Cavalcade of Awesome

Two days, my friends. Two days and I will have Harry Potter Book 7 in my sweaty little palms. Oh that moment will be sweet. So sweet. Possibly even bittersweet, because I’ll know, that this is it. The end. Now I’m depressed.

Enough of that! Welcome to Part 2 of my Harry Potter book reviews. As you can see below this, I have reviews of Harry Potter books 3 - 6 ready to go. If you missed the first reviews including books 1 - 3 then click right here. If you read those already, then you, my Potter-fied little friend, are ready to move on to the conclusion. Continue below for the 3 books that lead into Saturday’s long awaited adventure.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Goblet of Fire was released in Spring of 2000. I had preordered the book on Amazon and it arrived, I believe, on the day of release. That makes Goblet of Fire the first book I bought on release day. This was also the first book to really get long. I mean this book was twice as long as Prisoner of Azkaban. Also, this was the first book I remember everyone, including the media, go absolutely crazy for on release day. The popularity for the Harry Potter series literally exploded right before this book and it’s probably because the book before it was so gosh-darn good. I didn’t read it right away because I wanted to savor the flavor a bit, and later that year I would begin reading it. This book was good. It was long, and packed with so much information and action that it’s almost hard to grasp the entire situation, but the book was GOOD. The Tri-Wizard Tournament? The Quidditch World Cup? Mad-Eye Moody? Dragons? Are you kidding me? AWESOME. And the end? The battle in the graveyard? Classic. Completely blown away. I’ve read this book several times and I can’t wait to read it again. This book really ups the ante for our hero and the ending really kick starts everything that happens in the next 2 books. The sheer orgy of action and story that falls forth from this book is almost intoxicating and had me itching for the next chapter. Unfortunately, I didn’t know at the time, that the next book would take a little longer to release.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - It would take 3 years to release Order of the Phoenix. I call it the Harry Potter “Dark Ages”. Apparently the publishing company really wanted JK Rowling to crank these stories out every year and she said she felt horribly stressed and rushed to get the fourth book out. After that ordeal, she promised herself that she would no longer release the books on the publisher’s schedule. Due to this, I think she took a small sabbatical and took her time finishing this book (and probably also did it to make the publisher sweat a bit). This is the first book I actually went to the store on release night (at midnight) to pick up my pre-ordered copy. Once again, I waited a few months to read it. I knew I would blow right through it and then it would be over so I tried to savor it. However, once I finally read it, I did indeed blow right through it. This one is probably the darkest book of the bunch. Harry returns to Hogwarts an outcast (again) as the Daily Prophet and the Ministry of Magic are conspiring to discredit Harry’s claims that Voldemort is back. It’s just a really tough book for Harry. Not to mention the new teacher, Dolores Umbridge. One of the most terrifying and mean characters (next to Voldemort) ever brought forth by Rowling. Umbridge, in the book, literally makes my blood boil. Mean, mean, mean. The movie softened her up a bit making her like a psychotic Donna Reed, but in the book she’s scarier. This book has a lot more Sirius Black and you get to see the first gatherings of the Order of the Phoenix. Really, really good scenes. You also meet Kreacher, the house elf for the first time here. And I prefer the book’s telling of Dumbledore’s Army and Dumbledore’s escape from Fudge. Really good book that I forget is a really good book, until I read it again.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Starting with Order of the Phoenix the books are released 2 years apart. This book was released during the Summer of 2005. I had just moved to Jacksonville and I went to the bookstore on the afternoon it was released to pick up a copy. I only waited a month or so to read this one, but when I did, it blew me away. I’ve read it twice and this book goes down as my current favorite of the series. So unbelievably awesome. We get a new teacher in Horace Slughorn, another very entertaining character in this series. Snape takes over Defense against the Dark Arts. We see into the past of Voldemort to see how he possibly became what he is today. The subplot containing the Half-Blood Prince is an interesting one. I remember reading that this was supposed to appear in an earlier book but was removed to be included here. Fascinating. Anyway, this book really lays it on the line and fantastically sets up the next book. There’s a really good adventure Dumbledore and Harry go on towards the end of the book that leads into the Death Eaters attacking Hogwarts castle. Really, really phenomenal writing in this one that leaves you ACHING for more.

And more is about to be delivered in 2 days. Yes, I will immediately be reading the final book in this series as I can’t risk reading spoilers on the internet (they have been steadily leaking all week and no, I won’t link to them). The final chapter has the potential to be the best yet.

Viva la Potter!!

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Potter-palooza continues!!!!

This is it. This is the home stretch to the last and final Harry Potter book, Year 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Will all of our questions be answered? Is Professor Snape good or bad? Is Dumbledore really dead? Will someone else die? Will Voldemort finally be defeated? Will Harry become an Auror? Will he go back to Hogwarts for his seventh year? Who knows? I don’t. I hope at least some of these questions are answered in some form or another. Regardless, there will be no more Harry Potter adventures. I don’t even know if JK Rowling will continue writing books, much less continue stories in the Potter universe. This is a momentous occasion. We are on the brink, and it’s f’n KILLING ME.

Thank goodness I at least had the deliciousness of a new Potter movie (which is FANTASTIC by the way) to tide me over. Now I gotta sit here and wait for Saturday. That should be the theme of this week; Potter-palooza: Waiting for Saturday. In preparation for the momentous occasion on Saturday, I am going to take a look back at the first 6 books in the Potter series. Are you ready? No? Well catch up, people, cause it’s time to roll out.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone - The first book was published in the summer of 1997. It would take a year or so for the word of mouth to really get started. Take a glance at the Time magazine cover at the top of this article. It was published in September 1999. I was flying to/from Tampa and saw this magazine in the airport. I was wondering, “Who the hell is this Harry Potter and how did he make the cover of Time magazine?” Word had really been getting around and I was curious. Having just finished a book and nothing left to read, I wandered into the airport book store and browsed a paperback copy of the first book. By this point in time the second book was already published and the third book was just getting ready to come out the following summer. I decided to buy the first book and see if it was any good. Little did I know that this would start a love of the series that was almost embarrassing. This first book introduces you to the entire universe of Harry Potter. You see Hogwarts, Hagrid, Dumbledore and Harry meets Ron and Hermione on the Hogwarts Express for the first time. It’s all new and shiny. It’s a great underdog story because you see how really badly Harry is treated by his aunt and uncle and how he goes from living in a cupboard under the stairs to being one of the most famous wizards alive. I cry every time I read this book (well, every time I read any of these books). Unbelievable start to one of the best series of books I have ever read. If this had been no good, then I never would have picked up Book 2…

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Book 2 was released in 1998, about a year before I would buy the first book. After reading the first book in record time, I went back to the bookstore to buy this second book. As a matter of fact, I may have bought this book before I even finished Sorceror’s Stone. For me, this is the most overlooked story of the series. The first time I read it I was a little underwhelmed. Just coming off the all-out awesomeness of the first book, this one was darker and a lot more adult. It felt weird to me. However, I have read it several times since and I have realized that this is a really good book, and a very bold story to tell as the second in this series. The storylines are definitely growing up with each successive book as much as the characters that are in them. It’s also amazing to see how storylines in this book are referred back to in the newer books. Several things in this book are clarified and enhanced in Book 5 and it makes subsequent readings of this book even more exciting. I don’t know how far ahead Rowling plans these things, but she weaves the intricate plot details throughout the entire series as if she has it all planned out. Unbelievable.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Book 3 was released during the summer of 1999. I actually had to wait a bit to get Prisoner of Azkaban because I had already read 1 and 2 months before the book would be released. Suffice it to say, this was the first book I bought in hardcover, but not on release day as I actually bought this book several months after the day it was released (I forget why I waited). After being a little disappointed with 2 at the time, I think I was reluctant to try Book 3. However, the concept was too good to pass up and I bought the book and started reading. This third book would keep the darker storyline but ratchet up the excitement and fantastic storytelling. So much happens in this book and you are introduced to so many more characters that I literally could not put this book down. After this book Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were my new favorite characters. I loved the concept and use of the Time Turner. Also, the idea that a high-security wizarding prison called Azkaban existed was almost enough to make my internal bad-ass meter get pegged and explode. I couldn’t believe how awesome this book was. It still ranks as my #2 favorite (by a very close margin). This book restored in me the Potter faith and I HAD to read the next book. Luckily, Goblet of Fire was set to be released in the Spring.

That covers books 1-3. Stay tuned and I’ll post reviews of the next three books in the series tomorrow.

Click here for part II of this review which includes books 4-6.

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