Well, that didn't go as planned...

[kickaha]

Picked up Harry Potter 6 yesterday at library. Lost cable and intarweb last night, decided to start reading it around 9:30, figured it'd be a nice early night.

Finished it at 3am.

<snape>Curse you, Potter!

Comments

[franktheavenger.livejournal.com]

Is she still writing those?

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Ayup. One left, out this summer. I've gotta say, they're much better than I expected. I can see why they're insanely popular with kids. She does a good job nailing the psychological development of the characters as they go through adolescence, and how their perceptions shift over time. Nicely done.

[gwywnnydd.livejournal.com]

You're just now reading 6?

Wow, you're behind the times :).

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

It took me a while to get to book six as well, after spending all of book five wishing that Potter were nearby so I could smack him for being a sulky fuckwit. Pardon my French.

(Not saying kids that age don't go through that stage, or that I didn't, or even that Rowling did a poor job of capturing it. It just doesn't make for very entertaining reading.)

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

Be interesting to see what she does now that the series is "finished"--there's clearly significant residual demand; will there be a new series, or is she really done?

[gwywnnydd.livejournal.com]

I guess I just had a different reaction to book 5. I, also, spent all of it wanting to smack Potter for being a sulky brat, but that just motivated me to get into the next one, where he *had* to have grown the fuck up a bit, right? RIGHT?!?!! [ok, so maybe I was being a bit strident. But it worked for me.]

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Yeah, had that whole dissertation thing... :D

Decided that with 7 coming out, with undoubtedly spoilers floating around, I'd go ahead and catch up so I could read it sooner rather than later.

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

True. I was impressed with how amazingly bitchy she made Potter. He was such a putz. It would have been nice to see a nod to that in 6, even an internal recognition, but I guess the lack of it is pretty true to life as well.

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, even if he hadn't recognized the general problem, he could maybe have apologized to *somebody* for a specific instance.

Oh, well. M. and I consider it the _Teckla_ of the series--a book that had to happen, that built the character in important ways, and that provides essential setup for the final apotheosis, but that isn't much fun as a standalone work.

Though Brust at least made you feel bad *for* Vlad, instead of pissed *at* him.