Harry Potter : finished him

(tags book, fantasy, English)

Looks like I snapped up that previous shot too soon. I blazed through the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J.K. Rowling gave me an series finale that I could anticipate, but not in the way I could ever imagine. I am satisfied and contented with it.

I couldn't find the first 3 books for this shot, unfortunately.

I did have some nagging questions, and I tried searching this book for it. I realized I did not remember all of the Harry Potter lore. Fortunately we live during the Internet era, so I was able to find answers. (spoiler link 1, 2) And I agree with this review from Jenny Sawyer of the Christian Science Monitor (spoiler link 3). I didn't finish the series because of Harry Potter the character. Rowling left some bite-sized take-away messages, but I suspect I will forget them before the week is over.

Now I don't have an immediate urge to read the series again, I want to toss these books away. The next time I encounter Harry Potter will probably be on the big screen.

Oh and give me some sci-fi to counter all the fantasy I have read.

Harry Potter : finish him

(tags book, fantasy, English)

Though I said I didn't want to buy the hardcover version of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, the previous book HP and the Half-Blood Prince left off on a big cliff-hanger. Plus I remembered that I really have to fix my RAID setup, which meant my computer would be off-line.

Unfortunately there were two downers when I bought the book. One was the price, which was about 4000 yen. The other downer was that I didn't see the special in-store display containing all of the Harry Potter stuff. Consequently I missed being able to choose between the UK adult version (bigger and different cover) and the regular hard cover. Ahh.

Read read read. This is not bad at all.

Harry Potter has Jumped the Shark

(tags book, fiction, fantasy, English)

I finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Saturday. I feel that HP jumped the shark in this book, though I will continue to read this series. Even though this book is about 800+ pages, it still doesn't feel long enough to explain the parts I'm interested in.

I went to Kobe Random Walk and I hefted the next book in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but because I already bought another piece of entertainment that day I put it back on the shelf. They were having a sale on the hardbacks which worked out to be around 2100 yen, but I rather get the 1700 yen paperback to match my set and also to be able to bring it with me. Actually I don't want to buy the hardback of the last book, so I suppose I have to wait for the paperback coming in a few months?

SPOILERS

I wished Harry spent more time with Cho, actually, but given the time that the author spends on the two, its obvious she's just a side character. They kiss but it just seems so vague that there's no lasting emotion. She doesn't take part in the action either, so how could Cho be in touch with Harry's feelings. And what about Harry and Hermione and Ron? It's a love triangle waiting to burst. Maybe next book.

It feels like the author brings out Dumbledore whenever she wants to show her cards. The author has a habit of pulling hidden plots at the end and telling you I told you so. Actually in this book I could anticipate some of the story, such as Dumbledore keeping Harry at arms length. Also Snape is becoming more human to me, while Harry's beloved father is revealed to be a cruel person. The Sirius and Harry relationship was one where the two think of the relationship differently: Sirius sees Harry as more like a friend than a son, and Harry wants Sirius to be his father figure.

I found it unbelievable that people would deny or refute the truth for so long. Umbridge seems to me the right hand of Lord Voldermort but there seems to be no relation at all. And Harry's temper seems to be getting out of hand, but then again he is 16 years old.

END SPOILERS

Wanting to read Harry Potter

(tags book, fantasy)

I did start reading the fourth Harry Potter book, The Goblet of Fire, a couple of weeks ago. I stopped around the time I started the Puzzle Quest for DS. But when I decided to go to the States I brought the book instead of the electronic gaming. Though in the middle of the book was slow going, by the time I got to the endgame it was a page-turner. Romance, finally. Now I can't wait to continue reading the rest of the books.

I do have the fifth book already from my Europe trip from two years ago, and now I know that I have to obtain the sixth book. Finally I noticed the countdown at the Barnes and Borders stores for the seventh book. Only about 50 days or something.

I am not watching the movies if I can help it.