Excellent read but a bit disappointing as well... Review on Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince - J K Rowling

'Avada Kedavra'

A jet of green light shot from the end of _______'s wand and hit _______ squarely on the chest. Harry's scream of horror never left him; silent and unmoving, he was forced to watch as ______ was blasted into the air...''

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I'm done with the book...all 607 pages of it through and through. And I enjoyed reading the book. In fact, this is one book that has plenty of answers and poses fewer questions or tantalizing hints. The initial part of the storyline drags a bit as in the two previous books as well, but the story gathers momentum throughout the chapters and has a mindboggling climax.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How the main characters fare...

The sixth book is dark. But it also delves a lot about the past and tries to clear the foggy facts that were previously not illuminated in detail.

The storyline is gripping, make no mistake about that. We learn a lot about Lord Voldermort's past life and all his secrets and even the ultimate secret that holds the solution to Harry's strife towards achieving vengeance.

Harry is disturbed throughout the book as he usually is, but he appears slightly more relaxed due to some romantic concoction in his life, a concoction I didn't expect to materialize at all. He has also the additional burden of being Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. He passes his O.W.L.'s quite well and manages to take up all the necessary subjects required for him to become an Auror.

Ron also has his mind occupied and is more popular in this year at Hogwarts, what with handling Quidditch Keeper responsibilities as well as having a regular girlfriend for a change who smooches him regularly and very publicly!!

Hermione is still the good natured but intrusive character that she has been, and she does not spend too happy a year, for the one she falls in love with does nothing to placate her at all.

In fact, Hermione and Ron have a 'thing' for each other in this book later on..

But of course, the Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher has changed this year as well - and this time it is no other than Snape who has managed to get his favourite assignment. Snape is a very important character from start to finish of this book, and whatever suspicion one might have had against him - this book explains all their doubts.

The other important character is, of course Dumbledore, who spends a lot of time this year with Harry, and through his thoughts Harry learns a lot about the Dark Lord's past and how everything is related together. Most of his inquisitive queries are answered through this book. At most times during their interactions, the Headmaster treats Harry as his equal this time, and when the book gradually progresses to the end, we see how much love, faith and respect Dumbledore has reserved for Harry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Half-Blood Prince ????

Well for most of the book the Half-Blood Prince is unknown to even the reader. He never really makes an appearance at all throughout the year but is intrinsic to the storyline and to Harry's improved Potion marks!!

Confused ? It's just that Harry befriends the Half-Blood Prince through an old book which belonged to the Half-Blood Prince, but unlike in Book Two where the diary Ginny found belonged to Lord Voldemort, this is very very harmless is comparison... All we get to know about the Half-Blood Prince is that the scribblings on his book regarding Potion mixtures and some other new spells help Harry a lot in impressing his Potions teacher and getting Malfoy into trouble. Malfoy in fact, has a pretty important role to play though he doesn't appear much in the book.

It's only when the identity of the Half-Blood Prince is revealed do the jigsaw puzzle pieces that Harry has been trying to piece together all year fall together...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Ending....and my humble thoughts...

The climax, like the fourth and fifth books have been, are action-packed and dramatic with Harry taking charge at some important places with much bravado and admirable skill. As usual, there are deaths, but one major character dies in the end killed by another important character, which is the major shocking twist in the storyline. The effect of all this death and destruction is so appalling to Harry that in the end he decides not to return to school the next year but continue on his mission to eradicate Voldemort...now that he's more knowledgable on certain matters. Harry ends up a stronger and tougher lad, more determined than we have ever seen him before...

~~~~~~

Now that I've read the book, I do encourage you to go ahead and read it because it's a treat to read, and you really cannot put it down as the story is very well paced after the ball is set rolling. The problems that I found with this book, if they are problems at all is that many readers will be disappointed that Harry does no major duel face to face with Lord Voldemort, nor does he win any decisive victory in the end. In fact in this book Harry is a defeated soldier, albeit not directly.

Another flip-side to the fact that many questions are answered in this book is that it does not leave much scope for intrigue in the storyline...there isn't a fantastic build-up to a climax, I felt...maybe because the climax left a lot of problems that haven't been solved in this book and have been left for the last one..

Dunno if I can make anyone comprehend...but somehow I felt like a deflated balloon when I read the entire thing and then passed the momentary Potter euphoria..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But I still guess you'll read all the chapters just because its a Harry Potter Book and also because the plot construction is awesome. The way various incidents link together are amazing..it's a breeze to read...but after all that enthusiasm when you read through to the end of the book in one breath...you feel there hasn't been any conclusion in this episode...it's like you're going to have to wake up the next morning to catch the Part-II of the serial.

And what a part that'll be !!

~~~~~~~~~