Customer Reviews

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

5 star:		(813)
4 star:		(156)
3 star:		(60)
2 star:		(29)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

After a long, highly anticipted wait for the fifth installment in the Harry Potter Series, I finally laid hands on my copy at just past midnight last night. I promptly began to read, and I have to say....I am somewhat disappointed in it. Though I believe J K Rowling to be an excellent writer in general, I found the fifth book not nearly as engrossing as the last three. In fact, throughout the entire first half I was left wondering, "when is something going to HAPPEN?!". I found Harry to be more irritating than anything else, what with his constant outbursts, lack of judgement, and incessant whining. Hermione seems to be the only character that is maturing at all. The plot was not as well developed as I thought it could have been (c'mon, there are like nine hundred pages here!), and frankly the resolution (if you can call it that) took an absurdly long time to arrive. [...] Don't get me wrong, it was nice to hear what Harry has been up to, and I genuinely adore this series as a whole. I just felt that JK Rowling's talent is seriously under-utilized here. There is a persistent lack of focus, a rambling, largely unexciting plot, and for the most part the characters become lost in the jumble. This could've been better!! I rate it 3 out of 5.

OotP was definitely a dissapointment compared to the rest of this wonderful series. Although it began to piece together some of the many questions the previous books introduced, the many chapters it took to get to those answers was a little painful. Harry's new teenage attitude is hard to deal with, the romance is fairly shallow, Hagrid is dumber than he usually is, and the new teacher at Hogwarts is more annoying than anything. Do read it to fill in the blank pieces of information regarding Harry, but chances are you won't find it as enjoyable as the other books.

And it shows. The pacing at points is very good, but too often there are long boring stretches; I don't mean the expositions of the previous books, either; I mean info-dumps that are not as well structured, and therefore, less enteraining. Harry has become quite whiny, even a little manic depressive, as puberty begins to take hold. This can deepen his character, but it is also bound to annoy. Much of Harry's charm has always been his easy-going attitude. The lessening of that aspect will no doubt bother some, as it bothered me, because Harry was slightly less sympathetic, and maybe a bit asympathetic.

The smoothness of the previous books has also diminished somewhat; you can almost hear Rowling's labored breathing as struggled trying to add suspense to the scene when the big lummox gets whacked.

The dialogue is often very stilted, and this was alarming to me. You'll notice it too, particuarly when Hermione is speaking. I hope Rowling didn't think she was writing a film script.

Maybe the biggest problem is the lack of focus. The story goes off on several tangents, as usual, but unlike in the past, the "side-quests" as it were, are not integral to the story. This accounts for the bloated page-count. There was a lot of extraneous stuff going on.

Maybe the most interesting thing is the new role of the house elves and how they will affect the fight with ole Voldie.

Overall, OotP just isn't smooth. The thing about the series is that the writing has been so clean, so unfettered, that the reader became entire immersed. Now, too must of the story is throwaway tripe, stuff that should have been edited out or saved for the next book; God knows Rowling will need some ideas. There is some new stuff, but none of it is terribly interesting, barely enough to justify forcing 900-odd pages on readers. The only reason you should read this is if you've read the others books or plan to. In fact, if you even plan to read the others, don't even pick up this book. Don't even read the jacket. You'll be turned off from the series. This is easily the weakest book, style and content-wise. That shouldn't be surprising. Rowling did show signs of weakness when she repeatedly delayed the release date. The desperation shows in this book all too clearly. I only hope she can recover.

I was a HP fanatic.... I ripped through the other volumes like there was no tomorrow (the 3rd being my favorite).
I felt like there was SO MUCH regurgitation of old material. Its one thing to remind us- yet a totally different thing to act like we had forgotten EVERYTHING.
And Harry... what is UP with him???
From the first chapter to the last- Harry shows himself to be this angry, bitter child. Yes, teenagers have a lot of angst- but by the middle of the book- I was like, ENOUGH ALREADY.
He really just got on my nerves- and he never let up.
He had a very pissy attitude throughout the book, and frankly- it got old.
I thought JKR could have done a lot better with the story line- I also felt like she wrote this book just because she was pressured to write another in the HP series and didnt really care about what she wrote. There were too many fragmented story lines... and the stories werent even that compelling... there were no surprises here. Even when she killed a major character. I was left feeling... 'that was it'?
And what was with Harry and Cho?... and even Dumbledore?
I finished the book without any respect for the characters nor the author... with the exception of Hermione and Neville.
They were probably the only saving grace to this book.

This book was quite simply the weakest of the series. While I love all of Rowlings' earlier Harry Potter books, I found this one repetative and downright boring in parts. As someone who often reads huge novels I was disappointed as I found myself skimming through yet another teen angst-filled chapter and desperately hoping that some sort of villain would appear, other then the obvious ones. I suspect Rowling was attempting to create a feeling of terror by keeping the enemies hidden, but all it ended up doing was making it seem as though there was no real villain. Also, for the 600 odd pages leading up to it, I found the climax pretty anti-climatic...Here's hoping Rowling can get this series back on track with the next book.

Jim Dale does it again -- his reading of "Order of the Phoenix" has to rank among his best of the five books so far. One of the most memorable new characters, Dolores Umbridge, is brought into fine form in this audiobook. I'll never be able to reread "Phoenix" again without hearing Jim's rendition of "Hem! Hem!" While I did notice a few inconsistencies in voices this time (there's one noticeable moment where he mixes up Mr. Weasley and Sirius), the audiobook does have a nice and lively pace, and Jim Dale does such a commendable job of giving each character such detailed attention. And considering the fact that he recorded over a entire day's worth of narration, it's a wonder he didn't make loads of mistakes. Most importantly, there is no such thing as a small character to Jim Dale -- every voice is unique and holds their own among the other voices. In fact, he's even aged Harry and Ron's voices a bit from the previous audiobooks. This has become a ritual for me...reading the book first and listening to the audiobook afterwards. I recommend to any Harry Potter fan the experience of listening to the multi-voiced talent of Jim Dale.

Jim Dale does an amazing job bringing Rowling's characters to life!! He gives each charater his or her own voice and personality. I know that I would not appreciate the Potter books half as much if I read them in the print edition. For example, I found myself laughing out loud when Dale described Loona Lovegood on the Hogworts Express-- I know that I probably would have just breezed right through this part in the print edition without much thought.

The story itself is awesome-- each book has become more "adult" and is much better than the last. I can't wait for the next installment!

I loved the Potter series. It is worth reading even if you have seen the movies. It gives you more insight into the charaters and also includes thoughts, ideas and extras that were not in the movies.

Great book, great series. The Book was a little more worn then described but overall I am happy with it

We are over half way through the wonderfully amazing Harry Potter series, and from this point onwards every book is almost universally great. The war is brewing and Harry is getting ready for Voldemort. But only if he can survive his supposed allies tormenting him. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling steps firmly and forevermore into adulthood for our friends.

J.K. goes for the jugular right off the top, with Harry being understandably annoyed at the lack of communication directed at him. The whole world is happening around his life, and the dullards of the Dursley's are still being abusive pests. Their dimwitted bullying is just a taste of the psychological attacks Harry will have to endure. Which is why part of me wanted Dudley to be left to his own devices when the Dementors attacked. Shortly after this, J.K. gives us another brilliant chapter with the masterful mixture of humour and tension, all featuring a whackload of owls. She juggles so many styles while imparting so much information, and subtly giving us a hint of who one of the villains will be in Order. Loved this chapter.

When J.K. finally brings Harry in on the action, lets him vent abit, and then reveals the first obstacle in this war, The Ministry of Magic itself, you can see the wheels turning of the story. Which suits me just fine. Harry's healthy distrust of this corrupt administration explodes into outright hatred of their wanton disregard for human life. The criminal charges, mixed with a vile kangaroo court, makes the legitimacy of this government questionable. Seeing bullies turning on an innocent is bad, and something we have all encountered. Fudge and Umbridge are all to real unfortunately.

The haven of Hogwarts is shattered in Order as well with the presence of Ministry stooges. Umbridge very quickly becomes one of the top villains in the series, an unrepentant racist, bully, child abuser, paranoid, unstable psychopath. Her behaviour in class is bad enough (and I have experienced teachers like this), but her punishment is stomach turning and illegal (also experienced teachers like this). Their justifications for these actions are reprehensible and should not be tolerated, but they are not and are officially sanctioned. These parts of the story are not a high point for me, nor something I savour. But I give J.K. enormous credit for tackling this terrible issue. And I give her even more credit for what comes next.

Harry fights back. With prodding from Hermione, who it should be noted is always right, he forms Dumbledore's Army. Umbridge they realize is simply a hindrance to their greater goal. She considers herself a player in this grand drama, but Harry and the DA know the truth, that she is a fly to be swatted. Like all bullies really are. Harry is coming into his own as a true hero, doing what has to be done, and ignoring the nuisances. Life is like that, a real goal to be achieved, and someone petty standing in the way.

All this training with the DA culminates in a battle spanning the deepest recesses of the Ministry of Magic. Falling into a trap, the DA become embroiled in, and do a very good job at, a fight with Death Eaters. J.K. shows how these pitched affairs are messy and not always go as planned, which makes for a realistic magic clash. Casualties mount and Harry's saviors from the Order do their amazing thing. Which makes the climax of Sirius's death hurt all the more. The DA and the Order were winning. The Death Eaters were losing. And Harry suffers another crushing loss. Another parental figure gone. So much pain he has to suffer, all because war equals death.

We grieve for Sirius because he felt so real to us. J.K. does an amazing job throughout the series building these people up, who are now soldiers, and making them all count. Order brings even more onto the canvas, which suits my sensibilities just fine. From the quirky excitement of Tonks to the quirky intelligence of Luna, these two have entered my heart as favourites. And bringing the much needed cheer is of course the Weasley Twins. Best Exit Ever. Meanwhile new sides are shown of older players, with the obvious revelation of Snape's abusive father, to the more shocking behaviour of the young James Potter. All making for more nuisances and backstory to shape this universe even more into a whole tapestry.

The crux of the ending with the Dumbledore versus Voldemort battle made this old time Star Wars fan fondly remembering Obi Wan taking on Darth Vader. While the outcome was markedly different, it proves an old adage many have said about Harry Potter. It is the Star Wars for this generation. Explains so much of my love for this epic series. And rightly so.

Scoopriches