The Final Harry Potter book... a very good finale.
Written: Apr 05 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Ties in a lot of things from previous books, superb final sequence...
Cons: ... very slow to get going, too much teenage angst!...
The Bottom Line: Slow to start but gets stronger as time goes on, and the ending is absolutely brilliant. Can't see may Harry Potter fans being disappointed by this.
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| captaind's Full Review: |
The final book of the Harry Potter septology has been with us for some time now, though for some reason I’d not got round to reviewing it before. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows bears some of the failings of two previous books (Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince), while Rowling retains her ability to write absolutely gripping set pieces, with a thrilling and satisfying finale. There may be some spoilers for the earlier books in this review, but this is probably unavoidable and at any rate I can’t really imagine anyone actually choosing to read the seventh book before all the others!
A Brief Resume of What’s Gone On Before…
Harry Potter is the “boy who lived”, in that a vicious attack by an evil wizard on his parents failed to kill him, with the killing curse instead rebounding onto the wicked dude Voldemort. No-one dares to say his name for a long time… and of course, since it’s a fantasy story, old Mouldy Vort comes back in some shape or form, threatening the safety of the world etc. It’s typically fanciful “ancient evil rising” stuff (albeit the evil isn't actually all that ancient in this case), but it's very well told and nicely developed throughout the series.
Accomplicies and Enemies…
Harry’s friends include fellow wizards / witches in training at Hogwarts School, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who are his closest companions and almost his only companions for much of the first half (maybe even two thirds) of The Deathly Hallows. After the death of Dumbledore, the school’s headmaster, the forces of good and evil appear to be directly aligning themselves and there’s no more wondering about who’s on who’s side. Set off on a quest by Dumbledore previously to locate and destroy the “horcruxes”, where Voldemort has hidden parts of his life essence so that whatever happens he cannot actually be killed, Harry and co set out to complete this quest and also find the legendary “Deathly Hallows”.
Unfortunately, as with the two previous books, the majority of the first part of the book is devoted to teenage angst and Harry, Ron and Hermione squabbling a lot. They fall out, they make up, the fall out again… frankly, it’s boring. However there are aspects of the plot that at least go some way towards making up for this, mainly in the form of elements from the previous books - right back to the very first, “The Sorcerer’s Stone” (or “The Philosopher’s Stone” in the UK, but someone obviously thought that wouldn’t be understood overseas!). This aspect of the book I found to be very good indeed - the links to previous plot aspects that have never been quite clear are now cleared up well or, at times, brilliantly.
Rowling really does save the best for last, however. As in “Order of the Phoenix”, the final set piece is brilliant (perhaps littered with some unnecessary deaths, but still captivatingly told). There is a chapter near the end that I wasn't quite sure about ("King's Cross Station"), but it wasn't really a problem. It wraps everything up in a satisfying way, with a good few surprises. I’ve always found that Rowling excels with writing the action pieces and struggles with realistic & interesting characterisation, and Deathly Hallows is no exception.
Overall Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a very good end to the series, a bit too plodding for the first half but once it picks up, it really picks up. A lot of mysteries are unravelled, a couple of relationships we’ve seen coming for a long time come to fruition - and we’re glad of it - and the main characters were consistent enough, even if they did bicker far too much. Some of the other characters - particularly Lupin - were not really drawn particularly well. There has been a lot of talk about Snape’s final scene - Serverus Snape, the ultimate enigma of the series, whose true nature and allegience we think we know, then aren’t sure, then it seems obvious in the sixth book… I’m not going to say too much for those who’ve not yet to read the book, but don’t assume that everything is quite as it seems. The twist on his character was quite clever, I thought - though the way his character acts in the end is very disappointing.
There is a large segment of the book also that is devoted to the attempted character assassination of Dumbledore, in particular his past activities and associates. Was he the person that Harry thought he was - great wizard and teacher, selfless personal mentor and friend - or something else entirely? There is some definite satire on the way media culture works and this is quite nicely achieved, though this is probably not something younger readers would particularly notice or enjoy. The twists involving Dumbledore’s character are the most relevant to the plot, and while I still think the Halfblood Prince was the worst book in the series, the reasons behind his actions in that book are certainly shown in a new light.
So, to sum up - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows wraps up the series very nicely, and despite a slow start gathers momentum and reaches a barnstorming finish. I don’t think many people who have enjoyed the earlier books will be disappointed with this.
The Harry Potter books in order of publication:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Harry Potter books in my personal order of preference:
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
General reading guide:
The first two books were very light reading and a lot of fun. There was no feeling in those books that they were going to be part of a great epic, just a couple of undemanding and very entertaining. The Prisoner of Azkeban added a little more depth to the proceedings and had some brilliant plot twists, and remains my favourite of the series. The Goblet of Fire attempted to take a more mature approach to things and was a lot longer than the previous books. It was also the first one to really stray from the familiar pattern of the book completely following the pattern of the Hogwarts school term. I really enjoyed it but the ending was rather disappointing; it had a major feeling of anticlimax. Order of the Phoenix was the other way round - it took forever to properly start, though once it got going it was good and the end was spectacular. The Half-Blood Prince had some good ideas but to me was definitely the damp squib of the septology; characters changed personality for no apparent reason and it just didn’t really work for me. The Deathly Hallows… well, you know what I think of that one. Much the same as my opinion of Order of the Phoenix, though with the added bonus of answering a lot of questions raised by events in the other books.
Harry Potter Links
BOOKS:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
FILMS:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Recommended:
Yes
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