I just have to get this over with:

Dumbledore dies at the end of this book.

And that’s not really that big a deal. Old news, right?

Sadly, that’s just about the only thing this sixth Harry Potter novel is good for. Besides tritely developing a romance between Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, eliminating most of the major sources of tension from the Slytherin house by having them simply disappear most of the book, and terrifyingly walking through the backstory of Lord Voldemort, nothing really happens. That’s right 85% or more of the book is simply … backstory and mild character development. In the other 15%, Dumbledore dies!

So, while entertaining to read, at times you’re wondering “why.” What comes next? Why is this like this? Personally, I think sit’s just a 600 page stopgap to fill in the plot, get Harry out of the confines of Hogwarts, and move along the romance and adultness of the books. The next one will allow considerably more creative freedom, which is good since it’s supposed to be the last.

Buy it if you’re a harry potter fan-otherwise, skipping it won’t hurt.

Other takes:

• www.hoopyfrood.net/2005/07/is-this-the-penultimate-harry-potter-book/trackback/
• library.palomacruz.com/2005/07/18/a-harry-potter-recap/
• www.razlan.name/2005/07/half-blood-prince.html
• haloscan.com/tb/razlan/Half_Blood_Prince
• www.achuka.co.uk/achockablog/archives/001813.html

5 Responses to “J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince”

1. shellbelly says:

   7/1/2006 at 10:59 pm

   I agree. I love the Harry Potter series, but the last one, which I spent $26.00 or so on and waited for seemed like a waste after I started reading it. Actually, the whole book seemed like a fanfiction.com story : really slow with only a few eye catching moments. I can’t wait for the 7th one just to see how it ends (or if it does) but the 6th was probably my least favorite out of the whole bunch. The movies suck too, most of the time barely basing off the book. But i am still a fan of the books in general, even if the 6th one sucked…kinda.

   Reply
2. Fed Up With Critics says:

   7/20/2006 at 6:45 am

   Can I say that The Half-Blood Prince was my favorite of the first six books? No, I cannot, nor can I say that it was better than any of the other five, but the story needed a link between the fifth and the seventh, and The Half-Blood Prince did a fine job of that.

   I believe that the problem that people have with this book is that it was not packed with the action that the first five were, and people are finding difficulty keeping their attention fixed on it. In contrast, the purpose of the sixth book was to give information pertinent to the final installment. Nearly every great literary series has the link and not all of them are of such a high quality as the works of JK Rowling.

   And on a personal note, I am growing ill of visiting these open forums and finding statements that do not discuss the finer nuances of the work in question, but rather slam the work for what it is, and sometimes, as is in this case, for what it isn’t and was never meant to be.

   One final thought for those who want to criticize the labors of authors or other artists: show some courage, produce your own work, and put it out there for the public eye, so that it may be subject to its own criticism.

   Thank you for taking the time to read this.

   Reply
3. Maria says:

   11/25/2006 at 12:11 am

   ok, so book 6 was a semi waste of time. for me, the only worthwhile part was when hermione attempted to ask out ron, which he just frickin screws up! J.K. Rowling had the potential to make a great sub-plot out of ginny and harry, but she just seemed to rush it. it seemed, to me atleast, that in one paragraph, ginny was just ron’s kid sister, then the next ” OMG! Ginny is so hot, i’m so in love with her” Am i the only one who thought that?

   Reply
4. ubi says:

   11/30/2006 at 1:01 pm

   type torrent somewhere!
   a good way to attract people!

   Reply
5. jenny says:

   7/16/2009 at 6:19 pm

   i love the harry potter books and the half blood prince is my favorate but the movie was a waist it wasnt even based on the book all the seances were cut and what happend to dumboldores funeral it sucked the derector shuoldnt do the last one!!

   Reply