Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- JK Rowling

Today's review comes courtesy of a returning favorite of Anbaric Lights', the incomparable Book Monster. She's tackled a subject bittersweet in my heart, the final volume of the Harry Potter series. Bitter because it ends the adventures of everyone's favorite teenaged wizard, and sweet because, MAN! What a finish!

When I first finished the Deathly Hallows, I found myself depressed and sad that I would have no more exposure to Harry's world. For those of you feeling likewise, I recommend the movie versions (almost all great, see my review of The Half-Blood Prince here) or the audiobooks narrated by Jim Dale.

Warning, plot spoilers are present in this review. Do not read on unless you have read the first six volumes of the series. Now, without further ado, take it away Bookmonster!

-SirReadsalot

Harry Potter Seven is not like all the other Harry Potter books because there are many more deaths and very little of the book takes place at Hogwarts because Harry, Ron, and Hermione must carry on with Dumbledore’s quest to destroy Voldemort’s horcruxes since he has died. Instead of Voldemort trying to take over, he already has gained power and Harry and his friends are trying to take it back. I do not like this book as much as the others in the Harry Potter series because Harry does not go to school and I really liked Hogwarts. I also found the many deaths made the book much more depressing than the others. This book will finally reveal if Snape’s intentions are good or bad. I think that wearing the horcrux, an object carrying part of someone’s soul, while searching for what would destroy it was a very unwise choice of Harry’s. It was clever of J.K. Rowling to create horcruxes because it made the book more than just Harry and his friends attempting to kill Voldemort. The deathly hallows, another great concept of J.K. Rowling’s, led Harry, Ron, and Hermione off track to find the objects that might let someone conquer death and gave them more to do than just hunt for horcruxes. If you like adventure, magic, and are willing to read long books, then this is a book for you. I am very intrigued that the movie is going to be in two parts and hope it will make them more detailed.

A note from Sir Readsalot: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is scheduled to be released in November 0f 2010, with part 2 to follow in July of 2011.

JK Rowling Official Site

But Did You Read It First?- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Welcome back to "But Did You Read It First?"- Anbaric Lights' quasi-regular (I might have to come up with another prefix that means even less often than quasi as there has been only one previous entry in the series, a review of Coraline from last February) column dealing with film adaptations of children's literature.

Wow, the entire preceding paragraph was one (admittedly parenthetically-enhanced) sentence. The fact that I occasionally get paid to teach tiny people to write boggles the mind. But that is neither her nor there. I'm already two paragraphs into the review and I haven't even mentioned the film yet. I really need to work on my meandering and often disorienting introductions to these reviews...

Before we go any farther, there are some assumptions. I assume that you are familiar with the Harryverse (Harry Potter Universe). I will not go into detail about describing the characters, and mild spoilers from previous entries in the series may be revealed. If you are not familiar with the events leading up to The Half Blood Prince (the sixth book and movie of the series), then you may not want to read any further.

Still with me? Good, let's have at it!

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint all return as Harry, Hermione, and Ron respectively. The rest of the cast is also back to in roles of varying sizes. The only new major addition to the series is Jim Broadbent as Professor Slughorn, the sixth Defense Against the Dark Arts professor the students have had in six years. David Yates (director of the previous installment, The Order of the Phoenix, and the forthcoming two movie adaptation of Book 7, The Deathly Hallows) returns as director.

The story should be relatively familiar with anyone still reading this post at this point. Harry has returned to Hogwarts for another year. Voldemort is back and Harry and Dumbledore are using the pensieve to investigate his childhood and career at Hogwarts. They realize that he has accomplished extraordinarily dark magic, through acts of murder he has divided and stored his soul in an object called a horcrux. Thus, even if the body is destroyed (as Vodermort's was the night he tried to kill Harry as a baby), the soul lives on and one is never really dead. The Half Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows both focus on the attempts of Harry and his allies to locate and destroy these horcruxes. There are seven in all, and it is revealed that Tom Riddle's diary from The Chamber of Secrets was a horcrux. Dumbledore also destroyed one (a ring that once belonged to Voldemort's grandfather), but injured his hand severely in the attempt.

Throughout the film, Harry is using a potions textbook that belongs to "The Half-Blood Prince," and as a result of the wisdom therein, he is rising to the top of his potions class. He even learns a septum severus spell that has unintended and deadly consequences in one scene in the film.

Ron and Hermione become involved in a love triangle with Lavender Brown, and it's refreshing to see that despite the gloom and doom of Voldemort's return, that the characters are still teenagers dealing with the same things that teenagers everywhere, magical or otherwise, deal with. Harry gets a romance of his own when his relationship with Ginny blossoms into something more than just friendship.

Draco Malfoy has been tasked by Voldemort with a deadly serious task. He is shown throughout the movie becoming increasingly drawn and desperate as he tries to maneuver his plan into place. Tom Felton, who hasn't had much to do with Draco in the previous films other than to sneer and serve as an obvious foil to Harry, does a solid job depicting Draco as a boy who may have bit off just a bit more than he can chew.

Throughout the tension and danger that Harry and his friends must deal with (Deatheater attacks! Fenrir Greyback! Curses, Hexes, and poisons!) is nicely balanced with humor (love potions, a eulogy for Aragog, Slughorn's habit of "collecting" promising students), and Yates and company set the stage for the final confrontation with Voldermort in The Deathly Hallows.

SERIOUS SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
DO NOT READ ON UNLESS YOU HAVE EITHER
SEEN THE FILM OR READ THE BOOK

My one main complaint is the film's climax. The battle at Hogwarts depicted in the book is violent, chaotic, and terrifying. Snape's apparent betrayal and murder of Dumbledore hits like a punch in the gut. This scene in the movie occurs as almost an afterthought, and as much as I love Alan Rickman's portrayal of Snape, he seemed to be far to obvious in his role in Dumbledore's death. I know Yates had to cut some of the book down in order to make it movie length (it still runs a good 2.5 hours!), but I do feel that these last scenes were where I felt the missing material most. I hope The Deathly Hallows begins with Dumbledore's Funeral, because that scene is beautiful and heartbreaking, and deserves to be shown.

All in all, it was yet another solid and dependable HP adaptation, and I am very excited to see the conclusion. Part I will be released in 2010, and Part II in 2011.

What did you think of the movie gentle reader(s)?