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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Rating | |
| A | |||
| J. K. Rowling | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Harry Potter | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | ||
The time has come at last. War has come to the wizarding community, and wizards and witches everywhere are dying at the hands of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The Ministry of Magic acknowledges Voldemort's return but does little, and there are disturbing signs that the Ministry and Hogwarts itself may be under their influence. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley know Voldemort's main vulnerability, but they're going to be alone in their endeavor to take advantage of it. This time, they don't have Dumbledore or the Hogwart's staff to call on for help. This time, it's just the three of them — and maybe not even that. And this time, everyone's playing for keeps. Even Harry.
Beginning as a fairly typical (if very well-written) children's story, the Harry Potter series have gotten darker and darker with each book. By the time this, its seventh and final volume, came around it was very dark indeed. This is fine for readers who grew up with the series, aging a year or two as they waited for the next installment, but not that the whole thing is out a reader can go through the whole thing in a couple of days.
Parents, then, might want to let their younger children get a little bit older before they tackle this one, or at least supervise them very closely as they do. I'm not entirely sure kids still in their single digits are able to handle Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows without some help. There is a lot of death in this book, starting very early and involving some of the setting's more beloved characters. Not all of it is "offscreen," either. There is also a some rather strong language in these pages. I was quite surprised to see bastard and bitch> bandied about here, and parents may well be a little concerned.
But for anyone in their teens, or even pre-teens, these things only make it a better, grittier novel. Danger is all the more real because it doesn't merely threaten, it actually strikes home. You worry when things get dark, and the repercussions hit you where it counts.
Rowling wrote a superb book, one that ties up all the loose ends, explains all the mysteries and questions that people have been asking since the conclusion of the last book. She managed to tie the plot here to every single other novel, recalling items, events, and characters. And each is important, all in their own ways — even Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which I had thought it entirely a side issue, irrelevant to the fight against Voldemort except to give Harry one more adventure. But between this book and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the value of that second volume is revealed to be very significant indeed. And, of course, Rowling reveals once and for all whether Severus Snape is wearing a black hat or merely a somewhat slimy white one.
The chore facing Potter and his friends is immense. But Rowling has over the course of six novels created a set of immensely strong characters, and there is never any doubt that they will not balk at the challenge. Not just because there wouldn't be much of a story if they did, but because that's simply not what we would expect of them. All three are faced with tough tasks and some tougher choices. what they do, how they choose, is what defines them and makes them so engaging.
I was immensely impressed by the climax, also. It is long and fast-paced, as well it should be. It is, after all, the climax not just of one book but the whole series. But it fills that role perfectly, bringing the whole tale to an exquisite conclusion while never seeming too pat or lessening the evil power of Voldemort.
I don't often use terms like tour de force, even in regards to books I very much enjoyed. They're just too trite, too overused, for my satisfaction. But this time, not only does it fit, it is the perfect descriptor. I found Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be simply a masterpeice of fantasy literature.
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