Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

**Cowutopia** · 22 Jul 2005, 03:17 PM

Firstly, this is not the best book in the series. Book 3 is. You could consider this to be second best if you thought book 4 was too wordy, but I personally put it behind book five but ahead of books 1 and 2.
3, 4, 5, 6, 2, 1. This one may not have a lot of dead time but it wastes a lot of breath skimming over things and awkwardly deals with things like the quidditch and some of the "romance."

Parts of the book are brilliant though. I really enjoyed Felix Felicis, the bit in the cave, Voldemort's backstory, etc.

I thought the aftermath of dumbledore's death was..unconvincing? Rushed? Emotionally lacking? But I suppose she and her readers were burnt out from book 5 so it's semi-understandable.

The whole book felt like filler to loosely tie the flashback sessions together.

The video-game-quest-hunt the next book is set up to be has me excited though.

**dave is ok** · 22 Jul 2005, 03:25 PM

I just finished three and am going to start four tonight.

Might as well read this books, JK Rowling is so easy to read even if she over uses deus ex machina, and writes ridiculous plots

**Port** · 22 Jul 2005, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by Rumpy

Some good ideas. My quick thoughts:
As for the math of Horcrux splitting, I don't think it's really that complicated. Each time one is made, it's just like a chunk of the soul. It's never said if there is a limit to how many times, just that no one has done it more than once before Voldermort. So we can't even know if it's equal parts.
I share the hypothesis that Harry could be a Horcrux, but it could be a stretch but I could accept it if Rowling says he is.

Remind me who Mundungus is? A friend asked me and I can't remember what roles he's played so far. I recognize his name but can't place what book he's from.

That's a pretty interesting take on Snape killing Dumbledore too. It explains a lot...I was pretty suprised that Snape did kill him. No spoken words were even said between them, Snape just knocks him off and that's it. It gives further backing to why Dumbledore froze Harry to keep him safe and from interfering. With what we've seen now, Snape is an incredibly powerful wizard and now his motives are completely up in the air. The other Death Eaters tried to take down Harry but Snape kept them from harming him any further. He had plenty of chances to kill Harry himself but saying Voldermort wants to deal with him not only makes sense, but is a good cover as well. It could really go any way. There's more than enough damning evidence against Snape, and then there is that side that wants you to believe he hasn't gone back over. Book 7 has got to be the size of book 5, there is so much to cover.

Ok, I'll admit, I don't remember who Mundungus was either. I'm sure he was from book 5, but.. it's been years since I read that one. All I remember out of that was the ending. GOOGLE SAYS: A shady character who was in the Order of the Phoenix (the group as well as the book), and he was assigned to watch Harry at the beginning of Book 5.

As far as the Horcruxes, I'm sure you're right, I'm just nitpicking. The way I read it, it seemed like halving.

Rowling did a great job of making Snape one of those characters that are true 50:50 shots of going good or evil. Even killing one of the primary characters, he could still be deep down good. I wouldn't be surprised if, after redeeming himself, Snape becomes headmaster of Hogwarts. He's extremely smart (the Potion book proves this) and extremely talented (making his own spells and his magic talents like occulmency).

**Cowutopia** · 22 Jul 2005, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by dave is ok

I just finished three and am going to start four tonight.

Might as well read this books, JK Rowling is so easy to read even if she over uses deus ex machina, and writes ridiculous plots

4 has the best, or at least least-ridiculous plot (though the subplots are heavy with deus ex) though it could be mistaken for something out of Scooby Doo.

Originally Posted by portnoyd

He's extremely smart (the Potion book proves this) and extremely talented (making his own spells and his magic talents like occulmency).

Yeah, but he's a dick.

**Rumpy** · 22 Jul 2005, 05:32 PM

You're reading stories about a school for wizards and you think the plots are ridiculous? What else would you expect?

**dave is ok** · 22 Jul 2005, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by Rumpy

You're reading stories about a school for wizards and you think the plots are ridiculous? What else would you expect?

Maybe notsomuch ridiculous as stupidly convenient, I understand that the series was started with children in mind, so I'll look the other way.

**NoboruWataya** · 22 Jul 2005, 09:15 PM

Three is my faovorite book, Sirrus is was my favorite charecter.

Mundungus is introduced in Order of The Pheonix (which I am re-reading). He is the shady, thieving wizard. At the very beggining, the first chapter, Harry and Dudley are attacked by demetors in a dark alley and Harry fiends them off with a Patronis charm. It turns out that Dumbledore had a squib cat-lady wizard and Mundungus watching after Harry, but Mundungus got a hot tip about some lost caouldrens and left his post, exposing Harry to the Dementors. Mundungus is a member of the order later on in the book, I'll tell more of his role as I read the book if you'd like.

I had the very same idea about Snape killing Dumbledore today, that it does not mean without a doubt that he is a death eater. I mean, it really pissed harry off at Voldemort obviously, just reinforcing his drive to fuck him up bad. Remember Dumbledores last words were "Snape, Please!" (or "Serivus, Please!"), begging for mercy or not? Who knows!