[Storm]

Did anybody else find the escape from Malfoy's cellar to be the most unrealistic thing ever?

[Bond]

Why do you hate DH so much?

[Otal Nimrodi]

(Spoilers in this video)



This is freakin' classic. These guys drive around shouting spoilers at Harry Potter cosplayers who are waiting for the book. At the very end a fat kid in a robe tries to chase after their van. Hilarious.

I think I know one of those kids. At least, she looked like someone I know.

[Bond]

Poor kids, then...

[Storm]

I don't hate it. I'm just criticizing it. There were good parts to the book, such as the initial broom chase, the events that occur in Godric's Hollows, the pensieve viewing of Snape's memories, and Voldemort "killing" Harry. For one sweet, sweet moment, I thought Rowling had the guts to actually kill Harry. But then she took the easy way out.

[Bond]

Well, he couldn't just die. If then Neville killed Nagini, who'd kill Voldemort? Personally, I found the tie-in with the blood protection interesting, as it finally explained Dumbledore's "gleam of triumph" in GoF.

[civilian_number_two]

That was Dumbledore. He sent it to Petunia to make her remember the promise she made when she took Harry in. Goodness, were you drunk when you read OotP?

No, I wasn't drunk. I think you missed my meaning. The thing is, "Remember my first," or whatever that message said, is never explained. It's just there. If it was just supposed to be some fucked up shit to say to a motherfucker before you pop a cap, then fine. But I think when JKR wrote it, she planned one day for it to actually mean something. And she forgot all about it. I'll put myself on the list of folks who expected that. When you're making stuff up as you go along (all the tie-ins in this last book to others in the series screamed desperately of a writer trying to pretend she hadn't been making it up as she went along), then you're bound to miss some things. It's unfortunate that this particular thing was so prominent.

Anyway, criticisms aside, I think she made a decent landing. It should have been much worse. She came off a bit kill-happy, but then the escalation of the conflict more or less demanded it. Like whatsisname said in those SCREAM movies, in the last installment, all bets are off.

[Cobnat]

***MASSIVE SPOILER***

http://lameshout.net...read.php?t=4251

Do not open this up if you are not prepared to know who dies in the book.

[Bond]

Well, this is the **SPOILERS** thread, Cobnat, so...

[civilian_number_two]

I followed that link and found some forum where folks collectively fantasized about printing and distributing spoiler lists to folks lined up to buy the book. Or alternatively, just shouting them out like folks did with the last one. Where's Madame Corvax these days? I miss intelligent discussions.

[Chefelf]

I followed that link and found some forum where folks collectively fantasized about printing and distributing spoiler lists to folks lined up to buy the book. Or alternatively, just shouting them out like folks did with the last one. Where's Madame Corvax these days? I miss intelligent discussions.

Someone posted that list randomnly in the comments section on Digg.com and I stumbled upon it while reading a completely unrelated news story. This happened about 2 weeks ago.

Before I had the chance to realize what was going on I'd read the spoilers on Snape, Fred Weasley and Mad-Eye.

I gotta say, it's pretty lousy to spoil things on purpose but knowing who dies on what page is not that big a spoiler actually. The Fred Weasley thing was a little shocking but Snape? Who was that surprised that Snape died? Plus, it's how Snape dies and what happens after that's much more interesting.

[Blackwolf]

Someone posted that list randomnly in the comments section on Digg.com and I stumbled upon it while reading a completely unrelated news story. This happened about 2 weeks ago.

Before I had the chance to realize what was going on I'd read the spoilers on Snape, Fred Weasley and Mad-Eye.

I gotta say, it's pretty lousy to spoil things on purpose but knowing who dies on what page is not that big a spoiler actually. The Fred Weasley thing was a little shocking but Snape? Who was that surprised that Snape died? Plus, it's how Snape dies and what happens after that's much more interesting.

Well, I don't know about you all, fellow Chefelfers, but I have now issued my press release (I know, I did say three days; I think I needed the extra four so that I could clear my head. I have, however, sent said press release out through my electric_pirates@hotmail.com address; Chefelf's Founder can e-mail me privately, in the event that he wishes to post that press release here; otherwise, I'll probably post it myself on Wednesday, when I have proper time.

With Triumph's website not having been updated in months, as painful as it is for me, I have decided to de-link ol' Poopstar from me Links until somebody goads the ol' fresh hound into making proper updates. Stay ye tun'd!

Master Blackwolf

[Bond]

I gotta say, it's pretty lousy to spoil things on purpose but knowing who dies on what page is not that big a spoiler actually. The Fred Weasley thing was a little shocking but Snape? Who was that surprised that Snape died? Plus, it's how Snape dies and what happens after that's much more interesting.

Yeah, I found the happenings around his death to be far more interesting, Also, it made his life that much more tragic.

[Spoon Poetic]

Here's my little review; many many spoilers.


The epilogue was, as tons of people everywhere are already complaining, just too perfect and schmaltzy. Maybe it was for the benefit of younger readers who might really need some sort of uberhappy closure in order to handle all the darker plot elements? I don't know, but I wish it weren't so sappysweet.

I really was expecting at least ONE main character to die, and a heck of a lot more semi-main characters, especially in the "huge" final battle. But of anyone that had remote importance throughout the series, only what, three and a half (I'm being generous to count Colin Creevey as a half) died in the final battle, and in the rest of the book, three plus a bad guy (Pettigrew)?

I also don't like the bit about Harry coming back at all. Come on. He so should have died. What, is he Jesus?

My guess is, Rowling got too emotionally attached to her own fictional creations, and couldn't bear to kill them off. I mean, she admitted herself that when she wrote certain parts, she bawled like a baby. Puh-lease. I'm sorry hon, they're good books, but they're freakin' made-up. I would have liked to see at least one of the trio offed, and a good handful of semi-main characters (the Order, schoolmates, family, etc).

I was also pretty disappointed that all these things she promised, such as "Someone who hasn't done magic before will do magic later in life" never happened, and I'm pretty sure she said she'd give us more insight into Lily and James' lives (i.e. occupation etc; not just that that bit about Lily/Snape in childhood)...

I also found most of the middle to be pretty boring. They move somewhere, they whine, they get nothing accomplished, they move and do it all over again.

And the complaints about the random sword pulling, I totally didn't get that, either. My best guess is that it's kinda like the wand; that goblin dude became the owner of it, but then since Voldemort killed him in Gringotts, he no longer could claim it, and so it could magically transport itself to its place in the hat again or something.

However, I did like a lot of things; I along with many other people had pretty much predicted that Harry was a horcrux and that Snape and Dumbledore had this elaborate plan to make everyone think Snape was nearly as evil as V himself though he wasn't. And I like those plot elements, even if I did predict them - because it wasn't like, a "duh" prediction, it was like a, "wouldn't it be really cool if" prediction - not like we were all sure that's what was going to happen.

And I found it hilarious that Rowling took cues from the huge "Dumbledore is/isn't really dead!" debates and poked fun by having Ron question whether he was several times.

Dobby's death was particularly emotional, and I think she did great with his death and burial. It was also nice to find out Dumbledore wasn't this infallible god-like person; he actually had a past that had secrets and flaws, and we got a pretty good glimpse into it. I'm glad Harry finally respects Snape; I would oftentimes want to slap the kid for his assumptions and his attitude towards the man in the first couple of books when he really had very little reason at all to believe he was evil. Harry's "emo-ness" in this book seems more relevant and justified this book; it actually plays a part in the story (unlike the past couple of books - it just seemed to be filler much of the time there).

I dunno; I think a lot was done well on this book, but I also feel like several things could have been much improved with not a lot of extra effort. But most of all I respect Rowling for getting kids interested in reading again, whether I like the books or not.

[Bond]

Wonderful review, Spoon Poetic, and let me be the first to welcome you back.