The Half Blood Prince Is About To Shed Its Skin... (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling)

Member Name: GramiWay

Product:	Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
Date:	21/07/09 (76 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great characterisation, focuses on different characters more, gripping, well written &dark dialogue

Disadvantages: Bit slow in places, not enough action when compared to other books in the series

It seems like years ago that I sat for hours not moving, working my way through 'Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince'. Well actually it was... Despite the sixth film adaptation of J.K Rowling's hugely successful group of books only hitting cinemas this week, it's paper partner was released way back in the summer of 2005, selling nine million copies in its first 24 hours of release and further cementing the Potter series as one of the most successful book series of all time.

The book is of course the sixth out of seven and further follows the turbulent adolescence of wizard Harry Potter and the secret wizarding world's continued struggle against the evil Lord Voldemort which has now turned into a full blown war. 'The Half Blood Prince' is in essence a rather diluted book when considering the others in the series. Despite it having it's moments, both dramatic and tragic, it serves more as an introduction for the final book in the collection and as of such a lot of things still remain unanswered and the dramatic chapters that dominated the end of the last book seem to have somewhat wilted.

However, J.K Rowling is a genius and knows exactly what she's doing to weave all the pieces of the puzzle together and various points in the book leave you tense with frustration at trying to figure out what is coming next.

The book actually begins with a meeting between our very own Muggle prime minister and that of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who has now been replaced. We are then treated to Snape's home as the evil Bellatrix Lestrange and Draco Malfoy's wife Narcissa pay the potions master an unorthodox visit. These are interesting chapters to explore as we very rarely see anything that is away from Harry's view point or his experiences and it only further brings up confusion about where Snape's loyalties actually lie, something that Rowling has always toyed with and a notion that has explosive consequences for the end of the book.

'The Half Blood Prince' does read like a history lesson as much of the book is spent with Harry and Dumbledore journeying through memories to find out as much about Voldemort as they can in hopes of finally being able to destroy him. The familiar setting of Hogwarts provides a safe haven for the audience to relax in and get lost in amidst all these 'memories'. Rowling is brilliant as always at capturing the voices of her characters and the Ron and Hermiones 'will they, won't they?' saga is back in full swing with many unexpected turns along the way. Harry also finds romance of his own in a very unexpected place.

Whilst each page is still enough to keep you absorbed and the story never seems to wear thin, there is an absence of action and of drama in the book. Voldemort in the present makes no appearance at all which of course makes the majority of the story very uninteresting and whilst the last few chapters do take on that familiar air of drama and such, there's not really enough to keep you on the edge of your seat like there has been before. I often describe this book as the 'calm before the storm' and the death at the end always brings me to tears. Rowling has the ability to be able to write humour, action, romance or tragedy and all somehow make it realistic and fit into her imaginary world.

Everything we've learnt about the wizarding community over the past five books is tested in 'The Half Blood Prince'. The time for learning about how the community functions is over as the war is well and truly on and Rowling's writing creates suspense and fear and this is somehow reflected in the reader. You fear for Harry and Dumbledore as they journey through the cave at the end and you fear for the lives of everybody battling the death eaters at the unprotected Hogwarts. Even the minor characters that are normally just used as filler seem to take on a life of their own in this book and we begin to see more of some of them than we have before such as Lavender Brown...

I would have to say that by this point in the series my younger brother had tired of reading the books and was more interested in seeing the movies. Rowling has moved away from the very child like nature of the start of the series and added more darkness and despair with every book. In text form this makes 'The Half Blood Prince' very difficult to entice and capture children's imagination and interest and it's safe to say that this is definitely a book geared more towards an older audience. It's a credit to the mind of Rowling, that she has been able to make such a transition from the innocence and somewhat naïve manner of her characters in the early books to the place they're all in now. They've grown up and matured as the darkness that consumes each book has also grown.

In conclusion, whilst 'The Half Blood Prince' seems to lack any of the swagger of the previous books, it is still a fascinating read that sets up everything you'll need to know for the final instalment in the Harry Potter series. The tragic ending only further cements Rowling's talent at pulling a surprise out of thin air and the story ends with frustration and anticipation whirling all around it as Rowling makes it no secret that the end is most certainly near.

I'd recommend picking up the book if you haven't read it already. It gives you a lot more insight than the film and it might be a good idea to just read a small portion before taking the kids so you know what to expect.

Summary: The sixth book in the Harry Potter series and based on the current cineam release