest New Word. . .

Shirty (adj.; slang) : irritable; angry.

Excerpts...

    “Where is dear Professor Lupin?”

    “I’m afraid the poor fellow is ill again,” said Dumbledore, indicating that everybody should start serving themselves.  “Most unfortunate that it should happen on Christmas Day.”

    “But surely you already knew that, Sybill?” said Professor McGonagall, her eyebrows raised.

    Professor Trelawney gave Professor McGonagall a very cold look.

    “Certainly I knew, Minerva,” she said quietly.  “But one does not parade the fact that one is All-Knowing.  I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the Inner Eye, so as not to make others nervous.”

    “That explains a great deal,” said Professor McGonagall tartly.  (pg. 229)

    Their second to last exam, on Thursday morning, was Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Professor Lupin had compiled the most unusual exam any of them had ever taken: a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a new boggart.  (pg. 318)

 Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can’t see where it keeps its brain.  (pg. 194)

    The ending has a bunch of twists.  All the plotlines cited above are resolved.  It takes a couple chapters to do so, but that means nothing feels rushed.  I’m pleased to say I guessed correctly regarding the resolution of the main storyline, but I still got surprised by how most of the secondary ones worked out.  Hermione’s trick to taking so many courses was a particularly delightful twist.

    I don’t really have anything to quibble about in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  There’s nothing R-rated in it, and no justification for anyone to demand that it be banned from school libraries.  We truly are being overrun by literary ignoramuses.

    Book 4 in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, sits upon my TBR shelf, waiting for my attention.  All 752 pages of it.  I may have to ask Santa to bring me the next couple of books in the series.  I have noted that every book seems to be getting lengthier.  Robert Jordan would be proud.

    9 Stars.  One last, small plus from reading this book.  A long time ago, back in the heyday of Blogspot, I used to follow a blog called Padfoot and Prongs.  I was always clueless but curious as to why it was called that.  Now I know.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

   1998; 341 pages.  Book 2 (out of 7) in the Harry Potter series.  New Author? : No; well, yes, if you don’t count reading the French translation of Book 1.  Genre : YA; Adventure; Fantasy.  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

    Yippee!  Summer vacation’s almost over, and it’s almost time to go back to school!

   Well, there aren’t many kids that would have such a sentiment, but Harry Potter happens to be one of the few.  That’s because he has to spend his summers with Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their brat for a son, Dudley.  Harry’s owl is confined to a cage, his wand is locked away, and he’s forbidden to even utter the word M-word (“magic”), let alone practice it.  For a magician like Harry, living among Muggles (those devoid of any magic powers) can be sheer drudgery.

    So it is a welcome relief from the tedium when a magical being comes to visit Harry.  A sprightly little house-elf named Dobby.  Unfortunately, Dobby bears a message for Harry, and it is not the cheeriest one to receive.

    “Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts.  Harry Potter must stay where he is safe.  He is too great, too good, to lose.”

What’s To Like...

    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets chronicles the sophomore year of Harry, Hermione, and Ron at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, hereafter known simply as “Hogwarts”.  There’s a short backstory (pages 2-4) which came in handy for me, since it’s been at least 15 years since I read Book 1.  The book is a quick and easy read, which is the ideal for a YA novel.  The pacing is brisk (for the most part), yet somehow the various characters get nicely developed alongside the constant action.

    Speaking of characters, there are a slew of them.  I think most of them are repeats from the first book – Harry’s family members, the Weasley family, his fellow students, and the professors and employees at Hogwarts.  If you have all those already locked in your memory cells, keeping track of the new ones will be a breeze.  Each of the 18 chapters in my book leads off with a kewl drawing, although your version may or may not have those.

    J.K. Rowling spins a variety of neat fantasy critters into the story, including gnomes, ghouls, pixies, a boarhound, ghosts, a poltergeist, and even a phoenix.  The obligatory quidditch match starts on page 107, and I chuckled at things like floo powder, a red howler, a “Deathday Party”, and the pejorative “Mudbloods”.  There are also rib-tickling puns woven into the text; for instance, a pair shady streets called Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley.

    The storyline thread dealing with the titular Chamber of Secrets doesn't get started until page 138.  The main mysteries for Harry to solve are: a.) who opened it 50 years ago, b.) who just opened it again, c.) what sort of evilness has been unleashed, and d.) where dwelleth that evil?  The threads of this plotline are laid out meticulously, with a bunch of clues for Harry (and the reader) to ponder.  For instance, it becomes obvious at a certain point that a trail of spiders is a vital clue, but what exactly does it mean?

    I liked that not everything is as it seems, and that sometimes Harry and his friends are wrong in their suspicions.  The ending will be exciting for both adult and YA readers.  All the threads get tied up nicely.  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a standalone story, as well as part of a series.

Excerpts...

    “You’re making fun of me,” she said, silver tears welling rapidly in her small, see-through eyes.

    “No – honestly – didn’t I just say how nice Myrtle’s looking?” said Hermione, nudging Harry and Ron painfully in the ribs.

    “Oh yeah –“

    “She did –“

     “Don’t lie to me,” Myrtle gasped, tears now flooding down her face, while Peeves chuckled happily over her shoulder.  “D’you think I don’t know what people call me behind my back?  Fat Myrtle!  Ugly Myrtle!  Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!”

    “You’ve forgotten pimply,” Peeves hissed in her ear.  (pg. 134)

    “Are you crazy?” said Ron.  “It could be dangerous.”

    “Dangerous?” said Harry, laughing.  “Come off it, how could it be dangerous?”

    “You’d be surprised,” said Ron, who was looking apprehensively at the book.  “Some of the books the Ministry’s confiscated – Dad’s told me – there was one that burned your eyes out.  And everyone who read Sonnets of a Sorcerer spoke in limericks for the rest of their lives.  And some old witch in Bath had a book that you could never stop reading!  You just had to wander around with your nose in it, trying to do everything one-handed. And –“

    “All right, I’ve got the point,” said Harry.  (pg. 230)

 “Peskipiksi Pesternomi!”  (pg. 102)

    It’s hard to nitpick a book that has garnered eye-poppingly phenomenal ratings at both Amazon and GoodReads.  But here are a couple:

    It takes a while for the main thread to get going, and that in turn made for a couple mildly slow spots in the early going.  But that also coincided with how far I had read this book in French years ago: up to about page 68.  Once I got to “new” chapters, the slow spots disappeared.  Maybe there’s a lesson there about going back and re-reading books.

    There are several dei ex machina (I had to go look up what the plural of deus ex machina was) in the story, and that may lead to some rolling of the eyes of adult readers.  But methinks YA readers won’t give a Hedwig hoot about those.

    That’s about it.  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets turned out to be a fun-filled read, even though I’m not in the target audience.  It brought back great memories of plowing through the first book in French, which expanded my FSL ("French as a Second Language") vocabulary considerably, and which included some head-scratching translations of non-translatable words, such as “Muggles” which become “Moldus” in French.

    9 Stars.  Some review/rating stats for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:  Amazon: 59,756 reviews.  50,252 5-Star reviews (84%).  Goodreads: 2,022,151 ratings, 37,104 reviews.  1,142,526 5-Star ratings (56%).  Note: The Amazon reviews are weirdly identical with the ratings of 4 or 5 of the other ones in the series.  I’m not sure why it’s that way.