My review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Before I get into things, let me say at the outset that I will not reveal in this review what are probably the two biggest questions going into this book:

• Who is the Half-Blood Prince?
• Which character dies in the course of the book?

Everything else is fair game, so there will likely be some minor spoilers ahead, but the two biggies will be left unanswered.

First, a bit of background... I didn't get into the Harry Potter books until late 2000 or thereabouts. A friend of mine who worked in a bookstore was a huge fan and kept trying to get me to read them. Now, bear in mind, this is before any of the movies had been made, and the fourth installment in the book series, Goblet of Fire, had only just been published. The series was very popular, but certainly not the phenomenon it is today. Goblet of Fire is described on its dust jacket as being the "pivotal fourth novel in the seven-part tale" of Harry Potter. It was pivotal in many ways, to be sure. I think it was the release of this book that really began, in earnest, the late-night bookstore "Potter parties." It was surely the first book in the series where the drawings of people on the cover art actually resembled reality. On the covers of the first three books, Harry looked rather preposterous; a crudely drawn comic strip character. Beginning with the fourth novel, the cover art seemed to take on a slightly more realistic slant. (The cover art on the fifth book, Order of the Phoenix, is by far my favorite.) Goblet of Fire was also pivotal in the transition from reasonably light children's literature to a darker, more ominous and adult-type story (indeed, the book begins and ends with rather cold-blooded murders). Finally, the fourth novel marked a startling ramping-up of page numbers! Whereas the first three Harry Potter books were fairly long books, at 309, 341, and 435 pages, Goblet of Fire startled longtime readers by weighing in at an astounding 734 pages. Similarly, the chapter count rose precipitously, from 17 to 18 to 22 to 37.

I told my friend, "No, no, no... they're kids' books!" Still, he persisted, and I clearly recall the day I guiltily wandered into the children's section of my local library, feeling very out of place (as all the bookshelves were about waist-high). I finally found the "R" section in fiction and heard a woman's friendly voice behind me, "Someone's in the Harry Potter section!" It was one of the librarians. I was mortified. I told her I was considering checking out just the first book and seeing what all the hooey was about. She wouldn't hear of it and told me to take the lot. Before I knew it, I had all four published-to-date Harry Potter books in my arms and was being told, adamantly, by three librarians that I would doubtlessly love these books. I spent the bulk of the next few days immersed in the story, and by the time I finished the epic fourth novel, I was hooked. In fact, I challenged a few of my friends to read the first 3-4 chapters of the first book. "If you're not hooked by then, put it down," I said. "But trust me... you will be."

To date, Goblet of Fire has been my favorite of the series. I found the last installment, Order of the Phoenix, to be overindulgent and quite bloated. As if to trump the page count of its predecessor, the fifth novel contained a staggering 870 pages. Moreover, the font size used in the printing was slightly smaller than that in Goblet of Fire, so had the two fonts been the same size, I expect Order of the Phoenix would have been well over 900 pages. However, I felt several of the chapters and tertiary stories could have been excised completely (particularly the whole "Grawp" storyline... I had no use for it at all). There were some terrific moments, especially the introduction of Dolores Umbridge, quite possibly one of the most wretched and loathsome antagonists I've come across in literature in a long time. I also enjoyed the climactic dueling scenes between Voldemort and Dumbledore. But on the whole, I found it to be a somewhat tedious book. Harry was in full teenager mode, petulant and miserable most of the time, and even given 870 pages, I didn't feel that it really advanced the story all that much beyond Goblet of Fire. What it did to, I realize now, was set up a great deal for the penultimate novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The latest installment opens quite differently, allowing us insight into the rare overlap between the Muggle world and the secret Wizarding world. Apparently the British Prime Minister is well aware of the existence of wizards and this unseen world of theirs and is alerted in the first chapter that the most feared wizard in hundreds of years, Lord Voldemort, has returned to power and that there is a war in progress between his followers and the Ministry of Magic. I couldn't suppress a grin at the line in the opening paragraph of the book, saying that the Prime Minister was awaiting a call from the President of a different country (it doesn't specify), wondering when "the wretched man would telephone." I'm not sure if there's any subtext there, but just the notion that J. K. Rowling might loathe George Bush as much as I do, well... it just makes me love her a little more.

By the end of the second chapter, I was stunned. It was revealed that Severus Snape was indeed still very much allied with Voldemort and every bit as wicked and evil as Harry suspected. Another chapter, curiously titled, "An Excess of Phlegm," isn't remotely about what it would seem. "Phlegm" is merely a none-too-kind nickname for Fleur Delacour, who has become engaged to Bill Weasley, much to the consternation of Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, the latter of whom emerges in this book to be an utterly delightful character, so much so that Harry becomes completely enamored of her. This is actually a joy to behold... Harry talking to himself, trying to rationalize away his feelings for Ginny... "But she's Ron's sister!"

The story is, for the most part, tautly written and briskly paced. It doesn't drag (for me) the way Order of the Phoenix did at times. I was hoping that Ron and Hermione would actually get together in this book, but although they come close, and although it becomes blatantly evident to everyone (including Harry) that they're retarded for each other (™Kevin Smith in "Mallrats"), in the end, it's still left unresolved.

At the forefront of this book is the relationship between Harry and Dumbledore. Together, they take trips via Dumbledore's Pensieve into a number of memories (both Dumbledore's and those of others, as well). They, and we, learn a good deal of backstory on Voldemort... what he was like as a child, some aspects of his years at Hogwarts, that he petitioned to be a teacher there after leaving the school... Rowling weaves together an immeasurably complex story that makes brilliant references back to many of the previous books, showing quite clearly that she has this all figured out in her head and isn't just making it up as she goes along.

An interesting plot device Rowling calls a "horcrux" enables a wizard to split his soul (although he must commit murder to do this), and place the split-off part of his soul in a secret place. Thus, when that wizard's mortal body is destroyed, a portion of his soul still exists. This hearkens back to Sorcerer's Stone, in which Voldemort is a disembodied spirit, in search of a proper body (which he ultimately achieves in Goblet of Fire). Well, it seems that Voldemort hasn't split his soul into two parts, but into seven. To prevent any possibility of Voldemort returning in the future, each of these horcruxes must be found and destroyed before Voldemort's mortal self is killed. This is surely an interesting plot twist to be introduced so late in a story, but it works well here.

At one point, Ron nearly dies from drinking a poison-laced beverage intended for someone else, saved only by Harry's quick thinking and a bit of good luck at having read something scribbled in a book by the mysterious "Half-Blood Prince," whose identity is not revealed until very late in the story. Mr. Weasley is quick to note that somewhere around half the Weasley family owe Harry their lives (Ginny, Mr. Weasley himself, and now Ron). Another near-death occurs during a vicious duel between Harry and Draco Malfoy, who is now emerging as a somewhat reluctant, almost sympathetic villain. Harry unleashes one of the Half-Blood Prince's spells on his nemesis without knowing what it will do, and, to Harry's horror, it slices Malfoy up like a Thanksgiving turkey. His face and chest are slashed open (as if by an invisible sword, we're told) and blood gushes everywhere. It's a fairly gruesome scene, but by no means the worst of the lot. For me, the best part of this whole thing was Harry witnessing Malfoy sobbing in the bathroom (before the duel), primarily in fear for his parents' and his life should he not carry out Voldemort's orders. I find myself wondering if there will be something of a redemption for Draco Malfoy in the final book.

The chapter titled, "The Cave" should definitely not be read by young children at night... it's seriously creepy. A new horror is introduced in this novel, something called an Inferus (plural Inferi) that is essentially a corpse which has been reanimated by a wizard's magic to do the bidding of that wizard. In this particular chapter, a lake is filled with Inferi... an army of the dead. As I was reading it, I was surprised at how vivid the imagery was. I could see the cave and the lake in my mind, with hundreds of dead, decaying bodies just beneath the surface of the water as Harry and Dumbledore tried to navigate through the darkness in their tiny boat, searching for one of Voldemort's hidden horcruxes. Chilling.

There is a maturity and depth in this book that was startling to me. I've enjoyed all the books (to varying degrees), and consider myself somewhat of a fan, but this is the first of the six books to date that's been truly affecting. The climax of the novel is as emotionally draining as anything I've read. I was reminded of how I felt as a kid when I read Charlotte's Web and Charlotte died. Just heartbroken and numb. That feeling permeates much of the final 60 pages of the book. I've no doubt that plenty of readers will be bawling their way through the last two chapters of this installment.

All in all, Half-Blood Prince has officially supplanted Goblet of Fire as my favorite book in the Harry Potter series... so far. :)