19 July, 2007

The new Harry Potter **MAJOR SPOILERS**

In case anyone can't wait two more days, I have a synopsis of the seventh Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I'm not going to post any spoilers here.

But if you can't wait and you're happy to be spoiled, email me.

EDIT: So it's finally out, I'm not going to put any spoilers in this post still, but if anyone wants to post reviews (including spoilers) in the comment section below, then feel free.

35 comments:

Grumpy Goat said...

Have you seen Mme Cyn's take on what Deathly Hallows is going to reveal? No spoilers!

Absology said...

Hey hey, this is scary!
The book isn't even out yet and everyone's ready to spoil it on others! :(

I shudder to think what will happen on the midnight of the Day!

Guess I'll have to stop using the Internet or answering my calls until I finish reading the book!

Anonymous said...

British novels suck!

secretdubai said...

I just saw it, and I won't comment on them, other to say that plenty of surprises lie ahead for her and for everyone ;)

Anonymous said...

Is Harry Potter really that good? I used to be heavily into Tolkien when I was younger. Is Rowling anything like Tolkien? If not, what is she comparable to?

Keep in mind that I am a huge J. Archer fan, but I can go as far as Coelho, etc.

secretdubai said...

Harry Potter is fun, but it's not really amazingly good, like Philip Pullman, or Susan Cooper, or Garth Nix.

It's very enjoyable, but it's not epic.

It is however great easy summer reading, so if you haven't read any yet, start at the beginning (the first three are the best anyway) and get stuck in ;)

Anonymous said...

I think I stick to my RSS feeds ;-)

Guy said...

Who's Harry Potter?

Absology said...

Susan Cooper? Author of The Grey King?
I loved that book but didn't ever find the rest of the series.
I even remember the first verses mentioned in the book,
"On the day of the dead,
when the year too dies,
must the youngest open the oldest hills."

But I do think HP's also a very good storyline with a brilliant narrative.

hemlock said...

harry potter is like.. the brer rabbit. or the secret seven or teh famous five. but not.
if only they had action figures and marketing back in the 80s.

what AMAZES me is how much importance the supposed death (or not?) of a fictitious character is being given, as FRONT PAGE news... and everything else is being put on the back burner.

agreed, HP has become a craze (thank you hollywood), but journalists and media EVERYWHERE have gone to the dogs. the question "will HP live" qualifies as a 3 coloumn anchor on the front pages of international dalies across the world?! WHY!!!

Anonymous said...

I just read the NYT review of the book (bitten hard by curiosity) and I'm left feeling hollow....

Anonymous said...

What's a Harry Potter?

Anonymous said...

What's about Harry Potter? You can eat it? Or is it a new-fashioned drink? Please enlighten me!

secretdubai said...

Susan Cooper? Author of The Grey King?
I loved that book but didn't ever find the rest of the series.


That's the one. Her books are currently in reprint, as they are making a film of the series I think.

There are five (as you probably know) of which the best one by far, in my opinion, is the second, The Dark Is Rising. That and The Box of Delights (John Masefield, also a classic) give me the most enormous Christmas/winter nostalgia.

Anonymous said...

harry potter dies

Anonymous said...

Death to Potter!

Mme Cyn said...

How on earth did you get your paws on an advance copy of HP VII, Secret? We know you're an amazing person, but really!

Dubai Jazz said...

SD, you are indeed resourceful, always one step ahead of us...
No wonder some people get envious!

i*maginate said...

Not an HP fan myself, but for those who are crazy about it, I can just imagine people posting the ending of the book etc. on their blogs so it spoils it for those fans!

Ahem...I wonder, for those who queued at 3am to get the book, did they go straight home, stay up all night and finish the book? Hmm

Even if HP is the one who gets killed, I imagine with a few tricks here and there, he could be brought back to life, non?

secretdubai said...

A photographed copy has been floating around the internet for the past week.

Not as enjoyable as reading a physical copy, but better than an e-book.

secretdubai said...

So here's my mini-review:

(1) Too many endless McGuffins

(2) Too many lame, rushed deaths

(3) Dreadful, fanfic-like epilogue

I didn't think it would be a great book, but it was slightly worse than I expected (particularly the epilogue) so I was a bit disappointed.

Harry Potter 3 remains the best novel of the series I think: brilliantly plotted, moving, concise; and Harry Potter 1 remains the most fun and most inventive.

Unknown said...

please send it to me, andrea.cruz12@yahoo.com. appreciate it very much, thanks!

Anonymous said...

i've just finished the book...and i have to agree with SD...what a revolting epilogue and the Captain Majidesque standoff (think characters performing gravity defying leaps into the air in slo-mo)...the rest of the book rocked though!

i*maginate said...

All this raving about Harry Potter, and it makes me wanna know if he was the one who was killed.

Perhaps I'll just pick up the book tomorrow and read the last pages.

That way I won't need to read the whole thang and just know who gets killed, which to me, seems the main thing people wanted to know happened in the new book!

On second thought, could someone please spare me the trouble and just post here if he got killed or not.

Thx

secretdubai said...

He did and he didn't.

I hope that helps.

Mme Cyn said...

I'maginate -- I started reading it in line at Borders, then went down to the Barista and had a tea and muffin while carrying on, drove home, read for a couple more hours, slept a couple of hours, and then read all day except for a couple of hours unpacking (I'm in the middle of moving house.)

I enjoyed it immensely. I see Secret's point about some of the deaths being a bit rushed, but isn't that the way it is? Kind of pointless?

I agree about the epilogue. She either needed to skip it altogether (which would have left too many doors open for sequels), or write a better one. This looked like it was thrown in because her editor made her write it.

Lirun said...

really wanted to go see the new harry potter movie this weekend.. but the dead sea seemed like a more appealing option..

Anonymous said...

Trust KT to come up with another winner like this one...Enid Parker's review (?) of the book in today's City Times is all spoilers and no critique (I couldn't find a link -Page 4, July 22, 2007)... Before the book came out, I thought that Michiko Kakutani and other staff of the New York Times were prigs for the early review, however it seems like nothing compares to this local fare that'll ruin it for scores of fans in the UAE who, because of some reason or the other, couldn't get their hands on the book on the very first day..

i*maginate said...

OK great, thanks for the ending. I'm not even a HP fan and kind of guessed the ending: if he dies, he can always be brought back to life again, which is what your comment means to me, SD.

Fantastic. So HP hasn't gone yet!

mme cyn, interesting insight into the mind of a pottermaniac. I haven't been following the HP news and didn't know the release date til I saw this post. Is there even a film out on the book?! Apparently so...

Saw the books behind the Spinneys counter, felt like grabbing one and reading the ending, or perhaps getting it and spilling coffee over it.

I've been given some HP books and have a DVD on one of the films but couldn't get through the first pages or minutes of the film - I found it so boring.

Of course HP is a worldwide phenomenon, but I just don't get why.

Amna_a said...

The book was enthralling and the rushed deaths didn't seem very rushed to me.

But the epilogue did seemed a bit forced and I felt the book would have been much much better without it.

Anonymous said...

Phew, just finished it! Thought it was great. And thinking about the epilogue, which I agree was a bit lame, remember this is fundementally a children's book and I remember when I was a child I liked to have endings all nicely wrapped up.

Anonymous said...

Burbage dies on pg. 12
Hedwig dies on pg. 56
Mad-Eye dies on pg. 78
Scrimgeour dies on pg. 159
Wormtail dies on pg. 471
Dobby dies on pg. 476
Snape dies on pg. 658
Fred Weasley dies on pg. 637

Harry dies on page 704 at the hands of Voldemort, comes back on page 724 because he has the "Deathly Hallows". Voldemort then dies.

The last chapter is set 19 years in the future. Harry marries Ron's little sister, they have three kids named James, Albus Severus and some other one that I forget. Ron marries Hermoine, they also have kids. Draco has a kid too. All their children are going to Hogwarts together on that year.
Everyone is happy, the end.

secretdubai said...

Well given that it's absolutely spoilered now, I should also add that Remus Lupin dies and I think Tonks does too, but their deaths aren't described, just that they're among the dead bodies.

(I'm going to upgrade the title to major spoilers now, thanks to anon!)

I remember when I was a child I liked to have endings all nicely wrapped up.

Me too, but not quite this saccharinely. At least have a little bit of a twist, like a prickle of Harry's scar, or one of his kids showing signs of something interesting, or something. Something that allows the reader to dream a bit into the future. Even if it's: "but occasionally Harry still thought he caught a flash of blue in the fragment of mirror, but when he looked more closely there was never anything there." Just a little bitty something that is less of a trite clanger than "all was well".

Absology said...

I FINISHED I FINISHED!

Whoa, I'm glad I've been ignoring this page for a while.

I loved it! Worthy finale!

Anonymous said...

Yes! Finally finished reading DH.

Needless to say, it was simply awesome, best book of the series.

Completely worth my Dhs 99.

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