J
Jello Jedi Master
Guest
I personaly think the 5th book was great. Very fun to read. I wish I didn't finish the book in 2 nights.........Gotta find a new book now. Maybe Goliath by Steve Alten. He is a very good author.
F
FmK-AnC
Guest
im reading them all again
A
Apollo
Guest
Well, just because we talked about it so much, I knocked off all 5 books whilst in Europe (along with 2 Pratchett novels--there was a lot of driving about going on).
Aaanddd... they're pretty good. Rowling has a gift for engrossing storytelling, some of the best I've read, but her plots tend to have holes big enough to drive a truck through. That's why the movies weren't very good--the storytelling didn't come through, but the plots did. The first book was the best, I couldn't put it down nor find a fault with it. But in the second book, things got kind of screwy. The car comes to life (why? it's a simple car enchanted with a flying spell), and then Hagrid sends the kids to a murderous spider, and instead of suspecting him further, they take the spider's word and clear him. In the thrid book, Prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius claims he is after Potter's safety as well as Scabbers, but never contacts Harry, who could have caught the rat right there and cleared Sirius's name. It's also rather hard to believe that Scabbers spent twelve years as a rat with the Weasley's and never did anything. And for that matter, there was almost nothing to the story--the only end result was that Sirius showed up.
The fourth book, Goblet, is the worst offender. The whole premise of the story is the Triwizard Tournament and the fake Moody enchanting the final cup to send Potter to Voldemort. But he was Harry's teacher--at any point he could have given Harry a portkey for homework and sent him away and been done with it. The whole Tournament was pointless in that regard, and forced. Also, the way Harry got away was a little silly (the two wands interact and dead people start popping out?), and it was obvious she was just trying to get Harry out of there somehow.
The fifth and most recent is much better, but still suffers from the biggest malady of the Potter books: nobody tells each other anything. If Dumbledore had just told Harry why he had to learn Occlumency, there would be no problem, and he had no reason whatsoever not to. If Harry had just told Dumbledore about his dreams, there would be no problem, and he had no reason not to. Rowling makes her characters stupid to make the stories work, and that bugs me. Also, she seemed determined to make sure nothing happened in the book. Sure, the character died, but other than that, nothing at all really changed from the beginning to the end. I think she was trying to make sure she could draw out the story as long as possible--do you really think Voldemort would spend an entire year doing nothing but trying to get this prophecy that he already knew the gist of anyway? Also, the whole reason Harry has to go back to the Dursley's every year is pretty dumb. Why doesn't Voldemort just go kill Petunia first and then knock off Harry?
But as hard as I am on them, the books are good enough to keep me reading straight through each one, and I'm sure I'll pick up the next. As absurd as they often are, they're so absorbing that I couldn't put them down, and that's what's important in a story.
Aaanddd... they're pretty good. Rowling has a gift for engrossing storytelling, some of the best I've read, but her plots tend to have holes big enough to drive a truck through. That's why the movies weren't very good--the storytelling didn't come through, but the plots did. The first book was the best, I couldn't put it down nor find a fault with it. But in the second book, things got kind of screwy. The car comes to life (why? it's a simple car enchanted with a flying spell), and then Hagrid sends the kids to a murderous spider, and instead of suspecting him further, they take the spider's word and clear him. In the thrid book, Prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius claims he is after Potter's safety as well as Scabbers, but never contacts Harry, who could have caught the rat right there and cleared Sirius's name. It's also rather hard to believe that Scabbers spent twelve years as a rat with the Weasley's and never did anything. And for that matter, there was almost nothing to the story--the only end result was that Sirius showed up.
The fourth book, Goblet, is the worst offender. The whole premise of the story is the Triwizard Tournament and the fake Moody enchanting the final cup to send Potter to Voldemort. But he was Harry's teacher--at any point he could have given Harry a portkey for homework and sent him away and been done with it. The whole Tournament was pointless in that regard, and forced. Also, the way Harry got away was a little silly (the two wands interact and dead people start popping out?), and it was obvious she was just trying to get Harry out of there somehow.
The fifth and most recent is much better, but still suffers from the biggest malady of the Potter books: nobody tells each other anything. If Dumbledore had just told Harry why he had to learn Occlumency, there would be no problem, and he had no reason whatsoever not to. If Harry had just told Dumbledore about his dreams, there would be no problem, and he had no reason not to. Rowling makes her characters stupid to make the stories work, and that bugs me. Also, she seemed determined to make sure nothing happened in the book. Sure, the character died, but other than that, nothing at all really changed from the beginning to the end. I think she was trying to make sure she could draw out the story as long as possible--do you really think Voldemort would spend an entire year doing nothing but trying to get this prophecy that he already knew the gist of anyway? Also, the whole reason Harry has to go back to the Dursley's every year is pretty dumb. Why doesn't Voldemort just go kill Petunia first and then knock off Harry?
But as hard as I am on them, the books are good enough to keep me reading straight through each one, and I'm sure I'll pick up the next. As absurd as they often are, they're so absorbing that I couldn't put them down, and that's what's important in a story.
O
orgg
Guest
...so what did you think of Pratchett? Which books of his did you get?
A
Apollo
Guest
I'd already read a couple Discworld books, so I knew I was going to enjoy them... I've now read:
Reaper Man
Guards! Guards!
Eric
Thief of Time
and I'm in the middle of Witches Abroad
I got interrupted by those Potter books, and a trip to Chicago, but I love the Discword books... Guards! Guards! was my favorite (always had a soft spot for dragons).
Reaper Man
Guards! Guards!
Eric
Thief of Time
and I'm in the middle of Witches Abroad
I got interrupted by those Potter books, and a trip to Chicago, but I love the Discword books... Guards! Guards! was my favorite (always had a soft spot for dragons).
O
orgg
Guest
You're reading them out of order?!?!
...wow.
That's not the way I read them... I tried to read them in as much of the original order as possible... but then again, they can somewhat stand alone, too...
...wow.
That's not the way I read them... I tried to read them in as much of the original order as possible... but then again, they can somewhat stand alone, too...
A
Apollo
Guest
All of them I've read have pretty much stood alone just fine. Eric was a little odd because Rincewind is a recurring character and the Luggage didn't make much sense at first, but it wasn't a major difficulty. I read them as I gained access to them--my dad bought Eric because he wanted a new book and it had my name in it, and then I took it from him and read it, so that was my first Discworld book. After that he bought Reaper Man because he liked the character of Death, and then I took that one too, and then my cousins bought me 4 more, so I've been reading those. I would have read them in the original order if I could, but it didn't work out that way.