Harry Porter and the Deathly Hallows (No Spoilers)

Published by simon on August 4, 2007

No spoilers.

And so i have finished the book. I’m writing this review immediately, to record my immediate impression of it while it is still fresh in my memory, before i even read any other reviews on the ‘Net.

It was quite good. For an end to the most hyped book in the history of publishing, I’d say it was quite good. Not great, I think that it’s well established that Rowling is no more a great writer than any of the hundreds of published ones out there, and the series itself is guilty of being crushed by it own weight of hype and expectation on many occasions in the last decade.

First the ending.

For those moaning about how it ended, I’d say this for Rowling - for her, it’s really a case of damned if she did, damned if she didn’t. Anyhow she chose to end it, she’ll have her critics, so she probably went with what she wanted to write instinctively, which is what every writer should. Evenbefore the book was released, I don’t think any of the hardcore Potter readers out there would seriously doubt how it would have ended in the first place, that good should triumph over evil. The only question was would Harry die, and along with him, who else would?

I won’t say who died and who didn’t, but i to me the ending wasn’t much of a big surprise to me. However, she really shouldn’t have added the epilogue. Not only was it corny, and sort of ruined the ending a bit. In the interim years between books 6 and 7, i have read and re-read Garth Nix’s excellent Abhorsen series, and while i absolutely love it, i can’t stop making comparisons between the two series in more than one aspect. I won’t go into details, but let me just say this, Garth Nix KNOWS how to end a book as it is - just like that. Just like he did with Sabriel and Abhorsen.

The writing is quite even with the last book, although the tone is quite dark (yes, i know, everyone will say that). The book trudged along in the middle, especially the months in the tent, i suspect that Rowling lost her focus there a bit, maybe in an attempt to stretch the storyline a little longer than it deserves. Rowling falls back on too many of the plot devices that she has used in almost all the books in the series, I was almost hoping she would do a different route.

And so what next, now that the series has ended and Rowling has sealed it in a way that any sequels are virtually out of the question? I hope she leaves it be. She should. While Tolkien once famously that he ‘left Middle Earth too soon‘, i am completely glad he did, although it would almost be sacrilegious to come Tolkien to Rowling.

As for me, I am really glad it’s all over, now we can all get on with our lives (until the last movies is released, that is). But on that note, can’t wait to start on THIS series…

Technorati Tags: HP7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter, Golden Compass, Garth Niz, Sabriel, Abhorsen, J.K.Rowling, his dark materials

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