What's new
  • Welcome to the Heroscapers 2.0 site! We've still got some dust to clear and adjustments to make, including launching a new front page, but we hope you enjoy the improvements to the site. Please post your feedback and any issues you encounter in this thread.

Harry Potter

What do you think of the Harry Potter series?

  • I love the Harry Potter books!

    Votes: 45 51.1%

  • I like the Harry Potter books!

    Votes: 19 21.6%

  • The Harry Potter books are okay.

    Votes: 3 3.4%

  • I hate the Harry Potter books.

    Votes: 10 11.4%

  • I have not read enough/any to make a call.

    Votes: 11 12.5%
  • Total voters
    88
rednax

rednax

Runa's favorite Minion
I was so shocked when I found this book didn't have a thread. So, this is the discussion thread for all things magical we muggles want to talk about. ;) Talk about which book was your favorite, if you like Harry Potter or not, the comparisons between the books and movies, the characters, the plot in general, and J. K. Rowling.

I am a huge Harry Potter Fan, and my favorite book is Order of the Phoenix, followed by Half-Blood Prince, then Deathly Hallows. I didn't like the fourth that much, since it deviated from the general storyline of quidditch and school.

Some of my favorite characters beside the trio were Neville, Ginny, Luna, and the twins.

The movies are generally good, and usually have a bit more comedy in them, but stray away from the storyline, more than I'd like.

I'm looking very forward to the last two movies.

I've read each book at least 2 times, most at least 3.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard (released last December) was a very good book.

I'm sorry for being so random, I'm just trying to get some discussion going. :p
 
Something must be wrong with your poll. It has more than 2 options and a variety of responses.


I only read book 1 and don't really have interest in reading the rest. It was good, but nowhere near everyone telling me "OMG I was so hooked after just reading the first book!!!1one" :shrug:
 
I don't like these books. I flipped through one book, and wasn't impressed. Some might say 'read them all and you'll love them' but I've never felt the urge to. I prefer sticking to my Michael Chrichton, Tom Clancy, and Frank Peretti books.
 
I read 'em. Books 1-3 were a fun youth-fantasy cycle. Everything else kinda sucked. No, that's not fair, books 4-6 were okay, but should have ether been darker or lighter. As it was, they were too dark to have the same feel as books 1-3 and they weren't dark enough to qualify as good stand alone dark fantasy. Book 7 sucked. Pacing was terrible, plot was contrived and resolution was neither interesting nor satisfying.

~Aldin, who feels like Rowling pulled a fast one on her readership
 
Any of you guys re-read through them after the 7th came out? I read a book a day for that series, in order, for a week straight. With the information still fresh in my mind, I saw a lot foreshadowing. My favorite is actually the fifth, because it gives a great show of the Weasly twins genius, and a silly governing group watching the house fall around their paranoid ears.
 
NecroBlade said:
I only read book 1 and don't really have interest in reading the rest. It was good, but nowhere near everyone telling me "OMG I was so hooked after just reading the first book!!!1one" :shrug:
Click to expand...
I was never hit but the Harry Potter craze and when I borrowed the first book from a friend I wasn't bothered one way or the other. I tried to read the second book but couldn't make it past the first chapter. It just bored me to tears and I didn't feel the magic. :p
 
Aldin said:
Book 7 sucked. Pacing was terrible, plot was contrived and resolution was neither interesting nor satisfying.
Click to expand...
Admission #1: I did not read the books; I heard the complete series on Audio CD. But it was the unadulterated version, I heard it all.

Admission #2: I was biased against them. I didn't want to like them. Not because of the whole witch/wicca thing, but because I thought they were 'kids' books.


Conclusion #1: The series is cohesive and needs to be considered as one complete story, much the same way as Star Wars needs all three movies. Even though 'A New Hope' can sorta stand alone, it really is the first act in an unfolding inter-gallactic drama.

Conclusion #2: Aldin is wrong. The ending revelation (and I'll not reveal it for those who don't know) was a surprise on the level of Bruce Willis's discovery, in the Sixth Sense, that he was dead the whole movie (sorry for those of you who haven't seen that movie, but it's been out many years now, you should know about this). The ending satisfies anyone with a pulse. Which leads me to my last conclusion...

Conclusion #3: Aldin is a zombie. Your cover is blown, my friend.
 
Aldin said:
Brains!

~Aldin, gnawingly
Click to expand...
Aldin's wedding cake?
7324_188017846220_517231220_4459285_1795655_n.jpg
 
Jandars_Hope said:
NecroBlade said:
I only read book 1 and don't really have interest in reading the rest. It was good, but nowhere near everyone telling me "OMG I was so hooked after just reading the first book!!!1one" :shrug:
Click to expand...
I was never hit but the Harry Potter craze and when I borrowed the first book from a friend I wasn't bothered one way or the other. I tried to read the second book but couldn't make it past the first chapter. It just bored me to tears and I didn't feel the magic. :p
Click to expand...
That is almost exactly my experience. We saw the movies and my wife read the books. I decided to read them and couldn't get past the beginning of the second book. I think I got as far as them getting to school, but then something came up that was more important than reading them. When I had the time to read it again, I just didn't care. I thought the first movie was better than the book, and I wasn't that crazy about the movie. I still think the third movie is the best of the series, and that is mostly because it has the least Voldemort.
 
Ennervate! ;) (if you don't know what that does, READ THE BOOKS!) I absolutely love the books. They all have something new/different in them. The one problem I see is that the first book is a little bland compared to the rest, but it is still an enjoyable read. Also, the beginnings of the second and sixth books are kind of boring, especially the sixth book's (I actually just skipped the whole first chapter after reading a few pages the first time I read it.)

Book 1: HP and The Sorcerer's stone (Philosopher's stone for you Europeans)
first book, I found it interesting, although it goes by very quickly. fun fact: they only tell you the words for 3 spells in the whole book (vs 27+ in the 4th)

Book 2: HP and The Chamber of Secrets: Begins kind of boring, but action/ mystery starts soon after that.

Book 3: HP and The Prisoner of Azkaban: Very exciting all the way through, and huge climax at the end, although there is not really a big physical fight between 'good' and 'evil'.

Book 4: HP and The Goblet of Fire: First really big book (twice the size of the 1,2 or 3rd books). Starts out very interesting, then skyrockets, then kind of goes on a roller coaster in terms of how much action, until at the very end there is the 2nd biggest climax in the series.

Book 5: HP an The Order of The Phoenix: Longest book of the series (I believe). Has the probably most hated character in the series (topping even Voldemort :shock: in my mind). Has the 3rd highest climax at the very end.

Book 6: HP and The Half-Blood Prince: Starts out extremely boring, but only for the first chapter. There is a new teacher, and Snape becomes much happier because of that. Dumbledore confides in Harry what keeps Voldemort :shock: 'alive', and at the end comes one of the saddest moments in the book.

Book 7: HP and The Deathly Hallows: Final book in the series. It wraps the whole story up well, and comes down to a descision by Harry that allows the rest of the Wizarding world to come closer to defeating Voldemort :shock:.


In my opinion the only bad movie is the 6th one. It leaves out the best parts, and if I remember right, even adds some things that are not even close to what is in the books.
 
I didn't care for the 4th or 6th movie, but all of the others were pretty good. The 3rd and 7th are by far the best though.

All of the books were amazing, especially 4 and 5.
 
I could go on forever about the goodness of Harry Potter. But I won't. Instead, I'll rag on those who don't like it. You're all mentally ill.
Avada Kedavra!
;)
 
The only book I didn't really care for was 2. It just seemed like a repeat of the basic plot structure of 1, and thus redundant. Book 5 was my favorite by far.
 
I've read them all - out loud - to my children (and my wife). In fact when we went on a 2-week vacation a few years back, my wife had to drive most of the way so that I could read.

Of course when I read out loud, it's with voices and sound effects. Came out surprisingly similar to the audio books the kids got later.

The whole household can't wait to see the last movie, which (as all movies do) will probably stray some from the actual story.
 
I've read them all. They started out fairly good but not mind blowing or anything, so I don't really fully understand how they became such a huge deal. Then as she became a huge star it became quite obvious that she got more and more full of her self and the books got worse and worse as a result.

Her lame attempts to inject modern day political commentary into children's fantasy books was a disastrous idea. The whole elf liberation bit should have been edited out by an editor somewhere along the process. They (her editors) did her a disservice by letting her drone on an on in several of her books. They could have cut a few hundred pages out of a few of them easily.

The last book was really awful. I only read it the one time and just did not like it at all. So many things just didn't work. For me it also appeared that she got pissed off that so many fans figured out where the story was heading so he changed it just to prove them wrong. By changing it it became worse though.

I really think that if she had written and published the first 5-6 books of the series with little fanfare, then they blew up into the huge phenomenon that they have become, they would have been much better stories. All the instant fame went to her head and all the pressure to deliver lead to trying to do too much IMO.
 
Yodaking said:
I've read them all. They started out fairly good but not mind blowing or anything, so I don't really fully understand how they became such a huge deal. Then as she became a huge star it became quite obvious that she got more and more full of her self and the books got worse and worse as a result.

Her lame attempts to inject modern day political commentary into children's fantasy books was a disastrous idea. The whole elf liberation bit should have been edited out by an editor somewhere along the process. They (her editors) did her a disservice by letting her drone on an on in several of her books. They could have cut a few hundred pages out of a few of them easily.

The last book was really awful. I only read it the one time and just did not like it at all. So many things just didn't work. For me it also appeared that she got pissed off that so many fans figured out where the story was heading so he changed it just to prove them wrong. By changing it it became worse though.

I really think that if she had written and published the first 5-6 books of the series with little fanfare, then they blew up into the huge phenomenon that they have become, they would have been much better stories. All the instant fame went to her head and all the pressure to deliver lead to trying to do too much IMO.
Click to expand...

I agree with much of this. Liked the HP books but didn't love them (won't ever reread tham). Didn't like the 7th book at all.

My 9 yo old son loves these books and had read and reread them many times over the last few months.
 
Well I hate Harry Potter. I never cared much for the books, but I thought they were alright. I just hate the character himself. He's just a dweeb. By the way, the next thing contains spoilers. Note the spoiler thing.
Spoiler Alert!

EDIT: There. I added spoilers. :thumbsup:
 
Nice spoiler, BoD.

~Aldin, who supposes pretty much anyone who wants to read it has read it at this point anyway
 
Uhh...

*Marvels in horror at the amount of HP hate in this thread*

Tarantallegra!


Okay, seriously now. I liked books and movies 2, 4, and 6 better than 1, 3, 5, and 7. Except book 5 was awesome.
 
Heh, my girlfriend love HP. I never did. The books were fun reads, I ended up reading all of them but the last one. They weren't spectacular, though. Harry himself did nothing but annoy me, and the same plot basically happened throughout most of the books. I heard what happens in the last book, how they kill basically every minor character, and some weird looophole ends it all. Just sounded stupid to me, so I lost interest. Too big a book to read just because. :p
 
I really like the HP books. I've noticed that as the seiries goes on, and the character ages, the books become darker. Each story becomes more sinister, more people start to die. It's apparant in the movies as well. if you were to watch the first movie, so full of colors that stand out, and the final movie (or part 1 of the final movie) everything is gloomy, grey, and depressing. you will notice a complete change of atmosphere. I believe this change started in the 4th book
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top