This book was insane. All of the other books were quite gentle in comparison. “Harry goes back to school, Harry gets settled into his new schedule, Harry has some misadventures while trying to be a student, Harry’s misadventures come to a boiling point, Dumbledore explains everything to Harry after he gets out of the hospital.”
No, this time around, it’s just non-stop action interspersed with very depressing periods of uncertainty and strife. Harry’s at his family’s house . . . DEATH EATERS! Harry’s attending the wedding . . . DEATH EATERS! Harry and gang are hanging out in the woods . . . DEATH EATERS!
You get the idea, especially if you already read it. If you haven’t, why are you reading this?
The book was still immensely satisfying, though. I was quite sad at the deaths, especially in their sheer magnitude. I’d heard that only two characters would die (apart from Señor Moldywort), but by my count it was five.
I have to say, I love set-ups for large-scale battles, so the whole “Battle of Hogwarts” scene was immensely satisfying. I couldn’t have asked for a better climax.
Harry as a horcrux? I totally called that. Snape as a good guy? I always wondered.
And then, of course, she gives us the Super-Mega-Happy Ending. Harry and Ginny with kids, Ron and Hermione with kids . . . super sweet. Certainly leaves room for the further adventures of the Harry Potter kids. I’m left with some questions, though they aren’t critically important.
First, everything that happens in the aftermath; I’d like to know what they did with Voldemort’s body, about the rebuilding of Hogwarts, how most of the students get around having missed their 7th year of school, what happened in the ministry after the fall of Voldemort and the celebrations that followed, how did they worship Harry afterwards, how did things develop between Harry and Ginny, etc. Second, I’d like to know what happened to Teddy Lupin. Did Harry end up raising him, as he was now Harry’s godson?
Like I said, not critically important, but my curiosity would like to know.
In the end, it was a very satisfying book. I finished it in about 2 days. Totally worth it.
I expect Teddy was raised by Tonks' mother, his grandmother. Her husband, Teddy's grandfather, went into hiding without her, and she wasn't in the line of fire when he died.
Your other questions may well be answered when J.K. writes the Harry Potter encyclopedia she's been mentioning. Personally, I want to know how the Dursleys, particularly Petunia, took all this.
I also found the book satisfying. I didn't think I was going to, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Battle of Hogwarts was freakin' AWESOME. And how great were Neville and Mrs. Weasley? WOOOOOOO!!!! :-)
About your Griphook question-- the sword really WAS Gryffindor's, so any "true" Gryffindor would be able to pull it out of the hat at need. Apparently, the Goblin conception of ownership is wrong, and we wizards have it right.
Having just read the series in the span of a month, I imagine I have had a different experience.
I would have liked a bit more follow up with precisely what Harry, Ron and Hermione have done during the following nineteen years in the actual text of the epilogue (evidently, in a Q&A, Rowling has Harry and Ron as Aurors, Harry heading the department and Hermione as a higher-up in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, with Kingsley Shacklebolt as Minister, presiding over an entirely reformed institution.)
I don't know that I buy Snape-as-a-good-guy, or at least not as strongly as she tries to portray it. Sure, he was loyal and trying to protect everyone from Voldemort and happy happy times. But it's not as though he wasn't going to keep on rolling as a Death Eater if Voldemort hadn't decided to kill the neighborhood girl he'd been carrying a torch for ten years for. It wasn't until he was affected that he realized he should probably stop hanging around with the Death Eaters. Then again, I suppose you could say the same for Dumbledore coming to his senses following the death of Ariana.
I was pleased with Neville's progression, Aberforth's role and the entirety of the character of Luna. I thought the camping scenes were drawn out and some of the more important details (like, for example, the Deathly Hallows) seemed forced and hastened. I noticed that I had a much harder time keeping track of when the action was taking place. Lots of "days became weeks and hey it's Christmas look at that." I thought that Tonks death was unfortunate as I felt her character was much more interesting than was indicated by the amount of attention she was paid.
6 comments:
This book was insane. All of the other books were quite gentle in comparison. “Harry goes back to school, Harry gets settled into his new schedule, Harry has some misadventures while trying to be a student, Harry’s misadventures come to a boiling point, Dumbledore explains everything to Harry after he gets out of the hospital.”
No, this time around, it’s just non-stop action interspersed with very depressing periods of uncertainty and strife. Harry’s at his family’s house . . . DEATH EATERS! Harry’s attending the wedding . . . DEATH EATERS! Harry and gang are hanging out in the woods . . . DEATH EATERS!
You get the idea, especially if you already read it. If you haven’t, why are you reading this?
The book was still immensely satisfying, though. I was quite sad at the deaths, especially in their sheer magnitude. I’d heard that only two characters would die (apart from Señor Moldywort), but by my count it was five.
I have to say, I love set-ups for large-scale battles, so the whole “Battle of Hogwarts” scene was immensely satisfying. I couldn’t have asked for a better climax.
Harry as a horcrux? I totally called that. Snape as a good guy? I always wondered.
And then, of course, she gives us the Super-Mega-Happy Ending. Harry and Ginny with kids, Ron and Hermione with kids . . . super sweet. Certainly leaves room for the further adventures of the Harry Potter kids. I’m left with some questions, though they aren’t critically important.
First, everything that happens in the aftermath; I’d like to know what they did with Voldemort’s body, about the rebuilding of Hogwarts, how most of the students get around having missed their 7th year of school, what happened in the ministry after the fall of Voldemort and the celebrations that followed, how did they worship Harry afterwards, how did things develop between Harry and Ginny, etc. Second, I’d like to know what happened to Teddy Lupin. Did Harry end up raising him, as he was now Harry’s godson?
Like I said, not critically important, but my curiosity would like to know.
In the end, it was a very satisfying book. I finished it in about 2 days. Totally worth it.
I expect Teddy was raised by Tonks' mother, his grandmother. Her husband, Teddy's grandfather, went into hiding without her, and she wasn't in the line of fire when he died.
Your other questions may well be answered when J.K. writes the Harry Potter encyclopedia she's been mentioning. Personally, I want to know how the Dursleys, particularly Petunia, took all this.
I also found the book satisfying. I didn't think I was going to, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Battle of Hogwarts was freakin' AWESOME. And how great were Neville and Mrs. Weasley? WOOOOOOO!!!! :-)
Oh, and McGonagall as the no-bullshit-hardcore-take-charge general of Hogwarts. LOVE HER!
Yeah, the battle of Hogwarts is going to make the 7th movie absolutely incredible. I'm giddy just thinking about it.
Another question I have: If Griphook took the Sword of Gryffindor, how did Neville pull it out of the Sorting Hat?
About your Griphook question-- the sword really WAS Gryffindor's, so any "true" Gryffindor would be able to pull it out of the hat at need. Apparently, the Goblin conception of ownership is wrong, and we wizards have it right.
Having just read the series in the span of a month, I imagine I have had a different experience.
I would have liked a bit more follow up with precisely what Harry, Ron and Hermione have done during the following nineteen years in the actual text of the epilogue (evidently, in a Q&A, Rowling has Harry and Ron as Aurors, Harry heading the department and Hermione as a higher-up in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, with Kingsley Shacklebolt as Minister, presiding over an entirely reformed institution.)
I don't know that I buy Snape-as-a-good-guy, or at least not as strongly as she tries to portray it. Sure, he was loyal and trying to protect everyone from Voldemort and happy happy times. But it's not as though he wasn't going to keep on rolling as a Death Eater if Voldemort hadn't decided to kill the neighborhood girl he'd been carrying a torch for ten years for. It wasn't until he was affected that he realized he should probably stop hanging around with the Death Eaters. Then again, I suppose you could say the same for Dumbledore coming to his senses following the death of Ariana.
I was pleased with Neville's progression, Aberforth's role and the entirety of the character of Luna. I thought the camping scenes were drawn out and some of the more important details (like, for example, the Deathly Hallows) seemed forced and hastened. I noticed that I had a much harder time keeping track of when the action was taking place. Lots of "days became weeks and hey it's Christmas look at that." I thought that Tonks death was unfortunate as I felt her character was much more interesting than was indicated by the amount of attention she was paid.
Overall, acceptable.
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