Lists (2)

Top Six Harry Potter Books

1 - Prisoner of Azkaban: A grown-up book with engaging subplots, superb character development, and the best moment in the series: When Harry draws on the inspiration of his father to save Sirius by conjuring the patronus. JK at her best.

2 - Order of the Pheonix: Epic in scale. We're given new and interesting charectars, and shown facinating corners of the Wizarding World. This is also the book that intorduces the Prophecy and finally explains Voldermort's obsessions with Harry. Would be the best of the series, were it not for the rediculous, derivative denouement at the Ministry of Magic. Bonus: Contains the series best metaphor: The "Disillusionment Charm" applied to Harry just as he begins to see that the world is a complex, multi-varied place, containing many shades of good and evil.

3 - Chamber of Secrets and Goblet of Fire (tie) Both are interesting books, that add little to the series. CS fails because the writing is boring (how many times does a character smile like "Christmas come early?" I lost count.) GF fails because it contains a plot hole large enough to fit the sun and all the planets. More

5 - Sorcerer's Stone A nice enough book, in which JK is still writing for small children.

6 - Half Blood Prince: Pure slop. The foreshadowing in the first chapter amounts to nothing. We see nothing new about the Wizarding World, or any of the characters we've grown to care about, save the archvillian who is given a drab, unoriginal back-story. Plus the Kung Fu ending makes the disaster at the end of Phenox seem almost enjoyable. More