Sunday, September 20, 2009

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling


As Luke Reviews has finally reached the conclusion of the Harry Potter epic, it is best to first step back and see where it all began:

Harry Potter has left Hogwarts, and is on the trail of horcruxes, the seats of the soul of Voldemorte. Along with his friends Ron and Hermione, they travel everywhere, from the gravesite of Harry’s parents, to Hogwarts itself, to find and stop Voldemorte. The quest tries their bonds of friendship and loyalty, brings some old faces back for one last time, and causes others to lose their lives. All of it culminates with one final battle of epic proportions, with Voldemorte’s army on one side, and Harry’s on the other.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows shakes up the status quo, with lives lost from the get go, and Rowling doesn’t shirk away from causing great harm to her major characters. Each of the large cast plays its part perfectly, never stepping out of character, and Rowling manages to string together a host of mysteries, tying them all together neatly at the very end. The final conclusion is a touch of a let down, as we don’t get much of the after effects, but just a skip to 19 years after the fact, but it is still nice to see how they all finished up.

After a few thousand pages of Harry Potter, it is odd to think that is has finished. However, Rowling managed to create one of the most enduring fantasies of our time, and it is a certainty that one day I will be returning to these novels and the wonderful characters placed within them. While sad to see it end, it is a comfort to know that it can begin again whenever I want.

9/10

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