Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
I've completed J.K. Rowling's latest excursion into the magical world of Harry Potter. If you haven't read the book as yet, go on, read further, there are no spoilers. I wouldn't do that to you. If you've read the previous five books, you need to relish the sixth -- enjoy it.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a bit of a departure from the previous five novels -- or, if you're perceptive, it continues on the trajectory of the other five books, departing as expected. Departed how? Well, the novel has grown in size from the previous novels. There are a lot more pages, and lot more of it deals with character exploration. Harry and his friends are now rapidly approaching their 17th birthdays, so there's lot to tell about them. Tumultuous emotions -- both anger, jealousy, love -- yes, there is someone that makes Harry's heart go thump in the night. The main characters do get equal pages with Harry. You also see Harry's world treating him different for once -- maybe a little more respect for the kid who has repeatedly kicked butt since book 1. Dumbledore acknowledges to Harry for instance that Harry will have to face down Voldemort and kill him. The novel is darker, lighter and more adult. Rowling surprised the hell out of me by having one character refer to another as a "slut." I'm surprised that this is still the Scholastic fare. I suspect that Rowling will lose the little ones with this latest outing of her characters -- but if they started with Harry Potter at the right age, they can almost grow up with him.
There are surprises in the novel, and deaths -- just about everyday someone is being killed by the Death Eaters -- but we expected that from the end of the previous novel. What we didn't expect -- OK, I didn't -- was the death. Yes, there is one of those. It surprised me. Who would have thought? It leaves the 7th and final novel of the series with that more anticipation behind it. Just how will Rowling complete the series? And will there be more deaths? There are lots of speculation on how the series will be concluded, and there are quite a few obsessive people following every bread crumb as a trail out there -- so I'll speculate no further. However, I will say that I look forward the 7th book.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a bit of a departure from the previous five novels -- or, if you're perceptive, it continues on the trajectory of the other five books, departing as expected. Departed how? Well, the novel has grown in size from the previous novels. There are a lot more pages, and lot more of it deals with character exploration. Harry and his friends are now rapidly approaching their 17th birthdays, so there's lot to tell about them. Tumultuous emotions -- both anger, jealousy, love -- yes, there is someone that makes Harry's heart go thump in the night. The main characters do get equal pages with Harry. You also see Harry's world treating him different for once -- maybe a little more respect for the kid who has repeatedly kicked butt since book 1. Dumbledore acknowledges to Harry for instance that Harry will have to face down Voldemort and kill him. The novel is darker, lighter and more adult. Rowling surprised the hell out of me by having one character refer to another as a "slut." I'm surprised that this is still the Scholastic fare. I suspect that Rowling will lose the little ones with this latest outing of her characters -- but if they started with Harry Potter at the right age, they can almost grow up with him.
There are surprises in the novel, and deaths -- just about everyday someone is being killed by the Death Eaters -- but we expected that from the end of the previous novel. What we didn't expect -- OK, I didn't -- was the death. Yes, there is one of those. It surprised me. Who would have thought? It leaves the 7th and final novel of the series with that more anticipation behind it. Just how will Rowling complete the series? And will there be more deaths? There are lots of speculation on how the series will be concluded, and there are quite a few obsessive people following every bread crumb as a trail out there -- so I'll speculate no further. However, I will say that I look forward the 7th book.
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