Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix (Harry Potter Series - J. K. Rowling in general)

Member Name: chooflafla

Product:	Harry Potter Series - J. K. Rowling in general
Date:	27/06/03 (173 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Whilst reading it on the beach, a seagul flew over head and pooed on it, I was lying down on my back with the book above my face at the time!, Ginny and Nevelle get more exposure, He's a moody git; like a real teenager then

Disadvantages: Too big to fit through the letter box!, Some bits may be too dark for younger kids, Bit heavy (see my advantage about the seagul poo, it made my arms ache)

Hello all! Please be gentle, this is my first book review and I wrote it at work so was a bit distracted. :-)

Constructive criticism welcome and appreciated.

Anyway...

I?m sure that to many people, this book doesn?t require an introduction, however, for those of you who have been on Mars for the last week or so, this is the fifth instalment of JK Rowling?s internationally acclaimed saga that charts the epic journey of a young boy, namely Harry Potter, who at the age of eleven, discovers that he is a world famous wizard.

Rowling wrote the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher?s Stone, in 1997 and thus begun a new way of writing that would encourage children all over the world to embrace books and to enjoy reading. So far, her Harry Potter series has been translated into 50 languages and is on sale in 200 countries worldwide.

The books are all available in both the original (bright covered) version and an adult version (I own the latter). The only difference is in the covers as the children?s books have bright and colourful covers, whereas the adult books are plain black with a simple illustration on the font cover and a black and white photo of Rowling on the back. However, at present, The Order Of The Phoenix (TOOTP) is only available in hardback, with the rest of the books available in paperback and hardback. The series is also available in Braille, large print and also on both audio-cassettes as well as CD.

TOOTP is over a quarter of a millions words long, punctuated into 38 chapters and spread over 766 pages. Don?t let this deter you though, as the previous books have revolutionised reading in kids (and big kids, I?m almost 20). I?m not much of a reader as I don?t really have the time to read for leisure anymore due to my demanding schedule at university and my job, however, I managed to plough through TOOTP in two days (I must admit, I read most of it at work!!!) and each page left me yearning for more
. It was definitely worth the three-year wait and if you enjoyed the films, the books are so much better and far more descriptive. How they plan to make this bumper sized book into a film without missing out any of the major details is a mystery as the first two Harry Potter films are over two hours long, and this book is at least five times longer than the first instalment.

TOOTP is certainly worth the £16.99 (I got mine from http://www.amazon.co.uk for £8.50 [plus £2.75 P&P]. Many other places also offer it at a discounted rate such as Tesco [£9.97], Woolworth?s [£9.99 or £7.99 if you spend over £15] and http://www.splashdvd.com [£9.99 including P&P]), and a vernacular knowledge is an advantage, but unnecessary. Small things from the previous four books are present within TOOTP such minor characters and jargon such as the Knight Bus, portkeys and the Marauder?s Map, but these are not essential to understand to enjoy the book.

Harry is presented as a much more angry character in this book as he seemed to just go with the proverbial flow in the first four books. I suppose this would be true to life as he is now entering adolescence and also begins to date and question his past. Many new revelations are thrown in his face and instead of just nodding and accepting them as he used to, his range of emotional outbursts is completely understandable and also adds intrigue to the story.

Two major characters from the past play a lesser role in TOOTP as they did in the previous instalments of the adventures, as they hardly seem to be around when the action is taking place. There are also the introductions of a few new characters in the form of Luna "Loony" Lovegood, Dolores Umbridge and "Tonks" (amongst others) as well as the development of a few existing minor ones. Personally, I don't think that Tonks is really a necessary character at all, but she adds a bit of spice to the story (emphasis on "bit").

Unl
ike the other books, where the adventures generally take place at Hogwarts, the action picks up from Harry?s home in Privet Drive and continues with him to his god-father?s house and then finally moves onto Hogwarts. It takes ten chapters for the kids to arrive at the school and frankly, these ten chapters contain a few interesting revelations and plot development points.

It seems that many people are aware that there is a death within this book of a character. Even Rowling herself said this recently on a BBC2 interview so I?m not really giving anything away here, all I can say is that it?s not the person on page 159 (you?ll see what I mean).

The basic storyline is the same as most of the others, that is to say it's about Harry struggle against Lord Voldemort (who was fully resurected at the end of the last book) and trying to surive. This really isn't a big shock as Voldemort has been trying to kill Harry since he was a baby.

Rowling has done well in developing her characters throughout the books. The series gets progressively darker as you go along as more and more things are revealed about each character and their pasts as they grow older. Her descriptive use of imagery and denotations really brings the books and its characters to life and after reading them, you look up and realise that Harry, Ron and Hermione aren?t in your living room, they?re in the book!

Rowling is adept at spinning a web of intrigue and trapping you right in the centre, unable to escape and craving for more... bring on book six!

ISBN number: 0747569401

Publishers: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London

First published: 2003

Release date: 21/06/03 (If you did not know this, where have you been?!)

Summary: