Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Written by: J. K. Rowling












I'll save us all a lot of time and say, from the beginning, that this is the Harry Potter book I've been waiting for.  Over the first several books, I found the Potterverse to be entertaining and charming, but not particularly enduring.  The characters felt more like caricatures rather than people, and their adventures served little purpose beyond helping to open up the magical world.  But, with "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," everything changes.

I'll try to keep the summary short: Somehow, Harry has been selected to participate in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which puts his very life in danger.  On top of that, there are rumors of Lord Voldemort returning to power and his servants, the Death Eaters, have been starting to reveal themselves.  Could the two things be connected?  (Spoiler: They are.)

For the first time, I actually felt like Harry was in some real danger.  Harry was actually in harm's way and, without some well-timed luck, could have been killed.  This is a major development, as previously Harry's adventures had been mostly fun with little or no serious rick.  But not anymore.  Harry comes face-to-face with Voldemort, though their confrontation is cut short.

This is also the first book that felt like part of a series.  The first three books were mostly episodic, with recurring characters and settings, but not much else holding each story to the others.  In "...Goblet of Fire," the finale clearly sets up events to be continued in the rest of the series, while also developing the significance of elements from the earlier books.

I can see, how, how people become totally immersed in the Potterverse.  I struggled to find the will-power to start the next book immediately, and I'm keeping it close by for the first moment I can read it without revealing myself as a HP-newbie.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Written by: J. K. Rowling












The third book in the Harry Potter series was a bit of a fizzle.  It just didn't do much for me.

Essentially, it picks up exactly where the last book left off.  Harry and his friends become caught up in a mystery which threatens to kill Harry.  You see, it turns out that one of the conspirators in the death of Harry's parents has escaped from the wizard prison of Azkaban, and all evidence points to this man - Sirius Black - coming to Hogwarts to kill Harry.  Of course, nothing is quite as it seems, and Harry and his pals find out that Sirius is actually innocent and wants to help protect Harry.  Unfortunately, in the end, no one (except Dumbledore) believes Harry, and so Black goes into hiding where he can keep an eye on things.

This book felt very, very formulaic for the first several chapters.  It starts in nearly the exact same way as the previous two novels, with only minor variation.  This was painful, and I grew frustrated waiting to get to the meat of this book.

And even when the plot did begin to develop, I never really felt any dramatic tension.  Although the character of Sirius Black is mysterious, I never got the sense of menace that I think I was meant to feel. Rather, I knew it was only a matter of time before the truth was revealed about his motivations.  (I didn't quite see the whole "I was innocent" twist, but I knew that he probably wasn't the heartless beast he was made out to be.)  Overall, there just wasn't any sense of danger, and I never believed that Harry and his friends were in any life-threatening scenarios.

Aside from some random introductions - Black, Hogsmeade - this book felt mainly like a bridge between what had already been established and something bigger to come in the later books.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Written by: J. K. Rowling



















Being the second book of the series, it naturally tells the story of Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts, picking up a few months after the previous book left off.

After being warned not to return to Hogwarts by a mysterious visitor named Dobby, Harry goes back to school.  But someone is running around turning people into stone, including Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger, and Harry is the number one suspect.  A magic journal by the former Hogwarts student Tom Riddle provides Harry with several clues which help him discover the hidden Chamber of Secrets.

While I have no major complaints about this book, I must say that I did not enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the first book.  Mainly, I felt that this book mirrored the first book too closely without exploring any new territory in the Harry Potter universe.  Most of the key plot points and features are almost exactly the same was they were before.  For example, the use of the invisibility blanket, an ill-timed game of quidditch, and even the villain was revealed to be (spoiler here) Voldemort yet again.  Essentially, it's a re-hash.

I was really hoping to expand the HP world a lot more, but I didn't get what I wanted.  The book isn't terrible.  In fact, it's rather enjoyable.  It just isn't wasn't what I was hoping for when I started reading.  Maybe next book?  We'll see.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Written by: J.K. Rowling

I realize that I am very late to the Harry Potter train. But, better late than never, right?

The first book in the series - "Sorcerer's Stone" (aka "Philosopher's Stone" for our friends across the pond) - tells of the boy Harry Potter, neglected and abused by his aunt and uncle, who finds out that he is actually a wizard. As he runs off to wizard school at Hogwarts, he becomes involved in a mystery which will reveal exactly what is being hidden at the school, what happened to Harry's parents, and why everyone seems to treat him with such high regard. Turns out - not so surprisingly - that the villain Voldemort, an evil wizard, is the one holding the puppet strings, and that he's after the Sorcerer's Stone which is the key to eternal life.

(And yes, I just wrote all that down without a hint of sarcasm, somehow.)

I've always felt that the whole "Harry Potter" phenomena to be a sort of dubious second-cousin to more intellectual fantasy series (e.g. "Lord of the Rings"). But as more and more friends and acquaintances gave it such acclaim, I was eventually dragged into reading it.

Of course, the dragging stopped once I started reading it. I did have to put on my "new sincerity" glasses and read it honestly, with an eye for enjoyment rather than criticism. And, I must say, the book did provide much enjoyment. I had a hard time putting it down.

This book, especially, manages to strike an excellent balance between telling a self-contained story while also setting the stage for later books.

The characters are a bit exaggerated - Harry is always good and pure, Voldemort is pure evil - but I've heard that features gets toned down as the series goes on.

Years after the Harry Potter phenomena took off, I'm glad I've taken the opportunity to grab on to the coat tails. I'm looking forward to the rest of the ride.