Favorite Harry Potter novel?
- Thread starter Argus Skyhawk
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It's strange because most of the people I know in the real world love Prisoner of Azkaban like I do. And as much as I liked the final confrontation in DH, the rest of the book seemed to meander through much of the story. Don't get me wrong I liked it, but I didn't think it was as popular as it is here.
I like PoA because it's a good bridge to the innocence of the first books to the grim realities of the later books. It was fun while at the same time becoming more than just a children's story. I also think it was the tighest, story wise, of any of the books. As much as I've liked the series, all of the books, particullary the later more lenghty ones, have a tendancy to get bogged down in the subplots. It's not that I didn't like the subplots, but I sometimes though they went on just a little too long. PoA struck a good balance.
I like PoA because it's a good bridge to the innocence of the first books to the grim realities of the later books. It was fun while at the same time becoming more than just a children's story. I also think it was the tighest, story wise, of any of the books. As much as I've liked the series, all of the books, particullary the later more lenghty ones, have a tendancy to get bogged down in the subplots. It's not that I didn't like the subplots, but I sometimes though they went on just a little too long. PoA struck a good balance.
I've only read one book so far (Azkaban).
I voted for Azkaban bc it was that book that really made me love the series. And it introduced two of my favorite characters, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. It also hinted more at the backstory involving Snape and Harry's parents. I can remember this was the first Potter book I truly felt excited about as I read it. The first two were good, but not great. Whereas PoA just surpassed them by miles. I can remember being so eager to finish this book that I stayed up all night and read it by flashlight under the covers (in an attempt to not let my parents know I was up past my bedtime lol). And yeah, for a book that was about 300 pages, it packed a lot of plot and emotion into it.
I don't know if I could rank the books in order of favorite since PoA has always been my favorite of the books, while my second favorite changes constantly. I loved Deathly Hallows, I mean the thing actually made me cry and I thought it wrapped up the series fantastically (and another thing I liked about it was how everything seemed to tie in together at the end, all the loose threads from previous books, all the things I didn't even necessarily connect...it was a wonderful end to a wonderful series, hands down).
But I also loved Half-Blood Prince. It was fun and light hearted and then *bam* it was dark and brutal, I actually spent months talking constantly about it, trying to come to terms with it all (something I never did with any of the other books).
Then of course I loved Order of the Phoenix, I couldn't read the thing fast enough when I first got it! Oh and I also loved the end of Goblet of Fire (not really the rest of it, bc it felt like it dragged, though I think I might have liked it better overall after having reread it a couple of times).
I don't know if I could rank the books in order of favorite since PoA has always been my favorite of the books, while my second favorite changes constantly. I loved Deathly Hallows, I mean the thing actually made me cry and I thought it wrapped up the series fantastically (and another thing I liked about it was how everything seemed to tie in together at the end, all the loose threads from previous books, all the things I didn't even necessarily connect...it was a wonderful end to a wonderful series, hands down).
But I also loved Half-Blood Prince. It was fun and light hearted and then *bam* it was dark and brutal, I actually spent months talking constantly about it, trying to come to terms with it all (something I never did with any of the other books).
Then of course I loved Order of the Phoenix, I couldn't read the thing fast enough when I first got it! Oh and I also loved the end of Goblet of Fire (not really the rest of it, bc it felt like it dragged, though I think I might have liked it better overall after having reread it a couple of times).
Azkaban was by far the best crafted book in the series, and as they went on they continued to get more and more sloppy until 'Prince' and 'Hallows' had me wondering if she had passed off the series to a fan-fic writer so she could enjoy her newfound wealth. Azkaban was also the first book I waited for the release of, having gotten the first two as a gift a few months before, so that may taint my thoughts on the matter.
I voted HBP, but OotP started the real Harry Potter *holy shit* reaction in me (she killed SIRIUS!!!) But, in HBP she fucking killed DUMBLEDORE!!!! I wasn't spoiled on either events while reading, so I thought this is when the series got, pardon the pun, serious.
The first half of Deathly Hallows was a dissapointment (let's wander for half a book!) but it built halfway through and ended spectacularly (epilogue withstanding..gag! Can't any of those characters who marry name their kids somethiing origianal besides Draco?)
I'll also add, that OotP was the first midnight Harry Potter book realese I went too
Went to the HBP and DH ones too 
The first half of Deathly Hallows was a dissapointment (let's wander for half a book!) but it built halfway through and ended spectacularly (epilogue withstanding..gag! Can't any of those characters who marry name their kids somethiing origianal besides Draco?)
I'll also add, that OotP was the first midnight Harry Potter book realese I went too
Went to the HBP and DH ones too 
Gotta go with the first book.
I was late coming to the Harry Potter phenom, and the first movie was coming out when I saw the book on the bookstore shelf. I was taking the cummuter rail into the city and had about an hour each way which gave me time to do a lot of reading.
In addition, I had a "friend", a wacko Christian-type, who was convinced the book was the spawn of Satan and nearly came to the point of calling me a devil worshipper for reading it.
I still remember getting to the point when Dumbledore was explaining to Harry that his ability to defeat Voldemort had nothing to do with all the magic but instead was due to his mother's love and realizing just how wonderful a book it was.
I was late coming to the Harry Potter phenom, and the first movie was coming out when I saw the book on the bookstore shelf. I was taking the cummuter rail into the city and had about an hour each way which gave me time to do a lot of reading.
In addition, I had a "friend", a wacko Christian-type, who was convinced the book was the spawn of Satan and nearly came to the point of calling me a devil worshipper for reading it.
I still remember getting to the point when Dumbledore was explaining to Harry that his ability to defeat Voldemort had nothing to do with all the magic but instead was due to his mother's love and realizing just how wonderful a book it was.
Chamber of Secrets is my favorite; it organically followed and improved upon the already-good SS, and IMO has the best characters, plot (and plot twists), intense mood. I read it at an impressionable age but it seems like the best writing, Rowling focusing on making it engrossing and entertaining and the writing style best fit the characters' ages and perspectives; PoA kind of felt like it came out of nowhere and still feels transitional and uncertain.
After CoS, it's pretty much a tie between SS and GoF; the others (I liked OotP when I first read it) I don't really like for length and many of Rowling's decisions.
After CoS, it's pretty much a tie between SS and GoF; the others (I liked OotP when I first read it) I don't really like for length and many of Rowling's decisions.
What's worse with DH is that it starts rewriting the world so it matches up with the finale. I find it incredibly sloppy writing when a writers starts introducing major plot elements so late into a story (which she did have many years/pages to say without having to introduce them and make them happen 10 pages later).
The other awful thing is that crazy idea that 'once you disarm someone their wand becomes yours' as well as the 'wands don't work as well as they could if you're not the owner' (yeah I've dumbed it down a bit), but still, it completely breaks so many events which occurred in the first 6 books. Hermione using Harry's wand early in the series, the kids practising disarming spells on each other in class. Plus you figure that would be something they would teach you immediately when you get a wand.
It makes absolutely no sense when thought of using events which have already occurred.
There was also a fair few Deus Ex Machina times in DH where something happens and they explain it afterwards. She hadn't had to rely on this previously, yet in this book Harry seems to be the luckiest person ever.
It was just poor writing, late elements which contradict the previous novels and too many 'OMG we're saved at the last minute by something out of our control'
The series would have been much stronger if the end of Book 6 had been the finale and some nonsense about Dumbledore's love for Harry replacing his mother's love, protecting Harry and defeating Voldemort. That actually makes sense in the story.
The other problem with DH is that it means a LOT of exposition in Book 5 is a waste since it means squat and never comes to fruition. You can't show the gun in a drawer at the start of a story and never have it used.
So DH not only is a poor book, but also drags the rest of the series down as it causes so many elements in the previous books to make absolutely no sense.
The book HP5 is a dreary blur in my memory... to what exactly are you referring?
Another vote for Azkaban, btw, with Goblet a close second. The end of Goblet promised a widening of the HP-verse, with Dumbledore talking up international wizarding cooperation. Yet in Hallows... nada. One big camping trip. Harry never leaves the British Isles. Lame. And then the epilogue... well, the less said the better.
Order of the Phoenix is on top for me, with Azkaban right behind.
I've been thinking over the series in preparation for seeing the new film tomorrow, and I realized that I remember almost nothing from book 7. A lot of camping, missing Ron, the fight at the end, and the worst fan fic I've ever read in the form of the epilogue.
I've been thinking over the series in preparation for seeing the new film tomorrow, and I realized that I remember almost nothing from book 7. A lot of camping, missing Ron, the fight at the end, and the worst fan fic I've ever read in the form of the epilogue.
Oh god I forgot about all of that. Quite possibly the stupidest deus ex machina I've ever seen.
Draco disarmed a wand from Dumbledore in HPB, becoming owner of a different wand that Dumbledore owned.
Harry disarmed a wand from Draco in TDH, becoming owner of the different wand that Draco owned.
That was the main problem with it. Even if you accept that if you disarm a wand from someone you become owner of that wand, nobody disarmed The Elder Wand from anyway. If I knock a knife out of your hand, I don't take possession of your car.
That power of love thing was pretty stupid too. Okay, so Harry survived Voldermort's attack because his parents loved him. Okay, all sweet and fuzzy, but think about it for a second. Are we supposed to believe that everyone else that Voldermort killed besides Harry were completely unloved? That they didn't have any parents, siblings, friends, significant others, neices, nephews, or pets that loved them? That's a pretty bleak world she wrote there.
Well the book does contain a lot of unnecessary exposition for starters, but the one that immediately comes to mind is all the backstory of Neville and how he could have been the chosen one and even to the point where after Book 5 it was semi-left open about the prophecy relating to Neville.
However, none of this was really resolved. We got a load of story on Neville which went nowhere. Now when I look at book 5 I think it's a waste when prior to reading Book 7 I figured it was leading somewhere in the plot and would help them defeat Voldemort.
I don't see it so much about The Eldar Wand, more that all the normal wands are now less effective by all the characters since essentially they continue to use their wands after being disarmed. We've had that many little battles in the books, you figure it would come up. It's a huge problem since it's such an easy way to get an upper-hand. Plus I would have been ok with it had it been said in book 1, however to put such important information a few pages before it's needed is just poor form. As I originally said it's almost as if she's changing the rules of her story to fit the ending.
I'm not actually a big fan of the ending either, but this particular point is not a failing of DH specifically, but rather one of the biggest weaknesses of HP as a whole. She's been doing this since book one - introducing something, usually as 'rare' or 'exciting', which is then heavily leaned on from then on as if it were there all along. Book one (ok, unfair example as its the first one, but it started the trend); invisibility cloak. Book two; polyjuice potion. Book three; patronus charm and apparating, etc etc.
Rowling obviously had ideas as she went along, and worked them in in a way that explained why they hadn't been mentioned before (new and exciting!) but then from then on were treated as pretty much normal, everyday things. Apparating is probably the best example of this - in book 3 it's presented as this wonderfully cool thing that Sirius might be able to do, and by book 6 it's the magical equivalent of a driving test.
I didn't mind particularly, she had to introduce such a complex world in stages, but it is a noticeable trend throughout the books. DH only continued this trend - the only thing that makes it stand out more than the previosu books is that obviosuly it is the last one. So a) we tend to feel the world should be introduced by now and b) we don't have more upcoming books to 'get used' to the new ideas, they have to pay off straight away.
Yeah, I never much liked that 'plot point' either. I liked the way the Hallows wer eused in the end, allowing Harry, the final Horcrux, to die while at the same time 'becoming master of death' via the Hallows, but the convuluted-as-hell story of how Harry got the Elder Wand to 'obey' him was poor, and what's more completely unnecessary.
quite. That's not quite what the book presents - it's not that Harry was abstractly 'loved', it's that, at the precise moment Voldemort was trying to kill him, his mother sacrificed herself to try and protect him (by fighting Voldemort with magic), introducing both an immediacy and a magical element to her 'protection' of him. As the start of DH makes clear, along with some other dialogue, it is a 'spell' that is over Harry since that moment.
He did help defeat Voldemort. He basically commanded Dumbledore's Army after the big three left Hogwarts in DH. I think she resolved Neville quite well, actually, and that he became important and interesting at the end. He's certainly as important as Ginny or indeed other background cast ever are.
Now, if I'd been writing it, I'd have had Harry actually die, permanently, to destroy his Horcrux and have Neville kill Voldemort, and a sneaky suspicion tells me that's what Rowling was going for before she, in her own words, 'gave one character a last minute reprieve'; but even as written, I think Neville got enough time to shine in DH.
I always have difficulties choosing which of the books are my favorite as they all have moments that I really like.
I went with Half-Blood Prince; would have gone with DH, but the Camping Trip of Boredom gave it a disadvantage.
Really, for me, if they were to take all of Snape's scenes and put them into a novel, THAT would be my favorite HP book. LOL
Joy
PS: Snape. Not. Dead.
I went with Half-Blood Prince; would have gone with DH, but the Camping Trip of Boredom gave it a disadvantage.
Really, for me, if they were to take all of Snape's scenes and put them into a novel, THAT would be my favorite HP book. LOL
Joy
PS: Snape. Not. Dead.
I think the way the ending played out was brilliant and unexpected but in a good way. If Harry had actually beaten Voldemort in a fair fight it would have been utterly ridiculous and ruined the climax of the series. The ONLY way he could have won was by some obscure left-field fake-out trick that Voldy would never see coming; the same way he was defeated by Harry's Mom 16 years earlier.
Really, in all honesty, I wouldnt recommend reading any more then. They dont get better than that one, and a significant percentage of the remaining books are worse by quite a margin.
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