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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) Review
The fifth hefty installment in J. K. Rowling's renowned Harry Potter series takes a uniquely psychological dark turn. There is a Door at the end of a silent corridor. And it's haunting Harry Potter's dreams. Why else would he be waking in the middle of the night, screaming in terror? User Submitted Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) ReviewsSeptember 27, 2008 Excellent audio-book! The audio book is truly excellent. I strongly recomend it, not only to youths. The CD is a full version of the book. It's performed by Jim Dale, who does an excellent job so that it's hard to believe that there's only one actor. MK September 25, 2008 My second favorite of the series The largest and second best, in my opinon, of the series is when the good side fights back. Voldemort is slaughtering "for fun" and The Order of the Phoenix won't stand for it. The Order of he Phoenix is basically the equivelent of the Justice League. The ending is a duel between the two greatist wizards alive and will keep you wanting more. August 24, 2008 Harry experiences the darkness in the world first hand Overall: -------- 4.5 stars for Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix. It is dense, quick paced book with a lot of character development and life lessons for the characters in the story. The concept of Death and the implications of Death are driven home for Harry. The book is like "The Empire Strikes Back" for the Star Wars Episode 4 - 6 for the Harry Potter series. Characters: ----------- Harry is clearly a petulent teenager which is a scary thought given his magical abilities. I find Harry to not be very smart and keeps missing obvious things in plot as well as refuses to prepare himself properly for the upcoming battles / trials. Harry's disregard for advice by others is not something that should be encouraged in your readers. I believe JKR is trying to show the consequences of not studying and working hard but the consequences will need to be more dire. Ron and Hermiene are showing more emotional growth and development that Harry to me. I do like to see that they are acting a bit more mature and seem to be learning from their experiences more. I do get tired of the nearly constant shout and temper tantrums by Harry. Frankly, I find reading bits with Harry in it a bit annoying. Story: ------- The overall plot line of the Harry Potter saga is advanced quite a bit in the book. See other reviews for details (no need to recount them again here). JKR moves the story along to help set the stage for the Dark Lords return to full power. The theme of disunity and how it feeds the dark part of the human condition are large in the story. The death of Sirius is drastic blow to Harry especially the way it happens -- quick and due to carelessness by Sirius. The potential cost of their consequences is vividly demonstrated for the young characters in the book. Action: ------- The book has a lot of action in it. I will not go into all of the action scenes as other reviewers have done that admirably. The action is clean and crisp with enough pacing to keep you turning the pages late into the evening. J. K. Rowling's style for action is well established at this point and she keeps it consistent. If you liked the other Harry Potter books, you will like the action and pacing in this book. My biggest question regarding the book is why is the "Order" not killing off the Death Eaters one by one. It is fine to stun them but it does not solve your problem of having to fight the Death Eaters later. Since the dementors went over to join the Dark Lord in the last revolt, it should be obvious that the dementors will let the Death Eaters out of Azkahban at the worst possible time for the "Order". I understand that JKR is trying to say that killing is bad and damages your soul/changes you but it is a war. The lesson would be better shown by showing how a loved character is forever changed/damaged by the act of killing. Also, if the Death Eaters start to get killed off, there will be less people signing up to be one knowning that those who "live by the sword will die by the sword". The Death Eaters will not stick together when they know death is really on the line...self-preservation will kick in vs. the need to serve a greater good that good characters have. Prose: ------ J. K. Rowlings writing style stays consistent with the prior two books. I am glad that see has decided to expand the descriptive language in her prose to help further build out the Harry Potter Milieu. The prose is targeted toward young adults so the vocabulary is fairly easy but she does not over simplify the language for the reader. Summary: -------- Overall: 4.5 stars Characters: 4 to 4.5 stars Story: 4 to 4.5 stars Action: 4 to 4.5 stars Prose: 3.5 stars August 18, 2008 J.K. Rowling Rocks!!! Yet another great Harry Potter book!! comparing to the movie... this book it's way beyond it. There's nothing like reading a good book and this is one of those books you must read =) August 7, 2008 One of my favorites in the whole series. I think this was one of my favorites in the series. I have to say that Rowling does such a great job of creating characters that seem so alive, I actually feel as though I know them. I just want the story to keep going on and on and on. July 4, 2008 Things Get Serious Originally pulped almost 5 years ago now, this book has just been read in our household. We are really, really late to the Harry Potter party, but isn't that the best way to be? Considering that we would have to have waited 3 years between books four and five, and now we get to dive into the 6th book the night after finishing the latter, is a fortunate thing for us. Order of the Phoenix is the longest of the series, and culminates in an epic battle at the end which does not let down in the action department. There are new enemies introduced in The Order: both Dark Eaters and one enemy who is an apathetic/insane bureaucrat. And whether or not we can trust Snape has still not been entirely hammered out for us. By the fifth book, our hero has turned from a child to a young man. He is dealing with much more complex issues than most have to deal with (predestination, seeing a friend die, issues of orphan hood) and yet when he lashes out in anger we still click out tongues at him. Rowling makes sure to show that Harry Potter is human (a magical human) and although he is destined to save us all, he still can't understand girls, really hasn't learned how to study for a test, and can't keep from feeling jealous when friends do better than him. The pattern is followed here, just as it was in the past four books. Harry deals with his hateful biological family, goes to school, danger ensues, and there is a battle at the end--Just a regular school year for the students at Hogwarts. There's one thing that I think this series does best, perception. In the fifth book, the war is well under way in the normal world, but the reader has to go to school and deal with everyday issues with the three heroes, despite the ever hanging anxiety that the world is falling down outside the school grounds. The characters are funnier and truer than ever. And if we had to be honest, the brain behind this entire operation is Herminie. She is rarely wrong, and always knows what to do. Harry just has the talent to carry out the ideas and Ron cracks jokes and nearly kills himself along the way. It's a great read, especially for fans of the series who have not made it this far. June 19, 2008 Five good books in a row. I remember when this book was about to come out, the hype, the media, the LONG lines. If you weren't smart enough to preorder this book you were out of luck. Harry Potter was all over the news and the media was in a complete frenzy. The book is just as long as all the others and just as brilliant. Without giving away any of the story line, more drama, more action, another blazing story line and another masterpiece. If you've stuck with Harry this long, then this book won't disappoint. Can J.K. do anything wrong? No. Another masterpiece and another must read. Recommended. June 12, 2008 convenient and fast This product was in perfect condition with a really low price. I also received it within a few days of ordering. This company is amazing. June 2, 2008 Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix is a suprising, entertaining book. The main characters are Harry,Ron and Hermione.The main characters broke the rules that would get them expelled from Hogwarts.My favorite character is Ron Weassly because he never fights to make people stop teasing him.I can relate to the character Ron because I don't like to be teased. I also find ways to make them stop teasing me. I loved the book; every page was exciting.I recommend this book to people who like fiction and have questions after every chapter. June 1, 2008 My favorite of the series While "Azkaban" and "Goblet of Fire" began the transition of the series towards the darker and more mature side, "Order of the Phoenix" was the first to really explore the pure evil that Voldemort and his death eaters were capable of and the conflicting feelings going through Harry's mind. This was when Harry first realized how close of a connection he really did have with Voldemort: he could be in his head and vice-versa. I loved that Rowling explored this more mature side to the story and the way that Harry was maturing along with the stories. Overall, this was my favorite book from the series. For more Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) reviews click here.
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