Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Volume 5

I love Harry Potter, and Rowling's latest episode has a lot of the same elements many of us have grown to love-the magic, wit and adventure-that permeated the first four books. But she takes a big turn in Book Five. She told us she would. We were warned.OtP starts off shortly after Book Four leaves off. (Don't worry, no spoilers here!) The action strikes right at the beginning and the twists and turns kept my stomach churning until the end. No long, slow buildup like the other books. She wrote Book Five for the big screen, the chases and the special effects that we know are coming are still whizzing in my head. And at 870 pages, it still seems to have gone all too fast. But unlike the other books, everything goes nightmarishly wrong.Harry feels it, as does Hermione, Ron, and nearly everyone else. The book is also full of adolescent angst and sarcasm. Harry and friends also start to question authority and each other. That makes them-to non-adolescents at least-a bit less enjoyable to be around. They snap at each other (and their elders) like never before, and we begin to wonder whether the sun will come out and change everyone's mood.It does, in little doses. Fred and George Weasley are up to their old pranks like never before. This is their finest hour. They turn their jokes into a kind of heroism in one of the most memorable scenes in the series.We also get to see a lot more of other characters that played bit parts before, like Ginny and Neville. They help round out the universe along with a few more additions. Rowling not only expands her magical universe geographically-we do see a lot of a magical place we haven't seen before--but also through characters, who are either new or develop more.With hormones raging in their veins, there is more romance than Book Four. The who-is-seeing-who game Potter fans have been playing for three years since GoF is played out in the story as well. Our friends have turned fifteen, and the romance roulette has begun. While a lot occurs off-camera, Rowling will leave a lot of hearts pounding, albeit in (thankfully) PG fashion.Rowling also litters her story with some verbal zingers, usually in the mouth of Hermione aimed straight at Ron. There is not a lot of them, but they are well worth the wait. Just one more reason to love them and Rowling.The characters have grown and Rowling writes as if her audience has as well. Not only is the book longer, but the book's narration has matured as well. It still reads like a conversation, but little ones are going to have more trouble keeping up. With more mature themes, they are less likely to be able to relate anyway. This is a big departure from the first four books.The most important change is that now that Harry is getting older, he learns that knowing the magical world in an adult way is a heavy burden. A constant theme in the book is that Harry wants to know what is going on. But the deeper secrets he learns aren't easy. And while the adults around him still try to protect him, he becomes painfully aware of how limited their power is. As he grows more powerful, he also learns how vulnerable he is and those who around him are. He faces death once again. Its more painful now because its not just a memory from long ago, but its someone he knows and loves...and feels responsible for.Order of the Phoenix is darker and more powerful than any of the other four books. But the adventure is more emotionally draining and less emotionally satisfying as well. (That might not be all fair, since I zoomed through the book, we'll see). Potter fans used to fairly happy endings might not like the bittersweet conclusion. But OtP does end with an action-packed whollop. Rowling ties up all the ends by the last page, but OtP leaves us with a sense of looming danger.Despite the gloom it is still a world we love, and when we've left it we miss Harry, Ron and Hermione. Many of us miss them like friends, which is the lingering power of Rowling's storytelling. I just hope its not three years until Book Six.

The events that took place at the end of Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts, along with the events that unfold in his fifth year, make Harry a very angry person in this book. Fed up with being talked about his back and being accused as a liar, Harry spends a lot of this book being angry and lonely and losing his temper. He flies off the handle seemingly every other page in the first half of the book. It seems he has an uncontrollable temper, a lot of suppressed rage and bottled-up anger. He seems to have lost all sense of self-preservation and he seems intent on going around bad-tempered all the time making enemies and getting in trouble on a regular basis. He hates being whispered about, but he keeps giving people reasons to whisper. I got tired of reading about his constant unhappiness and his continual temper tantrums. It was overkill.This book was a bit too long. It's not until 200 pages into the book that the students even arrive at Hogwarts. A lot of that first 200 pages is devoted to the description of cleaning the old Black house. One good part about the pre-Hogwarts story was that it was interesting to finally read about the offices of the Ministry of Magic. But on the whole, Rowling starts trying to create too many subplots in this book. And as usual, everything tries to get explained all in the last 20 pages, but there were a lot of questions left unanswered.After five books, we find FINALLY find out at the end of this book the reasons why Harry is forced to spend his summers with the Dursley's. However, the explanation contradicts the fact that Harry had to be followed, guarded and protected during the first part of the summer, while he was still at the Dursley's. There were lots of other unanswered questions as well. What were the parchments that Bill and Mr. Weasley were looking at after the first Order of the Phoenix meeting that took place upon Harry's arrival? Why was the time and location of the hearing changed at the last minute and who changed it? Why did they have a full trial in the old courtroom? Why did Fudge seem flustered that Dumbledore managed to show up at the trial? What exactly was Umbridge's motivation for wreaking such havoc at Hogwarts? Why was Umbridge going to allow the Slytherin team to reform but not the Gryffindor team? What were the brains in the tank all about, and all the other strange stuff in the Department of Mysteries? What was with the veiled archway? Luna's "explanation" didn't really explain anything about what was behind that veil. And where did the person who fell through that veil end up going?But the book wasn't all bad, not by any means. Despite the problems I had with it, I still found it more enjoyable than not. The focus of the story is Dumbledore's and Harry's efforts to convince the wizarding community that Harry is telling the truth about the return of Voldemort. There are new revelations about Harry's past and some ominous warnings about his future. Despite the overall gloomy mood of the novel, there are some fun parts. The awkward relations between Cho and Harry are highly entertaining. I wish there had been more of that. Ron's reaction to Ginny having a boyfriend is quite amusing. There some interesting new characters in this book. Dolores Umbridge is the Ministry of Magic employee who takes over the Defense of the Dark Arts position and makes enemies out of nearly everyone she meets. She is convincingly hateful, sickeningly sweet and maddeningly irritating. An awful woman. My favorite new character is Tonks, who is only seen briefly at the beginning and end of the book, but who is hilarious nonetheless.I liked this book. It's not as good as the first four and there are too many ominous and dark parts for my taste, but I still enjoyed reading it. I do miss the lighthearted fun of learning about the magical world, though. For once, Harry thankfully doesn't end up in the hospital wing at the end of the book, but that doesn't change the fact that this book has a thoroughly depressing ending. It's one of the worst endings to a book that I've ever read.

I will keep this spoiler free, so if I am vague about plot, that is why. May I suggest that all other reviewers do the same, at least for the first month or two?With each passing novel from JKR, I become more apprehensive that she will have lost her touch, that the shine will be gone. Rest assured, dear readers, that this novel has all the magic, all the excitement, all the adventure that we have come to expect--and more.The appearance of darker themes (death, consequences, truly evil villains who have an agenda that is definitely not wholesome) that marked the end of novel four were an unexpected twist for me. I had heard that this was not a fluke, that she was taking the septology into a serious examination of what happens when someone truly evil rises to power; this is indeed what she appears to be doing. Serious themes such as these form the backbone of the novel, and are apparent from the first pages. This disconcerted me a bit, as I was expecting the usual romp through Privet drive, a la Dobby; instead, I got a much different thing. The New York Times calls this section somewhat "ponderous", but I think that that is a specious view. In reality, it was important to change the tone of the world, and she wanted to make sure that we understood that all was not mandarin oranges and ice cream here. As JKR has admitted in interviews, Harry is much more angry in this novel. I felt that she handled this reasonably well--she does an excellent job portraying adolescent confusion. It feels like Harry spends a lot of time being very distressed, but when you imagine yourself, at 15, in his situation, he is not necessarily unrealistic. Teenage angst has been done better, but seeing this side of Harry is important in understanding how he is growing. The plot is where Ms. Rowling really shines. The Order of the Phoenix his one has significant plot twists where they should be, as well as where you least expect them. Ron and Hermione are there in spades, and there is significant character development for all the major characters as well as a few minor characters. We see new sides of McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Black, and Neville. I was thrilled to see threads from novels 1-4 that seemed unimportant at the time be picked up and woven skillfully into the narrative. Her grasp of the overall plan for her septology is admirable, and I am pleased that she even more careful a writer than any of us had anticipated. This is a united whole, a well planned world. This 7 book series has a definite beginning, middle, and an end, and we are in the thick of things now. All the old charm is back as well. Rowling's wit seems mostly absent for the first 100 pages, but don't give up hope. She was not not attempting to make the first hundred pages funny--she wants us to know she is in deadly earnest. The wit is always bubbling under the surface, however, and later in the novel, there are a number of laugh out loud funny passages. Descriptions, as always, are excellent. I needn't add that the names of her characters are always interesting, funny, and often revealing. Spells play an important role, of course, and their magic words never fail to amuse. Please note: This is not a novel for 6 year olds. They won't understand the adolescent issues. The plot is not as scary as the end of the fourth novel, but the overall tone is dark, as has been much discussed. Her literary style is much the same as the previous novels, but her vocabulary is becoming more advanced as Harry ages. This is an excellent novel for the precocious 10 year old; I'm not sure I would let 7-8 year olds read it unless they are exceptionally mature. No sex, but there is some violence, and as above, the dark themes. Overall, I would say that this is--hands down--her best novel yet. The climax left me literally breathless, turning pages as fast as I could, unable to believe what I was reading. I look forward to her 6th installment in this series. Well done, Ms. Rowling. Keep up the amazing work. Take your time on the next one--it will be well worth it when you do. And whenever it comes, we'll still be here.

I understand that this book has sold more copies more quickly than any book in history, and that Amazon took pre-orders for around $3 million for it. Impressive. The story itself is not quite that awe-inspiring, but that's good news; if Harry's latest adventure were that brilliant, I can practically guarantee that people wouldn't love it as much as they do.We begin where Harry's adventures always begin; he's safe and miserable at the home of his disgusting relations, longing for the Hogwarts School and anxious for news from his friends. Well, he eventually gets both - no prizes for guessing that bit. This time, significantly, getting back to school and to his friends provides no relief, for several reasons. First, much of the wizarding world thinks he's either crazy or lying about his previous experiences. Second, his adult allies give him little or no information about how much danger he is in, from where, or what they are doing about it. And third, although it is not spelled out, he gets no relief because he's turning into a teenager.(He's been a technical teenager for a couple of years now, of course, but now he really starts to act like one. Never mind bloodthirsty enemies, horrible relatives and a cowardly Ministry of Magic - becoming a teenager is serious.)You've heard all the rumors about what happens next, of course. Suffice to say that Harry and his growing corps of buddies spend the next several hundred pages fighting the evil wizard Voldemort, the reactionary elements in the Ministry of Magic, the snobs and thugs in Slytherin House at school, and the usual gang of idiots. Nothing new there. So do you really need to worry that someone will tell you how it all turns out? No, you don't - you already know how it all turns out, that's why you're reading the book in the first place.Well, that and a few other things, but let's be honest; anyone who reads any popular fantasy series, including Harry Potter, and expects daringly original plotting is a fool. Ms. Rowling is neither a brilliant prose stylist nor a devastatingly original thinker. What she is, more so with each volume in her series, is a teller of rattling good yarns that carry a deep but deftly handled understanding of a young person's psychology.Why, for instance, is "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" so dark in tone? Because the life of a fifteen-year-old, wizard or not, can be a dark place at times. Let me ask you this: If you, like Harry, were a teenage boy forced to spend weeks and weeks with people you loathed, after suffering dreadful losses at the hand of someone who hated your every cell and was still out and about, and after you had unequivocally shown several times how brave and skillful you were - how would you react if every adult in your life said "Just sit tight, dear, you wouldn't understand anyway, you let us handle it"? You'd be an angel of light, would you?I don't think so, buddy. On the other hand, if you, like Harry, have a normal level of decency, you would not throw temper tantrums every five minutes, either. You would behave as Harry does here - you would struggle against bitterness and frustration, you would try to be kind to your friends, and once in a while you would lose it and nail everyone in sight right between the eyes.All of this is right on target, as anyone knows who has raised an adolescent boy, had dealings with an adolescent boy, or been an adolescent boy. What's more, Harry in this book must contend not only with a highly pressurized attempt to grow up, but also with the true unpolished memory of his father, the mysterious minds of girls, and his role as a leader - to say nothing of the ongoing threats to his life and sanity. All of those, except the last (I wish), fall to the lot of every maturing teen. People wonder why Ms. Rowling's books get thicker with every passing Hogwarts year? Well, so does the life of an adolescent.I cannot agree with those who gasp with delight at every Harry Potter development or trumpet the series as the best of all time, hence I must give "Order of the Phoenix" four stars rather than five. (I should add that, although I actually consider "Goblet of Fire" the best Potter story to date, it outdoes "Order of the Phoenix" by only a hair's breadth.) On the other hand, I re-read the first volume not long ago, and as good a read as it was, it was pretty formulaic as compared with "Phoenix". Like I said, Ms. Rowling improves fast, and her series has indeed developed into something that approaches the unique. As a teacher, I would stop worrying about any young person who loves Harry Potter - such a youngster has a brain and a heart, very good news considering how popular these books have become. And who knows - if I were 15 years old and reading this story for the first time, from the pen of a writer who really seemed to understand what I was going through, maybe I really would say it's the best series of all time.Benshlomo says, Fantasy - it ...

Having just reread the entire Harry Potter series in preparation for Book Six, it seems like the time is now right for me to finally review Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. To call the book fantastic is a gross understatement. Without doubt, it is the most absorbing novel I've ever read - even on multiple readings. It may be well over 800 pages, but it's still a quick read. I'm betting most fans read this book in two days or less - you just can't put it down. There were times when I wanted to throw it at something, though, just because so many awful things happen to these beloved characters over the course of Harry's fifth and - by far - most trying year at Hogwarts. You sit there enraged, struggling to believe such awful events can possibly be happening, and you're quite powerless to do anything about it - except plow on, hoping for a proverbial break in the clouds. At other times, I wanted to put down the book and cheer - especially for Fred and George and Professor McGonagall. Heck, even Peeves had me cheering in this one.They're not lying when they call this a coming-of-age story. Fifteen is a tough age for anyone, a sort of purgatory between childhood and adulthood, but for Harry it's uniquely unbearable. He's just seen Cedric Diggory killed and barely escaped from a fully restored Lord Voldemort, and what happens? He goes right into a wizarding deprivation tank on Privet Drive, with absolutely no word for weeks on end about what is going on. Then Dementors attack him, and he's suddenly facing expulsion and a hearing before a council of grand wizards. Once he is reunited with his friends and godfather, the adults still keep him in the dark - and he blows up, as well he should. Knowing almost nothing about what the newly restored Order of the Phoenix is actually doing, he's then packed off to Hogwarts - where he is almost completely ignored by Professor Dumbledore. The most unbelievable (and enraging) thing about all of this is the fact that Cornelius Fudge, the git running the Ministry of Magic, refuses to believe Voldemort has returned, and the Daily Prophet devotes the whole year to stories about the unbalanced, unstable Harry Potter and his attention-seeking claims. Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, you have the arrival of Dolores Umbrage - easily the most hateful, infuriating character of the series - as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts and - in short order - High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. Well, I won't go through the whole list, but Harry is really on his own more than ever this year - facing the largest obstacles imaginable.When I first read this novel, I felt that Harry was really just a little bit on the mean side during this fifth year at Hogwarts. A second read shows me that I was wrong, however. Harry is a teenager, in many ways a normal teenager despite his unique situation. The whole relationship thing with Cho Chang, for example, is perfectly envisioned. And the young man has a right to be mad - the fact that he even survived Hogwarts this year, let alone another encounter with Lord Voldemort, is darned impressive. We really learned a lot about all of the characters in this book - Snape, in particular. Good old Ron finally gets a few moments in the sun of his own, Neville emerges as a crucial character to the whole saga, and Hermione (my favorite character) is still her delightful self - except even more so. And I love Luna Lovegood.I didn't think any book could be as good as The Goblet of Fire. Now, I don't see how any book could be as good as Order of the Phoenix. Knowing J.K. Rowling, though, I expect the best is yet to come.