Well, I've just finished the new Harry Potter novel and I've hot to say I'm pretty happy with it on the whole. Perhaps not as enthralling as The Goblet of Fire or as fast paced as The Prisoner of Askaban, this new one still has all the elements to make for another whirlwind Potter adventure and a good read to boot. This book if for some reason you don't know, concerns Harry's 5th year at Hogwart's School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. After the daring exploits recounted in the previous book (the Goblet of Fire) we know that he-who-must-not-be-named, aka Lord Voldemort, has finally returned. Unfortunately not everyone believes this is true, and as our story opens Harry finds himself and his beloved headmaster Albus Dumbledore the subject of ridicule by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and the wizarding newspaper, The Daily Prophet. Can Harry convince the world that what happened at the dramatic conclusion to the Tri-Wizard Tournament was not simply a figment of his imagination? And will he be able to arouse the world to the return of Voldemort in time???
As I said, a decent book on the whole. It starts off a little slowly, but perhaps that's just because I'm not in the Harry Potter flow of things anymore. It really has been an awfully long wait for this book, but I suppose that's for the best considering the rumors about how difficult a time Rowling has crafting this fifth installment. Hopefully the rest will appear on the bookshelves sooner rather than later. Regardless though, aside from some initial pacing issues and a languid denouement, I really enjoyed this book. As a word of advice: if you have the time to invest I think it might be of great help to refresh your memory and reread The Goblet of Fire before picking up The Order of the Phoenix. The 4th book is really where the action of these books gets serious. And the level of danger continues nicely in this installment. I suppose one might argue that the story is a bit too long, coming in at 766 pages, but as far as I remembered The Goblet of Fire was at least 500 or 600 so I don't think this is too far a stretch for the reader. Kids will definitely love this as much as the last, Harry is really growing up with each novel and I think that shows a great respect for the audience by the author. She cares about her reader's a lot and it shows.
I know harry Potter isn't for everyone, by now you know if you like them or not probably, so I don't really expect this review to persuade anyone to start the series. As I'm sure is quite obvious I like the books a lot. I think they're fun, exciting, and a great way to get both kids and adults reading. Besides all that stuff though they provide a slice of the fantastic into many people's pretty ordinary lives, I like the idea that something so liberating is being embraced by so many. If you like the Harry Potter novels, read this book, its another great chapter in the story… then again, you're probably already reading it if that's the case. If you never gave it a chance before, of course I'd like to say try it, but by now you're probably sick to death of people saying that so instead I'll just finish by saying that this is a good read, and I really enjoyed myself.
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