Introduction Lumos! And in the light I could finally see the treasure that I was looking for since
the last week of July,
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. After months of waiting for the last installment of HP
series, I finally got it and it took me all of 2 and half days to go through the 600 odd pages of the book.
The Plot After the death of Dumbledore at the end of the last installment
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Harry and his friends are on their own in their quest to find and finish off Lord Voldemort, before he manages to finish them!! So, Harry, Ron and Hermione set out to find the horcruxes which hold a part of Voldemort''s soul. Each and every horcrux needs to be destroyed before the Dark Lord can fall. Also, they need to figure out the mysterious R.A.B. who seems to be in the possession of one of the horcrux.
On the other hand, with the fall of Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort seems to be in the ascendancy and wants to capitalize on this and kill off his one last enemy, Harry Potter!! But, having been defeated by Harry a few times now, the Dark Lord is a bit wary and is in the search of that perfect weapon that can ensure his victory.
So what happens next? Does Voldemort manage to kill Harry or does the "Boy who lived" lives on? Does good finally triumph over evil or not? Check out this last offering in the HP series for the details.
Critic''s Viewpoint (Contains Spoilers) The simple fact that I read 600 pages cover to cover in 2 and half days flat means that the book was captivating to say the least. Whether it was the perfect ending to the series or not is a different question. The book is fast paced is laced with action from the first page (well the first page after the 8th chapter:)) to the last. There is a lot of violence now that the Dark Lord is in full power and lot of characters are finished off in the book.
Having followed the fans'' websites for a long time before this book''s release, a lot of things were pretty predictable. Every fan was screaming that Snape would turn out to be the good guy and Dumbledore had made a sacrifice for the
Greater Good (This word has been used quite often by JK in this book). Of course, JK has obliged. But, what pained me the most was the tame manner of Snape''s death. I think he deserved at least a duel with the Dark Lord before the curtains fell on him.
Another favorite topic was the identity of the mysterious R.A.B and
Regulus Arcturus Black was the popular choice. Again J.K. obliges, though the mystery as to why he drank the liquid in the bowl, when he had an house elf that he had treated as a slave till that point was not clear!! As far as other things like the re-appearance of Dumbledore and the role to be played by non-wizarding community etc., J.K. has toed the popular line and Dumbledore''s apperance and the part played by elfs, goblins and centaurs at the end were on expected lines.
What was intriguing though was the introduction of the
concept of the Deathly Hallows and the concept of the conquering the death? As a novelty this digressed from the storyline discussed in the fan forums and added a new dimension to the whole story. I liked the concept that sometimes the things that you think are childish like children''s folklore etc. are keys to much mature subjects than you realize. Voldemort''s lack of interest in the folklore cost him the chance to possess the Deathly Hallows at a much younger age. The concept though is true for this series itself, as this started as a children''s novel and exploded into a mature series!!
I was a bit irritated about some of the aspects of the novel. I thought that the first eight chapters leading up to Bill and Fleur''s wedding were too long drawn out and were more of page fillers thagnificant. It was only after the chase began for the horcruxes that the story began to really race along. The other irritating thing was staining of the character of Dumbledore, though some might argue that it was necessary to show that he was after all just another Wizard. But, I thought that could have been left well alone. The death of Dobby was unnecessary!! Another disappointing thing was after the Battle of Hogwarts, the scene directly cuts to "Nineteen Years Later" without a mention of what happened to Hogwarts or what happened to the building synergy between wizards and the non wizards etc. That was a big letdown to me.
Also, there were a few loose points that are not answered properly. For e.g. Despite the fact, that Griphook had stolen the sword of Gryffindor, Neville manages to pull it off from the hat!! (Yes, I know that a true Gryffindor can pull it off. But when Dumbledore said those words, the sword was resting in the room of the headmaster, and now it was stolen and was with a Goblin!!)
But, apart from these, I think this is definitely one of the better endings for a series. I remember when I read the ending of the
Foundation series, I was thoroughly disappointed about the concept of
Gaia. Of course, much later the concept of
Gaia grew up on me and I look at that ending as a masterpiece now. But, on first reading, I would put
The Deathly Hallows almost at par with
LOTR as a perfect ending for a great series.
The Series The series has been a great joy and I have had the pleasure of tracking the last three books in the fan sites and the excitement surrounding this book was fabulous. Even in this world of Television and Internet, a book series getting so much hype and creating so much excitement is music to bookworms like me. Of course, the success of the series is no less due to movies, the merchandise and the marketing, but all these can only carry a series that could first captivate people with its plot and the HP series has been a downright winner in this aspect.
Looking at the whole series, I thought how about an awards ceremony for these wonderful characters. So here''s my list of awardees:
Most Lovable Character: Ronald Weasley.
Most Hatable Character: Severus Snape (Awarded Posthumous)(In my book, he comes ahead of Lord Voldemort, even though finally he ended up on the good side:) His one look carried more weight than all the evil of Voldy boy )
Most Humourous Characters: George Weasley, Fred Weasley (Awarded Posthumous)
Most Surviving Characters: The Malfoy Family (They managed to outlive Lord Voldemort. They know when to jump a sinking ship)
Most Improved Character: Neville Longbottom (It takes a long way to come from bumbling boy, to kill one of Voldy''s horcrux)
Most Irritating Character: Rita Skeeter (Her tainting of Dumbledore in the last book, gives her the edge over Uhm Uhm Umbridge)
Most Caring Character: Molly Weasley
Summary All in all a fantastic end to a great series. A series that very few knew would redefine the marketability of books in this new era of television and internet!!
I have enjoyed the whole series as well as this book and despite the few flip sides that I mention in my section
Critic''s Viewpoint, I give this book a high five rating.