Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

This novel takes place outside the friendly confines of Hogwarts, except for the climactic battle at the end. It places Harry and his friends in mortal peril from about Chapter 4 on, and there are so many close shaves that it really feels like reading an adventure story this time. JK Rowling keeps the plot moving for the most part, except for a part in the middle where the plot bogs down a bit as Harry, Ron and Hermione go underground by Apparating to various remote forest locations. This wandering, though, serves the plot by forcing the characters to confront life on the fringes of society without the support network of other witches and wizards. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are forced to grow up in these circumstances, and it's a great pleasure to see Harry develop into a leader, Hermione display her toughness, and Ron confront his darkest fears in the form of a Horcrux in this section. Harry confronts the choice whether to pursue the Horcruxes or the Deathly Hallows about two-thirds of the way into the novel, and his choice in this matter decides the outcome of the battle at the end. It also allows JK Rowling to display Harry's character in the best sense of the term and brings the magical world she has created to its fruition. Harry's decision seems both authentic and important, and only the best of writers can make this type of fictional moment happen. Cheers to JK Rowling for creating such an interesting fictional world and for bringing it to such a satisfying conclusion. I don't want to spoil the end for anyone, so I won't comment on it here. Let's just say it's a just end.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

This novel takes Harry Potter fans in some long-awaited directions -- Harry has lessons with Dumbledore that reveal more of Lord Voldemort's past, and Harry develops a real, vivid love interest in the form of Ginny Weasley. The unexpected ending throws a wrench in fans' desires to see Harry happy and whole, though. This novel throws open the relationship between Harry and Dumbledore, marking Dumbledore as an adventurer and Harry as more than just Dumbledore's favorite. Dumbledore mentors Harry in many ways in this novel, and it's good to see the relationship reach such a high point. In Dumbledore's final lesson with Harry, Dumbledore expresses what makes Harry different from Lord Voldemort eloquently and with care, allowing Harry to see the differences for himself. This exquisite fictional moment makes all the other stuff in the novel almost superfluous. The new teacher at Hogwarts, Professor Slughorn, is not as distinctive as other new teachers have been, perhaps because Snape fills the role of Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry confronts Snape's duplicity directly in this novel, and JK Rowling's sharp pen positively quivers with Harry's anger at the end. This next-to-last chapter in the series leaves much unresolved, but it is a satisfying read nonetheless.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The plot of this novel drives toward a powerful conclusion that knocks the stuffing out of readers who have come to care about the characters. Professor Dolores Umbridge is a near-perfect enemy for the students at Hogwarts to rebel against, and her intrusion into their lives makes for entertaining reading. The way she intrudes makes her like so many well-meaning adults who underestimate teenagers, and she is recognizable in some ways as the government nanny. This reader couldn't wait for Umbridge to get her comeuppance, and the many "withering looks" and other polite confrontations in her encounters with Professor McGonagall in particular are fun to read. There are many other comic elements in this novel, which buoy the reader just enough throughout the novel to make the tragedy at the end surprising and painful, just like a real tragedy often is. This isn't a great tragic novel, though, with pity and fear and all that Aristotelian tragic hero stuff -- it is a largely comic novel with a tragic twist at the end. The good parts still outweigh the bad, and Harry's heroism and his humanity come out in the end, as readers have come to expect. Dumbledore's final revelations at the end of the novel are very well-tuned to Harry's problems, and bring it to a satisfying conclusion, even though the events of the plot are not as readers would wish them to be. I read this one quickly and couldn't put it down, even though it is just as long as the fourth book. I didn't find this one overlong at all.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

This fourth book in the series starting draggin' for me (pun intended) in the middle of the book. I had a hard time motivating myself to read it, maybe because I had a Harry Potter overdose. Once I laid it down for a while then picked it back up, though, I managed to finish it off fairly quickly. I like the drama in this one, and the ending really is pretty chilling, with Cedric Diggory being called "the spare" and all that. The Yule Ball is a nice twist, with Harry facing mortification along with dragons. It's really a pretty good book, if a bit overlong, though I'm not sure what I would cut.