My Harry Potter Review

Unlike many of the reviews that you will read in the media, I will keep this one short and completely spoiler-free.

I finished the final Harry Potter book this weekend. The book was very good, although I did not find the story quite as compelling as some of the earlier ones. In that past, I have had a hard time putting it down and stayed up until the wee hours reading. On Saturday, I was asleep by 11 and finished the book on Sunday. Overall, it was a good way to finish the story. The books just could not go on as they had before so everything needed to be wrapped up. Because it is wrapping things up, the book spends a lot of time explaining things so that there are no loose ends left. The explanations are mixed among a lot of action/fight scenes. As Harry decided at the end of the last book that he would not be returning for his last year at school, the overall vibe of the book is completely different because you do not have the normal activities of daily Hogwart's life as a backdrop.

So...I give Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 4.5 out of 5.

Happy reading if you haven't finished it yet!

I have Harry Potter!

That's right, folks. At 7:01am on a Saturday morning, Wes and I walked over to Dymock's (bookstore) and picked up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...a full 5 hours before it is even available in the US. Hong Kong released the book at the same time as the UK. Woohoo!! We are heading to the beach with Sarah today (she already has her copy too) so we will be relaxing and reading hundreds of Harry Potter pages all day long.

I just thought you all might like to know. Don't worry - I won't tell you how it ends. [Wes might - he has already read the last page.]

The End is Nigh!!

The end of the Harry Potter series, that is. Year 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is set for release on 21 July (see NYT article). I am not too proud to admit that I am one of the millions (billions?) of HP fans. Now I know that I only have about 6 months to decide whether I should preorder on Amazon or try to find the book in Hong Kong when it is released. The latest book will be released 8 days after the movie debut of Order of the Phoenix.

In honor of this very Harry year, here are a few fun and exciting links for other HP fans:

• Official Scholastic site - includes challenging quizes based on the books, not the movies.
• J.K. Rowling official site
• MuggleNet
• Official WB Harry Potter site

Lots to enjoy during the next few months of eager anticipation.