[HEADING=2]Harry Potter[/HEADING]
This review is spoiler intensive, if you have not read the books, and care about the plot, browse Back [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/index/326] now. Don't say I didn't warn you. If you're still here, and want the verdict without the spoilers, see the verdict at the very bottom.
For the record, this is a comprehensive review, and will review the overview of the book series, not each individual book. That being said, I would like to try to hit the important points. This is a review on the books, not the games nor the movies. Well, put on your flame-retardant suits, boys and girls, I'm about to offend thousands of people.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's Stone for the US) is the first in a book series by J.K. Rowling, a book series which has managed to fuel the love of magic to an enormous community, and rocketed Rowling's net worth to that surpassing the Queen of England.
The book series starts us off through the eyes of a child named Harry Potter. The boy, a scant child of early teens, lives with his oppressive aunt and uncle in a stereotypical suburb. 'Live' being an inaccurate term, meaning he's malnourished, forced to dwell in the worst of conditions, and the subject of constant rudeness and ridicule. The family, clearly rude and upset at Harry for not being as ugly and obese as they are, treat him as if he were the outsider that he is.
Enter magic. The convenient device that the plot will (ab)use for the rest of the series. By some unforeseen and highly life-enhancing miracle, Harry Potter learns that he is a boy born to wizards. This propels him into a magical community that ultimately lands him at a seven-year boarding school for the magically-inclined.
The magical community, melded seamlessly with the mundane one, uses clever illusions and whowhenwhatsits to co-exist with the non-magically community. Referred to as muggles, the mundane community is often the butt-end of several punch-lines and ridicule. They are also very, very inept.
Enter Johnathan Q. Magic-School. Called Hogwarts, (just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?) the magic-school serves as housing and education for its students for three-quarters out of the year (much like university). From the school, Harry Potter meets two fellow wizards (well, witch and wizard, but I think wizard has more refinement) named Hermione and Ron. These two characters, who will become his best friends, serve as Harry's anchor. Although, certainly remember their names, because they won't be all that important later.
As soon as we arrive on-campus, we run into two major antagonists who'll (you guessed it) antagonize Harry & Co. for the entire series. The first, a professor named Severus Snape (who happens to be an accomplished scholar ofpoison potions), and Draco Malfoy, the literal personification of pompous-elite. Remember that last name, he'll become one of the major villains in the series, just you wait.
By the end of the first book, Harry and Co. throw down with the mythical guardian of Hell, Cerberus, an ancient wizard who clearly spent more time flapping his beard than training his mind, and concluding by wrapping up a mystery that has vexed the greatest minds of the magical community for a number of years. That's right, a twelve year old just trumped the greatest minds of a community that understands and translates the arcane forces in life.
Sure, I believe it.
Each progressive book, new rules and regulations appear from the void, and new plot devices suddenly manifest where they weren't before. In year one, the only rumors that circulated were on the Stone, by year two, it was the Chamber that suddenly appealed to all. Funny though, because this chamber wasn't important the year before. Year three, a convict that suddenly has everything to do with Mr. Harry Potter. Each progressive book creates more and more links to anything interesting to Harry Potter. Normally, the plot would revolve around a character's actions to a set stimulus instead of the stimulus's relation and importance to the character. This makes me tilt my head to the side, and question what really went on in the author's head when she was writing these.
Within the fourth book, Harry Potter goes mono-a-mono with the strongest wizard in all of existence, 'He who must not be named.' Despite making every singlesimpleton wizard uncomfortable when people say his name, he manages to avoid justice from either the mundane or the magical community. Manning up with a cult that has the unfathomable power, Voldemort (-gasp!-) throws down with just about anyone he wants, at any time, and comes out on top. Except for one, Harry Potter. In this showdown, Harry Potter plays magical hot potato with the grand villain, and wins out of a plot hole plot device (despite that the villain physically manipulates the boy just before, in an obvious show of superior power and technique).
The books progress, and Harry and Co. go on a quest to save the wizarding community after their mentor and principal gets murdered by (you guessed it!) Professor Snape in the sixth book. In the last book, Harry's friend finally gets fed up with him and leaves (because people have limits, except in Harry Potter), until he loses face and manliness by coming back.
In Book 7, the finale, the Malfoy's are stirring trouble (be careful, that plot point is kind of hard to see coming), and Harry Potter appears from his adventures, trumping death and defeating the bad guy. After years of preparation, Harry Potter fulfills his prophecy and saves the Earth! But enough about the plot...
The characters themselves are fairly stock of any story, patient to the end with the hero, and serve as plot tools rather than meaty characters. Their use in the story was pretty limited to how they could help the protagonist, and don't provide much other than standard dialog and key-pieces for plot transition. Any time I felt like I was really connecting with any of the characters, they were immediately dwarfed by Harry Potter's massiveego importance, and fell out of my mind until they were useful to Potter again. So ultimately, I felt they were a little lack-luster in the sense that there were flat. The entire series used the characters like one would use the hookshot in the Legend of Zelda games, or the Gravity Gun in Half-Life 2. Tools. No book should ever write tools... Especially not a best-seller.
The writing was clunky and unimaginative. Word choice and sentence flow weren't entirely missing, but they always had room for improvement. The descriptions were also adjective heavy, and I felt like so much of the word count was spent fluffing the pages rather than telling a story. The time spent reminding me of the light-orange hue that the potion on shelf 15 had could have been better spent working up the characters' vocabulary, or the world's feasibility. Instead, the entire thing read like propaganda for how much better wizards are than ye olde normal folk, and really did nothing to provide us with good conflict until the very end of the series. When we did get it, it was stereotypical, spelled out for us, and the plot synopsis would've started with "Here's how the prophecy was fulfilled."
The length of the series, especially the pacing, only got more and more abysmal as it progressed. It took me countless months to read the last book. Throughout, I had to set it down, and go do something fun. The reading, one of my favorite hobbies, was so far gone that I could not read it for extended periods. It was just too messy. Whoever her editors were failed to trim the fat from the series, or they were afraid to change something for fear of the almightyVolde- Rowling coming down upon them.
Ultimately, the book series was kinda "eh." Shallow writing, boring characters, but a fairly interesting tale, combined to form fat book series called Harry Potter. From me, the series gets and resounding and highly excited verdict: Mediocre. Not all that good, not even all that bad, just down the middle. It failed to really draw me in, even going so far as to push me away by the later books. Had the hype not been there, and the peers so adamant about my reading them, I probably wouldn't have.
Now before I conclude this piece, you may say, "NewClassic, why do you go and say such bad things about this book series? You know it's written for children, right?"
My reply, "Sure, but it's a New York Time's Best-Seller, a series large enough to spawn a multi-million-dollar movie and game franchise, and a highly recommended read from just about anyone you ask. It's not too absurd a concept to expect something better out of this."
"But," you may reply, "it's a good book series."
"Yes," I'll answer, "it is. For children. As a best seller, a multi-million-dollar profit-cow, and a book recommended to adults daily, it's fairly low-brow drivel with decent imagination but terrible writing."
Ultimately, this review is a waste of all of our time. If you like the series, you've already read it, and despite the validity or lack-thereof, for any of these points, they will be argued to the death. After all, this is the book series that have made grown men dress in frilly robes. This review is an opinion, one largely of aesthetic.
I didn't like the Harry Potter books, and I don't think they're nearly worth the effort of reading them, much less buying them. But, the story is kinda neat, if not a little predictable. Ultimately, it's up to you if you want to do it. I think there are other, better books to read.
[HEADING=2]Verdict[/HEADING] Pass. You aren't missing much but a lot of hype, and any story-related interest can really be summed up with more empathy and conciseness from the movies.
[sup](Besides, we all know she stole the plot from George Lucas [http://www.saynotocrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/61074_harrypotterstarwars.jpg].)[/sup]
This review is spoiler intensive, if you have not read the books, and care about the plot, browse Back [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/index/326] now. Don't say I didn't warn you. If you're still here, and want the verdict without the spoilers, see the verdict at the very bottom.
For the record, this is a comprehensive review, and will review the overview of the book series, not each individual book. That being said, I would like to try to hit the important points. This is a review on the books, not the games nor the movies. Well, put on your flame-retardant suits, boys and girls, I'm about to offend thousands of people.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's Stone for the US) is the first in a book series by J.K. Rowling, a book series which has managed to fuel the love of magic to an enormous community, and rocketed Rowling's net worth to that surpassing the Queen of England.
The book series starts us off through the eyes of a child named Harry Potter. The boy, a scant child of early teens, lives with his oppressive aunt and uncle in a stereotypical suburb. 'Live' being an inaccurate term, meaning he's malnourished, forced to dwell in the worst of conditions, and the subject of constant rudeness and ridicule. The family, clearly rude and upset at Harry for not being as ugly and obese as they are, treat him as if he were the outsider that he is.
Enter magic. The convenient device that the plot will (ab)use for the rest of the series. By some unforeseen and highly life-enhancing miracle, Harry Potter learns that he is a boy born to wizards. This propels him into a magical community that ultimately lands him at a seven-year boarding school for the magically-inclined.
The magical community, melded seamlessly with the mundane one, uses clever illusions and whowhenwhatsits to co-exist with the non-magically community. Referred to as muggles, the mundane community is often the butt-end of several punch-lines and ridicule. They are also very, very inept.
Enter Johnathan Q. Magic-School. Called Hogwarts, (just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?) the magic-school serves as housing and education for its students for three-quarters out of the year (much like university). From the school, Harry Potter meets two fellow wizards (well, witch and wizard, but I think wizard has more refinement) named Hermione and Ron. These two characters, who will become his best friends, serve as Harry's anchor. Although, certainly remember their names, because they won't be all that important later.
As soon as we arrive on-campus, we run into two major antagonists who'll (you guessed it) antagonize Harry & Co. for the entire series. The first, a professor named Severus Snape (who happens to be an accomplished scholar of
By the end of the first book, Harry and Co. throw down with the mythical guardian of Hell, Cerberus, an ancient wizard who clearly spent more time flapping his beard than training his mind, and concluding by wrapping up a mystery that has vexed the greatest minds of the magical community for a number of years. That's right, a twelve year old just trumped the greatest minds of a community that understands and translates the arcane forces in life.
Sure, I believe it.
Each progressive book, new rules and regulations appear from the void, and new plot devices suddenly manifest where they weren't before. In year one, the only rumors that circulated were on the Stone, by year two, it was the Chamber that suddenly appealed to all. Funny though, because this chamber wasn't important the year before. Year three, a convict that suddenly has everything to do with Mr. Harry Potter. Each progressive book creates more and more links to anything interesting to Harry Potter. Normally, the plot would revolve around a character's actions to a set stimulus instead of the stimulus's relation and importance to the character. This makes me tilt my head to the side, and question what really went on in the author's head when she was writing these.
Within the fourth book, Harry Potter goes mono-a-mono with the strongest wizard in all of existence, 'He who must not be named.' Despite making every single
The books progress, and Harry and Co. go on a quest to save the wizarding community after their mentor and principal gets murdered by (you guessed it!) Professor Snape in the sixth book. In the last book, Harry's friend finally gets fed up with him and leaves (because people have limits, except in Harry Potter), until he loses face and manliness by coming back.
In Book 7, the finale, the Malfoy's are stirring trouble (be careful, that plot point is kind of hard to see coming), and Harry Potter appears from his adventures, trumping death and defeating the bad guy. After years of preparation, Harry Potter fulfills his prophecy and saves the Earth! But enough about the plot...
The characters themselves are fairly stock of any story, patient to the end with the hero, and serve as plot tools rather than meaty characters. Their use in the story was pretty limited to how they could help the protagonist, and don't provide much other than standard dialog and key-pieces for plot transition. Any time I felt like I was really connecting with any of the characters, they were immediately dwarfed by Harry Potter's massive
The writing was clunky and unimaginative. Word choice and sentence flow weren't entirely missing, but they always had room for improvement. The descriptions were also adjective heavy, and I felt like so much of the word count was spent fluffing the pages rather than telling a story. The time spent reminding me of the light-orange hue that the potion on shelf 15 had could have been better spent working up the characters' vocabulary, or the world's feasibility. Instead, the entire thing read like propaganda for how much better wizards are than ye olde normal folk, and really did nothing to provide us with good conflict until the very end of the series. When we did get it, it was stereotypical, spelled out for us, and the plot synopsis would've started with "Here's how the prophecy was fulfilled."
The length of the series, especially the pacing, only got more and more abysmal as it progressed. It took me countless months to read the last book. Throughout, I had to set it down, and go do something fun. The reading, one of my favorite hobbies, was so far gone that I could not read it for extended periods. It was just too messy. Whoever her editors were failed to trim the fat from the series, or they were afraid to change something for fear of the almighty
Ultimately, the book series was kinda "eh." Shallow writing, boring characters, but a fairly interesting tale, combined to form fat book series called Harry Potter. From me, the series gets and resounding and highly excited verdict: Mediocre. Not all that good, not even all that bad, just down the middle. It failed to really draw me in, even going so far as to push me away by the later books. Had the hype not been there, and the peers so adamant about my reading them, I probably wouldn't have.
Now before I conclude this piece, you may say, "NewClassic, why do you go and say such bad things about this book series? You know it's written for children, right?"
My reply, "Sure, but it's a New York Time's Best-Seller, a series large enough to spawn a multi-million-dollar movie and game franchise, and a highly recommended read from just about anyone you ask. It's not too absurd a concept to expect something better out of this."
"But," you may reply, "it's a good book series."
"Yes," I'll answer, "it is. For children. As a best seller, a multi-million-dollar profit-cow, and a book recommended to adults daily, it's fairly low-brow drivel with decent imagination but terrible writing."
Ultimately, this review is a waste of all of our time. If you like the series, you've already read it, and despite the validity or lack-thereof, for any of these points, they will be argued to the death. After all, this is the book series that have made grown men dress in frilly robes. This review is an opinion, one largely of aesthetic.
I didn't like the Harry Potter books, and I don't think they're nearly worth the effort of reading them, much less buying them. But, the story is kinda neat, if not a little predictable. Ultimately, it's up to you if you want to do it. I think there are other, better books to read.
[HEADING=2]Verdict[/HEADING] Pass. You aren't missing much but a lot of hype, and any story-related interest can really be summed up with more empathy and conciseness from the movies.
[sup](Besides, we all know she stole the plot from George Lucas [http://www.saynotocrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/61074_harrypotterstarwars.jpg].)[/sup]
