Finished it!

[gridlore]

Last night I finished Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. I liked it. It obviously was a big set up for the final book in the series, but it stood up well.


You were warned.

The Half-Blood Prince was Snape? I'm sorry, that whole thing was a bit of a stretch to me. And after five years, wouldn't Harry recognize Snape's handwriting?

The Big Death. I figured it was going to be Obi-Wan Dumbledore. The entire set up is for Harry to face down Voldemort on his own, and having one of the greatest wizards of all time as your back-up cheapens that a bit. But I think I would have preferred if one of Harry's friends had bitten the dust. Imagine Harry's feelings if Ron or Herminone had been killed by the Death Eaters!

Shippers Will the Ron/Herminone and Harry/Ginny contingents please report to the cashiers cages to collect their winnings? I liked the way she handled Harry's growing feelings for Ginny, and their first kiss was perfect. The Ron and Herminone energy was great. Opposites do attract.

Snape, Malfoy, and the Battle of Hogwarts. One of the most interesting things in this book from my point of view is the development of Snape. Piles of evidence that he is working for either side (or both) and his actions on the tower could be attributed to the Unbreakable Vow he took. The fact that he didn't do anything but counter Harry's curses makes me wonder...

Horcruxes I am so stealing these for a game. Neat concept, and it tied in well with the idea of Tom Riddle as a collector of souvenirs. Anybody else get the feeling that in a mundane world Tom would be a serial killer?

Looking forward to seeing how Ms. Rowling ties all this up.

Comments

[exziler.livejournal.com]

I don't think Harry could have recognized the handwriting; Handwriting developes over time. And anyway, I don't think Snape's handwriting is the sortof handwriting he'd note down in his brain and say "Snape".

I too, liked the development of Snape. I felt bittersweet; I had for all five books trusted him 100% and then I'm let down, and he's actually evil.
Then Dumbledore dies something I had not expected before book 7.
Explosive ending, but more grotesque and evil than any of the previous books.
Now I'm looking forward to who R.A.B. is.

R.A.B.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

The ink smeared. It's actually R.A.H. Robert Anson Heinlein.

[pauldrye.livejournal.com]

My best guess is that Snape made an Unbreakable Vow to protect Harry in the immediate aftermath of Voldemort's killing Harry's parents. This was Dumbledore's evidence that Snape was on the side of good.

I'm of the opinion that Snape's still working on the side of good, that even Dumbledore's death is part of a plan. "The lady doth protest too much" in the way Rowling's been piling up reasons for Snape to want to work for Voldemort.

It's worth noting that Dumbledore's symbol is a phoenix, I think.

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

Have a look at this analysis (http://www.livejournal.com/users/garlandgraves/3409.html). Makes a lot of sense to me.

[suliam.livejournal.com]

That is sweet. I always thought for Snape to actually be evil so that Harry could kill him(Oh happy day), was just too easy. Kind of cheap really. This makes sense.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Out of curiosity, why are you replying to a year-old entry?