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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Joe A-This is a really good and long book. This book is filled with action and advnture. It takes awhile to read but is worth it. GOF is definitely one of the best all-around Potter books. Loved it. Reviewed by Nell (Class of 2010) Again, the problem of rating a single entry into a larger story arch. It was good, and great to see the wizarding world outside of Hogwarts. Also the beginning of the shift from children to adults for the trio.
The fourth book in the Harry Potter phenomenon, at 734 pages, is what you call a wallow—one that some will find wide-ranging, compellingly written, and absorbing; others, long, rambling, and tortuously fraught with adverbs. The fantasy writer's job is to conduct the willing reader from mundanity to magic. This is a feat of which only a superior imagination is capable, and Rowling possesses such equipment As the midpoint in a projected seven-book series, "Goblet of Fire" is exactly the big, clever, vibrant, tremendously assured installment that gives shape and direction to the whole undertaking and still somehow preserves the material's enchanting innocence.
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows |
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Readers, we will cast a giant invisibility cloak over any more plot and reveal only that You-Know-Who is very much after Harry and that this year there will be no Quidditch matches between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Instead, Hogwarts will vie with two other magicians' schools, the stylish Beauxbatons and the icy Durmstrang, in a Triwizard Tournament. Those chosen to compete will undergo three supreme tests. Could Harry be one of the lucky contenders?
But Quidditch buffs need not go into mourning: we get our share of this great game at the World Cup. Attempting to go incognito as Muggles, 100,000 witches and wizards converge on a "nice deserted moor." As ever, Rowling magicks up the details that make her world so vivid, and so comic. Several spectators' tents, for instance, are entirely unquotidian. One is a minipalace, complete with live peacocks; another has three floors and multiple turrets. And the sports paraphernalia on offer includes rosettes "squealing the names of the players" as well as "tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves." Needless to say, the two teams are decidedly different, down to their mascots. Bulgaria is supported by the beautiful veela, who instantly enchant everyone--including Ireland's supporters--over to their side. Until, that is, thousands of tiny cheerleaders engage in some pyrotechnics of their own: "The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field."
Long before her fourth installment appeared, Rowling warned that it would be darker, and it's true that every exhilaration is equaled by a moment that has us fearing for Harry's life, the book's emotions running as deep as its dangers. Along the way, though, she conjures up such new characters as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, a Dark Wizard catcher who may or may not be getting paranoid in his old age, and Rita Skeeter, who beetles around Hogwarts in search of stories. (This Daily Prophet scoop artist has a Quick-Quotes Quill that turns even the most innocent assertion into tabloid innuendo.) And at her bedazzling close, Rowling leaves several plot strands open, awaiting book 5. This fan is ready to wager that the author herself is part veela--her pen her wand, her commitment to her world complete. (Ages 9 and older) --Kerry Fried
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:23 -0400)
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This story moves from previous novels that were no more than a few hundred pages to a much longer novel. J.K. Rowling begins to take away the layers covering Harry, Ron, and Hermione and opens them to the true wizard world. The trio's problems begin early in the story at the Qudditch World Cup, and never end. They have to deal with a pesky reporter, Rita Skeeter, Hagrid's blast ended skrewts, and most importantly, Voldemort. Harry's troubles only get worse and worse. He is chosen for the Tri-wizard Tournament, without even entering. His best friend, Ron, doesn't believe him, and this makes Harry's life worse. Harry is completely blindsided going into the final days before the first competition, but Hagrid warns him of the coming event. Without this help, Harry could have died. Harry's interactions with the students from other schools that take part in the tournament are not as civil as they could be. This is a problem that will be addressed throughout this book, and the ones that follow. The story continues with two more challenges that end in a death. Harry's life is changed after seeing this death. Voldemort returns and Harry's story takes a turn. Instead of trying to stop Voldemort from returning, he needs to figure-out how to stop his return to power.
This is a great book and the series as a whole is even better. (