Harry Potter 6

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The sixth book came out in 2005. By this time I was finally reading the books as they came out and I had been really looking forward to this one. Not as much as a trip to Long John Silvers, but still a lot.

Book Review

There will be spoilers here so if you haven’t yet read the books or seen the movies (and you’re still planning to) read no further. I recommend instead visiting mankind’s modern-day Library of Alexandria, YouTube.

The book was a welcome break from the overlong fifth installment. The story and writing, for me, hadn’t felt this tight and focused since the third volume. I remember thinking, “I could almost read this one twice.”

The action really kept me interested all the way to the climactic scene where somebody does something to somebody else, and your jaw hits the floor cuz you can’t believe what just happened.

Know what I mean?

Movie Review

The movie made a few significant departures from the book, especially the major rewrite of the ending. But I can forgive all of that for the spectacular portrayal of Horace Slughorn by Jim Broadbent. I can watch the movie over and over just for him.

The other people in the movie are good too. I just can’t remember any of them.

T-minus eleven days and counting . . .