Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J. K. Rowling
published 2005 - read 2005

OK, it's time for spoiler space. If you haven't read it yet, and plan to, don't read this entry. This review WILL get into plot specifics that will absolutely ruin the book.

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

P

A

C

E

The second-to-last-book in the series, and by now I kind of know what I'm in for - a couple nights of reading it like a madman, and then, immediately after it's over, wishing I'd spaced it out better so as to savor it. This effect was more pronounced since this book was considerably shorter than either "Order" or "Goblet" - but I can't complain, I guess, since I always felt like both of those books desperately needed an editor. There's a little bit of redundant material here (was the Tonks subplot remotely necessary?) but generally things kept moving forward on the rails and I didn't spend nearly as much time as I usually do beating my head against the book and wishing Harry would stop being such a jerkoff.

There are still a few moments like that, and frankly this points to something of a weakness in the series - in order to keep Harry identifiable as a flawed teenage character, JK seems to have overcompensated and not let him learn and grow enough from his experiences. As a result, it's not quite plausible for him to take up the full mantle of a hero at the end of this one - we'll see how he manages in the final volume, I guess...

A few disconnected thoughts now....

1) I really am convinced now that one of the most overlooked strengths of this series is Rowling's use of the adult characters. Particularly, the bad ones. We've now had an incredible variety of antagonists, obstacles, and unashamed villains, and what's impressive is that they all feel like distinct individuals and not just cackling, sinister, "I love evil!" types. There are a few of those (Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange) and they're by far the least interesting; J. K.has been wise to make extensive and often understated use of the baddies who are much more like the kind of bad guys kids are likely to run into as they grow up... people that do evil not out of a love for evil, but out of baser motives, like fear or keeping themselves in denial. Order of the Phoenix did a great job giving us the diabolical bureaucrat of Umbridge, not to mention the weak-willed political hackery of Fudge. This volume, Fudge is replaced by a more able, dedicated Minister - but one who is still at heart a politician, concerned overmuch with appearances and keeping the public calm. Harry's ability to see through this instinctively is well-handled, I think. We also get a gregarious, dinner-party-throwing wizard whose social climbing and weakness for flattery helped enable Voldemort to become what he is, and in a much smaller role, a Death Eater now motivated more by fear for her son's safety than anything else. We even see Fred and George's practical-joke magic come to evil uses in the wrong hands, a brilliant little touch. Given that it's more likely that you'll meet Dolores Umbridge than Lord Voldemort, I think these are good stories for kids to be reading.

2) Okay, I'm writing this part like weeks later because of various things. Anyway, the only other thought I can remember having was that I like how this book is starting to really work the "similarities between Harry and Voldemort" angle, without cleanly explaining them away like the Parselmouth thing in Chamber or whatever. There's this really strong sense that Harry is a lot like Voldemort and it's not just a cobbled-together thing to give their antagonism a mythical quality. All that keeps this driven, wounded orphan with anger management problems from being Voldemort is that there already is a Voldemort, a negative example for Harry to consciously avoid becoming.  Meanwhile, though, Dumbledore reminds us that if there hadn't been a Voldemort there wouldn't be a Harry Potter either - Harry Potter would be just another wizard, a Neville perhaps. But Neville wouldn't be Neville either if not for Voldemort either. I don't know, I think it's kind of an interesting thing, and I'm hoping the climax for Book 7 really brings us back home to the central event of Harry's life. By killing Harry's parents, Voldemort made Harry everything is, for good and for bad. I'm not saying I want a "Harry is tempted by the dark side" plot or anything. I just like the ambiguities and open questions left in this whole thing.

3) I'm ordinarily a defender of the American covers, but this one just sucks, period. What a crappy illustration. They've done so very much better in the past. The dull-green/black color scheme for the spine really really sucks too, you can barely tell that there's a book on the shelf.

Botom line - To date, the best of the later Potter books. If you read the other ones, you'll like this; you probably don't need me to tell you that though.

This commentary is part of The Stories Addison Reads.  If you came to this page from an outside link and can't see the complete book listing, click here to refresh the frame.