Rating: 
Summary: wow...I get to be first!
Review: What can I say. I was worried that after all the hype, and the long wait, that this book would be a disappointment. But after openning to the first page on Saturday morning, I couldn't put the book down for the whole weekend, finishing by Sunday morning, tired but exhilerated, and waiting for the next installment, and the chance to go back and reread it several times. This book is truly excellent. It shows the world not in shades of black and white, but gray. No one is perfect, and bad things happen to good people. The writing is full of texture and multiple layers of meaning. It means a lot ot me as an adult, and I would have loved to read these books as a child. I think they teach valuable lessons. But specifically, this book is outstanding, achieving the transition to adolescence with the ease and grace that our poor protagonists won't have again until the teen years run their course. I can't recommend this book highly enough, its worth even penny, and the three year wait.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: It is hard to write a good novel. It is harder still to write a good sequel to a good novel. It is a miracle to write a series of good novels. J. K. Rowling has definitely performed a miracle. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is another great novel, in a series of great novels. Rowling continues to supply the reader (kid or adult) with excitement, humor and action in the fifth book in the HP series. Harry Potter, now 15 years old, is once again thrust into the middle of torment and intrigue as the leaders of the wizard world refuse to believe the evil dark lord Voldemort is back and rebuilding his legion of evil followers. Harry's age and past are taking its toll, with the character growing angry and quick to temper as he returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is faced with Headmaster Dumbledore growing distant, an on again/off again girlfriend, a new hostile teacher imposed by the government, and a recurring dream about a mysterious doorway. Although the end is not as cheerful as other HP books, it does wrap-up the episode well, and leaves plenty of room for the last two novels in the series. Now the painful wait for book number six. -sigh-
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely wonderful!! Well worth the wait in every way!
Review: I was riveted from page one, and even stayed awake all night to read and read some more. J.K. Rowling most certainly has outdone herself with this 5th installment of the Harry Potter series! I won't give spoilers, but I will just say that if you liked the way things were going at the end of the Goblet of Fire, then this book certainly will NOT dissapoint. I thought that it'd be hard to top The Goblet of Fire, but I sure was put into my place! Rowling furthers the story along wonderfully in this major turning point book, and keep you glued all the way through, on a plot with more twists than a roller-coaster. But a warning to Harry Potter newbies: the last four books are ESSENTIAL to understand this one, so start at the beginning, or you will be completely and totally LOST! But that should go without saying. But no question, this one is a pot of gold in every way, and well worth the wait! Potter fans will be talking about it until the next one!
Rating: 
Summary: Too Long Winded
Review: For as long as we waited for this tome to come out, it was disappointing. I just couldn't care about these characters as much as I did in the previous books. If you are already a Harry Potter fan, this won't matter - but if this was the first one of the series you had ever read, you wouldn't be chomping at the bit for the next one. More than anything, it just felt as if it could really use a good editor.
Rating:
Summary: She did it again!
Review: I sat down to read book 5 and got so absorbed in the story I read the whole book straight through! (I don't really recommend this, reading for 8 hours straight can do funny things to a person!) It is so amazing how J. K. Rowling has kept the story fresh through every single book. Not even a three year wait has dulled the story. Now we just need book 6!
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Review: The Order of the Pfoenix is a grand tale that keeps you guessing until the end. I won't say what happens in the books 870 pages exept it goes alone quickly, the excitement starts at chapter one and never seems to stop. I highly recoment this wonderful book, tought it is a little to intense for childeren under 11, but above that age it is simply marvelous.
Rating: 
Summary: Another fine Harry Potter adventure
Review: Ms Rowling has done a fine job continuing the Harry Potter series. Order of the Phoenix extends Harry's legacy as the child vanquisher of He Who Must Not Be Named and his supporters. I think this volume was not quite as well written as prior ones (Goblet of Fire most notably), because it seems to drag a bit through the Orwellian theme that makes up a good portion of the story. The majority of the action is concentrated in the last few chapters (unlike Goblet), and it seemed to be a long time coming. Phoenix does position the reader well for the continuation of the series. Too bad we now have to wait two more years for the next one!
Rating:
Summary: The Order of The Phoenix - an older hero and an older author
Review: Harry has changed. So has his situation. Maybe J.K. has changed during these three years. Everyone, especially Harry, seems short tempered. The increased level of blindness to the obvious would be an annoying distraction if it didn't seem to make such a wonderful allogory to events in Nazi Germany and other oppressive regimes. We've had the good, and the bad, and now we have the inert. The ministry is now in conflict with Hogwarts and blind, deaf, and dumb to the dangers of the risen Dark Lord. There is more conflict everywhere between friends and family. Some members no longer respect their own family's values. There are a few pleasant interludes, but they vanish quickly. To me it is fierce reading, not relaxing at all. The out come may be more satisfactory than that of book 4, but it takes it's toll. But hey, lets hope book #6 and movie #3 don't require 3 years
Rating:
Summary: Keep 'Em Coming, Miss Rowling!
Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the next book in the magical series by J. K. Rowling, introduces a new and more mature side of Harry we haven't seen before. In the first four books, Harry was a young man who had just been accepted into Hogwarts, learning to be a wizard and defeating forms of Lord Voldemort countless times. But his fifth year embarks on a journey that is darker than the previous adventures, bringing with it all of the symptoms of adolescence at the same time. This time, Lord Voldemort has been restored to his body, and is more cunning than ever. The Ministry refuses to believe his return, and Harry is suddenly regarded as a madman by many of wizardkind. But Harry's friends Ron and Hermione stand by him, even when Harry's temper seems to be getting the better of him, which happens often in this book. Also, now that the Dark Lord is back, Harry's scar twinges more often and deaths will become more frequent, including a death of someone close to Harry. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was an incredible book, and I can hardly wait until the next one. This book deserves 5 stars for the effort involved to create it and its unique story line. I would recommend this book to everyone old enough to understand the complexity of the situation. Everyone who has read this series, including myself, can only wonder what the next installment in this seven-part tale will bring.
Rating:
Summary: Potter not up to scale?
Review: Ahh...the thrill of the latest Harry Potter and to say the least I was sorely disappointed... I came across the Potter books a few years ago, I was delighted to find such highly original, funny, and extremely magical novels. The books had all the attributes that children and adults, alike, can relish. Now, with waiting three years for the 5th, I put in an order to have Harry sent to me on the day it was released. The second the book was in my hand I hurried off to my room and locked the door, hoping not to be disturbed for the remainder of the day and maybe the next. As I worked my way through nearly 900 pages my disappointment grew considerably. I found the new book so similar to its predecessors, when I was sure there was to be something new and so different from the others. (Maybe it's just that my prejudice is based on the fact that my absolute favorite character meets his untimely death...but I doubt it). The books are starting to show signs of being the same piece of gum in a different, brightly colored wrapper. And the gum is being stretched and beginning to lose its flavor. Ok, time for compliments: the book, like all the others is very well written, emotions from the characters are conveyed to the reader surprisingly well (but Harry's new attitude is considerably exaggerated), and last but not never least we are reacquainted with our favorite characters (even if they do kick the bucket in the end). I do suppose I enjoyed it, even after crying my eyes out over ******* (thought I was going to say his name? Hehehe, well, I not going to spoil it for those of you who have not read it yet or have reached that particular scene). One more thing, let's hope the 6th book does not take as long as this one took.
|
