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So I finished the book last night. I should say very early this morning, as it was about 2:30am...
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So we kinda knew by chapter four or so that Dumbledore was going to "buy the farm". We knew that Draco's job would be to off him, and Snape (because of his unbreakable vow) would be the one to pull the trigger (metaphorically speaking, of course). So really no surprises there.
I was rather glad that Harry is finally *doing* something, even if he is going off in all directions at once about it. He's being the typical teenager - so I have no quarrels with her characterization of him. The romance sub-plots were no surprise, either. And we are talking teenagers, so treacle-y was expected. The Remus/Tonks subplot was annoying, but again, no surprise. The Bill/Fleur - well, no real surprise there, either. That she will stick with him shows she is more than she acts, but aren't we all? The only annoyance factor here is that I would have liked to hear more from *Bill* for gods sake. He was a looming silent presence through the whole book as we heard from and about Fleur at every turn.
Percy. She has fumbled his characterization badly through the last three books, IMO, but then I have a major soft spot for him. I *loved* Gred and Forge. Manufacturing stuff for the Ministry! I think Harry should go there to kit up before he Quests.
And who was all *that* surprised Snape was the Half-Blood Prince? Not me. It was either him or Riddle, and having Riddle "speak" through a book has been done before. So smart money was on Snape from the beginning.
Okay looking ahead: Is Dumbledore really dead? Don't know. Seems so now, but remember Snape is very good at non-verbal magic. And Dumbledore just got through telling Draco that they can hide him and his mother as "dead" from the Death Eaters. So I will not be surprised if Dumbledore comes back in some form (after all, Aslan did it). It seems too convenient that he would die at Snape's hand, when Dumbledore and Snape have such a bond. So we kinda feel that Dumbledore set it up specifically so Snape would be the one to kill him. Because they have a plan? Again, don't know. We'll just have to wait for the seventh book to find out.
But it is awfully convenient that Dumbledore made sure to give Harry all the backstory on Riddle he could *in this year* - perhaps because he knew he would not be able to guide Harry after the year is over?
So now I have put down my first impressions (this book is just set up for the final story - lots of set up!), I will go and read some of *your* thoughts and theories.
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So we kinda knew by chapter four or so that Dumbledore was going to "buy the farm". We knew that Draco's job would be to off him, and Snape (because of his unbreakable vow) would be the one to pull the trigger (metaphorically speaking, of course). So really no surprises there.
I was rather glad that Harry is finally *doing* something, even if he is going off in all directions at once about it. He's being the typical teenager - so I have no quarrels with her characterization of him. The romance sub-plots were no surprise, either. And we are talking teenagers, so treacle-y was expected. The Remus/Tonks subplot was annoying, but again, no surprise. The Bill/Fleur - well, no real surprise there, either. That she will stick with him shows she is more than she acts, but aren't we all? The only annoyance factor here is that I would have liked to hear more from *Bill* for gods sake. He was a looming silent presence through the whole book as we heard from and about Fleur at every turn.
Percy. She has fumbled his characterization badly through the last three books, IMO, but then I have a major soft spot for him. I *loved* Gred and Forge. Manufacturing stuff for the Ministry! I think Harry should go there to kit up before he Quests.
And who was all *that* surprised Snape was the Half-Blood Prince? Not me. It was either him or Riddle, and having Riddle "speak" through a book has been done before. So smart money was on Snape from the beginning.
Okay looking ahead: Is Dumbledore really dead? Don't know. Seems so now, but remember Snape is very good at non-verbal magic. And Dumbledore just got through telling Draco that they can hide him and his mother as "dead" from the Death Eaters. So I will not be surprised if Dumbledore comes back in some form (after all, Aslan did it). It seems too convenient that he would die at Snape's hand, when Dumbledore and Snape have such a bond. So we kinda feel that Dumbledore set it up specifically so Snape would be the one to kill him. Because they have a plan? Again, don't know. We'll just have to wait for the seventh book to find out.
But it is awfully convenient that Dumbledore made sure to give Harry all the backstory on Riddle he could *in this year* - perhaps because he knew he would not be able to guide Harry after the year is over?
So now I have put down my first impressions (this book is just set up for the final story - lots of set up!), I will go and read some of *your* thoughts and theories.
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And I will have to read parts of it again but I'm pretty sure that there is scads more happening in the final fight sequence than she's put on the page, because she's shown it to us from *Harry's* point of view.
All in all, I didn't hate this one. It is set up for the next one, but on it's own, not so bad. It does not replace PoA as my favourite, though.
It's good that we get so *much* of Tom Riddle's backstory in this book though, seeing as the Witching Hour is using him as their "mascot" or "host."