Writing Warning! This thread contains unmarked spoilers!: Harry Potter, Book 6.

[Shinmaru]

[quote name='Juke Box Hero][SPOILER'] Q to the wise ones: Who is RAB? Gahh I am soo puzzled....[/spoiler][/quote]

[spoiler]The most popular theory at the moment is that R.A.B. is Sirius Black's brother, Regulus Black. I think his middle name begins with an A, but I don't remember the exact name at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised if Regulus were R.A.B.[/spoiler]

[eleanor]

[QUOTE=Shinmaru]
Also, Lunox: [spoiler]What did you think of Slughorn? I didn't care for him too much. He was mostly there to get a raging hard-on whenever Harry showed up. He felt much more like a plot device than a real character, honestly. A lot of my disappointment from him comes also comes from his addition to the staff putting Snape into Defense Against the Dark Arts and nothing really springing from that, either. Disappointment all around.I liked the addition of Umbridge better in the last novel. She was so much fun to hate. Slughorn didn't really inspire much in me other than annoyance.[/spoiler]

Whew. So, yeah, I liked some things about the novel, but there were a lot of things that disappointed me as well. I hope that the final novel really ties things together strongly enough to put HBP in a new light, but I don't know how that would occur. Oh well. I still enjoyed it overall, I suppose.[/QUOTE]

[spoiler] Ah, yes. Slughorn. Let me just say that I forgot he existed by the end of the book, so I didn't really care for him much either, haha. I saw him as semi-potential evil guy in the beginning, but it turned out to be another thing JK Rowling seemed to just shove off (I was also massively wondering where the all the Harry/Snape hate-scenes in DADA classes were...I was actually excited about that. >_>). I was also expecting some sort of Umbridge-like character in Snape... argh. Anyways, Slughorn was a potentially evil raging hard-on thrown in the corner with Snape.

I am thinking maybe because of JK Rowling's pregnancy her hormones did something to her? Am I getting close here? Yes? No?

Just another tidbit I want to say: I was [size=3]very[/size] suspicious of Dumbledore during the whole book. Sometimes I was half-expecting Dumbledore to jump onto a desk and reveal that "I am not really Dumbledore, but [insert evil guy]! Hahaha! Bitches!", but that didn't happen. Dunno why, I was just very very suspicious. As in, stroking-my-chin suspicious. Hmmm. [/spoiler]

[color=darkslateblue]Other random tidbit: While I was waiting at Barnes and Noble for the book to come, my friends and I found the most hardcore-looking group of Harry Potter fans, grabbed a Return of the Sith book, and started raving over Star Wars loudly. The HP fans were giving us looks of murder. Heehee.
Real quote:

Friend: Who would win in the ultimate duel, HARRY POTTER OR OBI-WAN?!
Me: Duh, [i]Obi-Wan[/i], and if I must add that VOLDEMORT IS NOTHING ON DARTH VADER.
[/color]

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]It's morning and I'm too busy trying to put on make-up to write a proper reply but I wanted to get SOMETHING in. I did at least, read Shinmaru's post, which in effect meant I read Lunox's post too.

[spoiler]Yes, the whole thing was pretty annoying, but I will say that I prefer this book over OotP, because well, we were all sort of expecting Dumblerdore's death a whole hell of a lot more than we were experting the death of someone cut down in his prime... And also, Harry only yelled once in HBP (for a very good reason, might I add), which was incredibly relieving.

It seemed to me like Rowling wanted to say a lot more than she did, but that her editors took out anything of importance at all in this book. Anything. Either that or all this fame has made her a totally incompetent writer. I mean, I understand why Harry was telling Dumbledore EVERYTHING (because last time he told nothing, Sirius died), but she didn't even EXPLAIN that in HBP. >___>

I'll probably edit this later, but the one thing I wanted to say is that I still have faith in Severus. I really do. I hate him, and I think he's a bastard, but I have absolute faith in him, like Dumbledore did, until the end. I know, I'm retarded, but I really do have faith.[/spoiler]


THAT'S RIGHT EVERYONE. I TRUST THE HBP. SO THERE!!!!!!![/color]

[Guest Dicky Barrett]

[spoiler]Snape is the Half Blood Prince, and he kills Dumbledore. Plus Harry kisses and goes out with Ginny. It's like a fanfic.[/spoiler]

[Lord Dante]

Reading the posts, I think that there is nothing more to be said that hasn't already been said.

However, i did feel that many things in the book left me scratching my head, and after re-reading it three times since, it seems farcical and rushed. (pardon me if farcical isn't a ereal word, i can't seem to remember)

One good thing that I will say for the book though, is that it broke form the monotonous tradition of the other books.

I.E:

Privet drive
crap happens
hogwarts express
angst on the train
hogwarts
monotony
build up to big, tragic event
big, tragic event
more crap
end on the platform

Which I must say was a welcome change. (in using the word Crap, i do not nescessarily mean derogetory)

[Queen Asuka]

[QUOTE=MistressRoxie][color=#9933ff][spoiler]I'll probably edit this later, but the one thing I wanted to say is that I still have faith in Severus. I really do. I hate him, and I think he's a bastard, but I have absolute faith in him, like Dumbledore did, until the end. I know, I'm retarded, but I really do have faith.[/spoiler]


THAT'S RIGHT EVERYONE. I TRUST THE HBP. SO THERE!!!!!!![/color][/QUOTE]

[color=hotpink][size=1]I feel the same way as you, Roxie. I believe that [spoiler]the only reason that Snape actually killed Dumbledore is because of the Unbreakable Vow, and once he did, he knew he would have to scram. Of course, he's probably not going to be in the Order anymore, but we'll just have to see where that goes in book seven.[/spoiler]

And I just wanted to say that I'm really disappointed in most of the posts that I've read here so far. It seems that everyone just wants to find something wrong with the book so that they can have something to bitch about. Even though I felt that the book did start off slow, I felt that a lot of this build-up was necessary, and when I did get to where I started putting everything together, the book was just as exciting as usual, if not more interesting than the others before it. I wish everyone would just quit complaining about this "dream book" that they imagined. Just because things didn't turn out so awesome for your favorite characters doesn't mean that the book was horribly written. I enjoyed the book thoroughly. I enjoyed watching the relationships bloom and fade, I enjoyed being so thoroughly pissed that [spoiler]I couldn't figure out what the hell Malfoy was up to[/spoiler], and I enjoyed [spoiler]the death of Dumbledore, as sad as it was, because it was so amazing all the same.[/spoiler]

Quit picking the book apart and enjoy it for it is. It's a set-up for book seven, which I liked. I thought it was a nice change.[/color][/size]

[Syk3]

[color=black][size=2]Wow..

Holy crap. I just finished it, and..

I'm speechless, lol. I absolutely loved the book, I must admit. The emotion.. the character development.. the ongoing story line.. the flow.. It was enjoyable all around; the book being one of Rowling's favorites in the series is an understatement. The seeds planted in previous novels were absolutely perfect, as this book played on these ingenious devices in many creative ways. As soon as I read or listen to it through again, I'll be going back from the beginning.

Of course, as you can see throughout the thread, not everyone is going to like the book, and I think that's really a shame, but ah well. All I ask is that people reading this do not take their dislike as fact, though I am surprised that there aren?t others voicing the opposition yet.

[quote name='Lunox']Stunned. Frustrated. Angry. Dissappointed.[/quote]Oh boy, this will definitely be a fun read. Hope you can back it up, but I don't imagine you liked the last book, either.

[quote]STUFF I HATED.

Ok, this is my official bitch-time about how much Half-Blood Prince dissappointed me. It is possibly the worst or 2nd worst book in the series for me.[/quote]Let me guess, the other one was Order of the Phoenix? lol And yet you continued to read a story that was based heavily on the one you hated, such perseverance. ^_^

[quote][spoiler]Plot? What? What Plot? What is this Plot you talk about?: JK Rowling herself said that books 6 & 7 were like one book split into two. Good going, because now book 6 has the most watered down plot. Ever. If you asked me to give you the solid plot of Half-Blood Prince, it'd be a bunch of nonsense. Hey, ever notice the title? Harry Potter and the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. The actual 'half-blood prince' played such a minor role in the plot (whatever that was) that it astounded me that JK Rowling didn't name this book 'Harry Potter and A Bunch of Stuff and a Rushed Ending'. Things didn't get into a good flow until near the end when Harry found out what horcruxes were and Dumbledore took him to get one of Tom Riddle's horcruxes.[/spoiler][/quote]Plot: [spoiler]Harry finds out about Voldemort's past in an attempt to figure out how to kill him once and for all (not to mention give us plenty of background information as readers); Voldemort and his forces have fully regained their terrorizing throne, and the magic community must take precautions to try to stop them; Malfoy has begun to work for Voldemort, and Harry, suspecting him, tries to find out what he's up to; Harry, as well as us as readers, must decide whether or not Snape is as trustworthy as Dumbledore believes; and of course, there are romances and Quidditch to worry about.[/spoiler] Hope that helped.

Getting this late in the series, did you honestly suspect that the story would start anew from the beginning and come to a solid conclusion as if the book stands alone from the rest? Of course not. It seems that you are having trouble looking at the series as a continuous story, rather than individual stories all lined up in a row that somehow come together, and moving away from the controlled years at Hogwarts Harry had started it. The story isn't going to stay "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer?s/Philosopher's Stone" forever. In fact, damn it, think of this as all one book, split up into seven "parts," if you will. It's about Harry Potter fighting an evil in the form of Lord Voldemort which is the source of many of the hardships in his and other wizards' lives.

[spoiler]I'll agree that the title of Half-Blood Prince left something to be desired at first glance, because honestly, the only time he appeared as such was in Harry's potions book. But once we get to the end, once we find out who he is, hasn't the story given us a huge insight into Snape? We see him around Death Eaters, promising to help Draco, and we have to wonder how reliable he is, even when Dumbledore trusts him so. We find out that he was the Death Eater who had overheard the prophecy and told Voldemort what it said. He had finally secured the Dark Arts post that he has wanted since the beginning of the book, and in leaving Potions, has ironically been helping Harry throughout the year in this subject, albeit unknowingly. And finally.. at the end, it is he who murders Dumbledore and shows his true colors. I wouldn't be surprised if Harry ends up killing him in the seventh book as something of a sub-boss before he takes on Mr. Bad-ass himself.[/spoiler]

[quote][spoiler]Snape? Brilliant!, WASTED POTENTIAL!: If JK Rowling hadn't spent so much time elaborating on the entirely boring romance problems, maybe she could've elaborated on Snape's character instead of getting lazy and dumping it all into 'OOoOoOOo, Snape had the same background and blood-purity problems as Tom Riddle!'. Well, OoOooOo, JK Rowling, we're all SO impressed. And if JK Rowling is using this as some trick up her sleeve for the next book... Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Try and make it believable for readers in the first place, please.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]The elaboration on Snape fit, though. Even we didn't know whether or not to trust him. If she had given us every damn detail of his past and delved too much, it might not have been such a surprising outcome in the end.

The romances were fine, in any case; it gave us a break from the death and destruction of Voldemort to know that other universal themes of life continued to flourish. Remember Dumbledore saying how important it was that Harry could love? Isn't that embodied in the way he felt for Ginny, as well as Ron and Hermione as friends whose well-being and happiness he cared about just as much? Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, the theme of love is apparent and important in these novels, making these more than "entirely boring romance problems." And besides, they?re getting older and these things happen.

I believe that Rowling was setting us up to suspect that Voldemort is the Half-Blood Prince, but wanted to surprise us with a different character that was still largely important to the book. And no, they don't have the exact same "blood problems." First of all, Snape is only a quarter blood wizard, not half, though since he got this from a particular parent, and wanted to keep that wizarding name, it makes sense that he called himself the Half-Blood Prince. And second of all, he does not descend from a famous person as Voldemort with his Slytherin blood had.[/spoiler]

And yes, I am impressed.

[quote][spoiler]REMUS/TONKS?! Romance in GENERAL.: The whole Remus/Tonks business. Disgusting. Not because I don't like the pairing (I really liked Tonks), but just the way that JK Rowling incorporated it into the book. What did it do? Nothing. Did Tonk's moping really do anything to affect the plot? No. Did ANY of this affect the plot? No. IS THERE A PLOT? Seriously, you're reading the book and every so often JK Rowling throws in some random line about Tonks moping, and then there's some random out of a cow's ass scene at the end where Tonks confesses her love for Lupin? WHAT. Jesus Christ.[/spoiler][/quote]It?s a side story, get over it. [spoiler] Before you knew what was really going on, it raised some mystery of perhaps a Black/Tonks pairing, or that something else was happening with Tonks, but all-in-all something to keep you thinking. In the end, it did touch upon love with a werewolf and the difficulties faced that the two finally believed that they could overcome, and it also helped develop both characters and keep them interesting. And you said it yourself: this is a two part with the next book, perhaps their romance will come into play later.[/spoiler]

[quote][spoiler]Right, so I can understand the Ron/Hermione, which ultimately got on my nerves because it was being so overplayed. Harry and Ginny? Truthfully, I never wanted Harry to get together with anyone, but he had to, I'd pick Ginny. But JK Rowling did something and now I will never see the Harry/Ginny ship in a good light again.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]So really, you seem to have liked the pairing. Personally, Harry going for Ginny was something that was very unexpected for me, but was one of those tiny seeds planted in previous books that I mentioned before. It was shocking, but not altogether disappointing. As for Ron and Hermione, I think anyone could say that this was something that was slowly but surely being built up, and is, for this series, ideal. But who knows what could happen; the latter never exactly got together, in any case, and Harry and Ginny aren?t altogether finished.[/spoiler]

[quote]I'm guessing FANFICTION WRITERS TOOK OVER JK ROWLING'S BRAIN.: One girl wondered if JK Rowling decided to take some rabid fangirl's version of HBP and publish it.[/quote]Ha. Ha ha. Ha.. Oh man.

[quote][spoiler]LET'S FORGET ABOUT NEVILLE, LUPIN, AND OCCLUMENCY. False hopes and desires!: No, really! Since they seem so unimportant now. Didn't we read about 40 pages of Harry sitting through Occlumency lessons in OotP? And I can't believe JK Rowling promised all this shit like 'A great thing will be revealed about Lily Evans!'. What exactly was it? That she was good at potions?! OK! Gee, that was a revolution. And 'a lot more about Lupin will be revealed!'. WHAT?! All I learned was that Lupin is suffering, but JK Rowling decided to give him, what, 7 lines in the whole book?[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]I was really hoping that Harry was going to use these teachings of occlumency to his advantage, but it seems as though he has given up in return for having a reason to hate Snape even more. And since we know whose side he?s on now, we can surmise that he probably didn?t put his best effort behind teaching it to Harry.
As for Harry?s mom, Lupin, and even Occlumency, I have a feeling that these will come into play in the final installment of the series. If Harry really does not go back to Hogwarts, there will definitely be plenty of time to do so.[/spoiler]

[quote][spoiler]Harry and Ginny's break-up scene: Wow. I can taste the cheese.[/spoiler][/quote]Um.. right. You?re going to say that because you?ve seen it before, right? Surely not because Rowling didn?t explain the reasoning enough for you.
[quote name='Shinmaru]Yeah. [spoiler']While I was reading HBP I kept hoping that it would pick up eventually... 100 pages in... 200 pages in... 300 pages in, and so on. I was incredibly disappointed with how the Half-Blood Prince was almost inconsequential to the plot, except for the whole 'OMG HARRY TRICKED BY SNAPE!!1!!1' stuff. I frowned so badly when Snape spat out that he was the Half-Blood Prince lol. Snape was my #1 pick to be the Half-Blood Prince, but the actual revelation was just incredibly flat, I thought. There was so much build up to it, but the payoff didn't really do its job.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]When you said pick up, you mean the overall plot, right? In my opinion, I felt rather hooked from the beginning, but of course, knowing the characters and caring for them goes a long way. But still, it started off rather quickly and exciting.. setting the tone for what was obviously a tough time in both the wizarding and non-magical worlds, Death Eaters arguing and planning, Dumbledore taking Harry on important business, and Harry's suspicions of Malfoy which turned out to be true.. and there was always something going on to keep us satisfied.

Finding out who was the Half-Blood Prince seemed to be for shock value more than anything. But actually using it for the title, as I have already discussed, worked fine with me.[/spoiler]
[quote][spoiler]And then there was also what should have been a huge swerve with Snape being named Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher... but almost nothing was done with that, except the other teachers not being able to break through the spells blocking the Astronomy Tower because they haven't kept up with the Dark Arts or whatever the hell the explanation was. Even my mom, who didn't really have many bad things to say about the book after she finished it, did not like that very much at all. Blah.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]Well, perhaps Rowling could have explored Snape's new teaching assignment a little more in depth, but as for the spell in the Astronomy Tower, they were only speculating. A few of them believe that you had to have a Dark Mark on your arm in order to get through, which Snape did have, and would explain it just fine.[/spoiler]
[quote][spoiler]Poor Neville. I like him, I wish he'd be developed a bit more, especially since he actually could have been an incredibly important figure. There has to be more to his character than 'Voldemort chose Harry over Neville'. But I guess that he'll be paired with Luna and that will be that. Whatever. I'll happily eat my words if he's developed more in the 7th book, though.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]I was hoping to get a little more from Neville too, to tell you the truth, but there's always hope in the 7th book. Rowling hinted that Neville would be an important side character who slowly finds out the truth of his parents' attackers and gets revenge, I think, but he doesn't have anything more to do with the prophecy.

As you probably know by now, Voldemort has made Harry his equal by seeking him out based on the prophecy. If he had chosen Neville, and his mother had died to protect him, he would have those powers of Voldemort at his disposal, but also consider that a lot of what has saved Harry is based on his individual traits, whereas Neville is pretty clumsy. So just to clear that up.. he's not going to be the mysterious hero or anything like that.

And on her site, Rowling has quashed any rumors of Neville/Luna romance, saying that they are completely different characters and aren't meant as anything more than friends.[/spoiler]
[quote][spoiler]What did you think of Slughorn? I didn't care for him too much. He was mostly there to get a raging hard-on whenever Harry showed up. He felt much more like a plot device than a real character, honestly. A lot of my disappointment from him comes also comes from his addition to the staff putting Snape into Defense Against the Dark Arts and nothing really springing from that, either. Disappointment all around.I liked the addition of Umbridge better in the last novel. She was so much fun to hate. Slughorn didn't really inspire much in me other than annoyance.[/spoiler][/quote][spoiler]I thought Slughorn was a rather interesting character, in that he actually had particular favorites (which I had hoped would have been a way that we learned more about Lilly Potter), and knew famous wizards so well to be able to pick related students and help them out along the way. He was a very susceptible character to greed, it seemed like, though not necessarily by means of money.

As for Snape being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.. I'm sure many of us believed that he would be granted this.. "treat" eventually. And considering that Voldemort pretty much cursed the job since he was denied it all those years ago, and that Snape showed his true colors at the end, him finally getting it was fitting in a way. But like a mentioned before, I agree it could have been shown a little more.[/spoiler]

[QUOTE=Queen Asuka][color=hotpink][size=1]I feel the same way as you, Roxie. I believe that [spoiler]the only reason that Snape actually killed Dumbledore is because of the Unbreakable Vow, and once he did, he knew he would have to scram. Of course, he's probably not going to be in the Order anymore, but we'll just have to see where that goes in book seven.[/spoiler]

And I just wanted to say that I'm really disappointed in most of the posts that I've read here so far. It seems that everyone just wants to find something wrong with the book so that they can have something to bitch about. Even though I felt that the book did start off slow, I felt that a lot of this build-up was necessary, and when I did get to where I started putting everything together, the book was just as exciting as usual, if not more interesting than the others before it. I wish everyone would just quit complaining about this "dream book" that they imagined. Just because things didn't turn out so awesome for your favorite characters doesn't mean that the book was horribly written. I enjoyed the book thoroughly. I enjoyed watching the relationships bloom and fade, I enjoyed being so thoroughly pissed that [spoiler]I couldn't figure out what the hell Malfoy was up to[/spoiler], and I enjoyed [spoiler]the death of Dumbledore, as sad as it was, because it was so amazing all the same.[/spoiler]

Quit picking the book apart and enjoy it for it is. It's a set-up for book seven, which I liked. I thought it was a nice change.[/size][/color][/QUOTE]I.. agree. Thank you for that, Asuka. [spoiler]And by the way, I really do wish it was a misunderstanding with Snape.. but I can't see any way around it. If he didn't want to break the Unbreakable Vow, then that's too bad. If it's him or Dumbledore, then it's not too hard to figure out who's more important. Surely Dumbledore wouldn't have wanted Snape to kill him to continue with the plan.... would he?[/spoiler]
[/size][/color]

[Queen Asuka]

[quote name='Syk3][spoiler'] And by the way, I really do wish it was a misunderstanding with Snape.. but I can't see any way around it. If he didn't want to break the Unbreakable Vow, then that's too bad. If it's him or Dumbledore, then it's not too hard to figure out who's more important. Surely Dumbledore wouldn't have wanted Snape to kill him to continue with the plan.... would he?[/spoiler][/quote]

[color=hotpink][size=1]Well, I'm PURELY speculating, but I feel like that has to be something that's going to be big in the next book. [spoiler]The way that there was an entire chapter dedicated to Narcissa and Bellatrix going to see Snape and her making the Unbreakable Vow with him. That vow had to be kept, or else he would die. I think what happened exactly at the scene when Malfoy chickened out and Snape killed Dumbledore is not exactly as it looked to Harry. I just have a feeling that it was beyond Snape's control. Of course, I do see what you are saying, which makes me think my speculations are kind of silly. I mean, I would think that if Snape was working for Dumbledore and the Order then he would sacrifice his life instead of have Dumbledore still around. But THEN, perhaps he did this to show his "loyalty" for Voldemort, and knew, somehow, that this was necessary to have Harry continue on with what had to be done. For only Harry can kill Voldemort, and with Dumbledore gone, it leaves the door wide open for him to get things together and do that. Think about it. When Harry and Dumbledore got back to Hogwards, Dumbledore told Harry to get Snape. And then he said, "Severus, please." or something like that, because he knew that Snape wasn't going to want to kill him. MAYBE it was all a plan from the beginning because Dumbledore told Malfoy that he wasn't the one that was going to kill him. He already knew what Malfoy was up to, and I'm sure that therefore he knew what Snape was up to.[/spoiler] I'm sorry if this is hard to follow, I'm just LARGELY theorizing. We wont know the truth until Miss JKR herself sends the last book our way, but it's always fun to think about. ^_^[/color][/size]

[Shinmaru]

First of all, I'd just like to defend my stance on the book a bit. I didn't hate it. I liked it. But there were some things I felt weren't taken advantage of that could have been, and I said as much. I don't think I'm 'picking the book apart'; I think that my complaints are valid. I guess if I don't like every aspect of the book unconditionally then I'm just a bitcher. Right. :rolleyes:

I personally think that the book can be a set-up for book seven and still deliver sufficiently on what it's been building up. The stuff with Malfoy is a perfect example: the mystery of just what the hell he was up to was intriguing, it built up to an excellent scene near the end with Dumbledore (my favorite scene in the book), but there's still more to be explored with that particular aspect of the story. The Tom Riddle stuff also worked very well, I thought. That was what I would have liked to see more of in the book. Those two examples meant a lot to HBP as a stand-alone story, but they also directly build to the 7th book, as well.

[spoiler]On the other end of the spectrum, I'm not too fond of how Snape finally achieving his goal of becoming DADA teacher was handled. It just seemed like he was still teaching his regular potions class, except that there was less focus on the class. I felt that there was a lot more that could have been done there, but nothing really came of it.

The Half-Blood Prince stuff was also very disappointing. Snape ended up unknowingly helping Harry through a lot of the book, but also seemingly commits the ultimate act of betrayal in killing Dumbledore. But I don't think that the Half-Blood Prince bit was really necessary to lead in to that (I think there's an obvious connection to that, or else Snape would never have revealed his identity in such close proximity to it). I never really felt as if the Half-Blood Prince stuff was anything special. Maybe it'll be expounded upon in the next book, I don't know, but all I have to go on right now is what I know and have read.[/spoiler]

And I find it a bit insulting that valid complaints are reduced down to me being unhappy about what happened to my favorite characters. If you disagree with me, then discuss it. That's why we're here. There's no need to make sweeping generalizations. I have no problem with you enjoying the book - hell, for $30 you should be enjoying it! I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

By the way, I enjoyed Order of the Phoenix, so don't try taking that tone with me, Syk3. :)

[QUOTE=Syk3][color=black][size=2][spoiler]When you said pick up, you mean the overall plot, right? In my opinion, I felt rather hooked from the beginning, but of course, knowing the characters and caring for them goes a long way. But still, it started off rather quickly and exciting.. setting the tone for what was obviously a tough time in both the wizarding and non-magical worlds, Death Eaters arguing and planning, Dumbledore taking Harry on important business, and Harry's suspicions of Malfoy which turned out to be true.. and there was always something going on to keep us satisfied.

Finding out who was the Half-Blood Prince seemed to be for shock value more than anything. But actually using it for the title, as I have already discussed, worked fine with me.[/spoiler][/quote][/size]

Yes. I was hooked in the beginning, as well, but that had more to do with my curiosity over what would be happening in the book. I don't think that it really started to pick up a ton until the middle, though. That might be just me, I don't know. I don't attribute that to slow pace, because as you pointed out, there was always something going on. I just wasn't enthralled with a lot of the stuff going on, save for [spoiler]Harry's talks with Dumbledore/the insight into Riddle's past and the brief glimpses we got of Malfoy.[/spoiler] I didn't care for a lot of the romance stuff and whatnot. That's where the book dragged down a bit, for me.

[quote][spoiler]Well, perhaps Rowling could have explored Snape's new teaching assignment a little more in depth, but as for the spell in the Astronomy Tower, they were only speculating. A few of them believe that you had to have a Dark Mark on your arm in order to get through, which Snape did have, and would explain it just fine.[/spoiler][/quote]

Yeah, I think I read through that a bit too quickly. I remember the stuff about [spoiler]the Dark Mark[/spoiler] now, though. But you do agree with me that [spoiler]Snape finally reaching his position as the DADA teacher wasn't built on as much as it could have been. After years and years of trying out for the job, Snape finally gets it, and the results are a couple of classroom scenes and a bunch of homework. The introduction of the nonverbal spells was the most noteworthy thing to come from Snape's DADA classes. I think it would've been nice if those got a bit more importance in his classes - like, we only see them practicing nonverbal spells in conjunction with Snape's class. I don't know.[/spoiler]

[quote][spoiler]I was hoping to get a little more from Neville too, to tell you the truth, but there's always hope in the 7th book. Rowling hinted that Neville would be an important side character who slowly finds out the truth of his parents' attackers and gets revenge, I think, but he doesn't have anything more to do with the prophecy.

As you probably know by now, Voldemort has made Harry his equal by seeking him out based on the prophecy. If he had chosen Neville, and his mother had died to protect him, he would have those powers of Voldemort at his disposal, but also consider that a lot of what has saved Harry is based on his individual traits, whereas Neville is pretty clumsy. So just to clear that up.. he's not going to be the mysterious hero or anything like that.

And on her site, Rowling has quashed any rumors of Neville/Luna romance, saying that they are completely different characters and aren't meant as anything more than friends.[/spoiler][/quote]

[spoiler]I'm hoping that Neville becomes a really important player in the 7th book, as well. I think he deserves it. I know he won't save the world, or anything, but I'd like to see him get a bit of justice for his parents' deaths. Oh, and thanks for the heads-up on the Neville/Luna romance, haha. I'm glad that's not going to go down.[/spoiler]

[quote][spoiler]I thought Slughorn was a rather interesting character, in that he actually had particular favorites (which I had hoped would have been a way that we learned more about Lilly Potter), and knew famous wizards so well to be able to pick related students and help them out along the way. He was a very susceptible character to greed, it seemed like, though not necessarily by means of money.

As for Snape being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.. I'm sure many of us believed that he would be granted this.. "treat" eventually. And considering that Voldemort pretty much cursed the job since he was denied it all those years ago, and that Snape showed his true colors at the end, him finally getting it was fitting in a way. But like a mentioned before, I agree it could have been shown a little more.[/spoiler][/quote]

[spoiler]I thought that Slughorn was rather one-note, because his greed and desire to be associated with the best of the best was all there was to him. I wasn't expecting some complex, multi-faceted character (I'd be lying through my teeth if I said Umbridge was a complex character), but he honestly felt more like a plot device than a character to me. His memory was basically all Dumbledore required from him. The Slug Club stuff was nice, but... I don't know, I just wasn't that interested in him, to be frank. The Malfoy, Dumbledore, and Riddle stuff all held my interest a lot more.

I think that Snape's attack on Dumbledore was well done, but the shock of Snape telling Harry that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince wasn't all too shocking to me. As I mentioned in my other post, Snape was my #1 choice to be the prince... I'd been suspecting him throughout the novel. Second, after the death of Dumbledore, what should have been a huge revelation just ended up falling flat a bit. Snape just spits out that he's the Half-Blood Prince, and it seemed like that was that. I think that if the book ended up meaning a bit more to the storyline than the announcement would have meant more. As it was, that announcement was not about to overshadow the death of Dumbledore lol. I did enjoy the irony that Snape was the one helping Harry the entire time, though, I will admit.[/spoiler]

Anyway, I just want to say again that while my post seems a bit nitpicky, I assure you that it's not. I'm not finding random things to hate about the book in order to badmouth it, because that's just silly. I did not hate the book - there was about an equal amount of stuff that I liked and disliked, with the stuff I liked outweighing the stuff I disliked (the Malfoy scenes I enjoyed more than I hated the romance nonsense, for example). For near $30, though, I think I'm entitled to get into a small debate about the aspects of the book I didn't like. After all, wouldn't this thread be boring if everyone agreed about every single aspect of the book? :p

I just think that the most telling statement I could make about the book is that it is indeed a lead-in to the 7th book, but I don't think that it really becomes more than that.

[Minako]

First off, I'd like to thank Syk3 and Queen Azuka for pointing out the [B]positive aspects[/B] of the book, instead of the negative ones I've been reading. And Thank you Shinmaru for backing up your thoughts!

I loved the book! [SPOILER]I loved the fact that they showed that Malfoy was a Death Eater straight away! The scene in the cloak shop was great! I also liked the fact that Miss Rowling brought up the Snape-being-a-Death-Eater-thing with the meeting with Narcissa Malfoy and her sister, Bellatrix.

However, I thought the first chapter felt a little out of place. It just told you the relationship between the Muggle and the Wisarding worlds, and I guess it told you that there was a new Minister of Magic. To be honest, i thought that chapter was boring.

As for the romance thing, I liked it! It showed that on top of all the gloom and doom involving Voldemort, Harry and the gang are [B]normal kids.[/B] They deal with romance too! Now tell me, who HASN'T gone through the same thing when they were 16?? I also loved the fact that Harry hooked up with Ginny. I loved the fight in his head about her. (she's ron's sister! So what? But Ron's my best mate!..etc.) I always thought that Harry would end up with (if not marrying) someone by the end of the series. Didn't his own father hook up with one of his classmates? With that last scene, that Harry (tried to at least) broke up with Ginny, it was so obvious (to me at least) that Ginny wasn't going anywhere without him. She said that she understood that he wouldn't rest until Voldemort was dead, and she accepted that. Ginny's going to play a big role in Book 7, I believe. AND I hope the Ron+Hermione thing keeps going in Book 7.

As for the Half Blood Prince deal, when Hermione brought up that Prince girl, I thought, [I]So what? It can't be her, moving on..[/I] I loved the fact that Snape just yelled in Harry's face, "I'M THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE!!"

When Dumbledore died, I was shocked! He played such a major role in this book, like actually BEING THERE for Harry, unlike in OoP. I loved the lessons diving into Tom Riddle's past and the discovery of the Horcruxes. I still couldn't believe it at the end! Though, I like how Harry discovered that he wasn't going to be protected anymore. He's a man, and he has to face Voldmort on his own. Yeah, Hermione, Ron, and the gang are going to help him, but Harry's got to be the one to "do the deed." I also was deeply dissapointed that the locket was a fake! [/SPOILER]

All in all, I enjoyed this book, and I was hooked from the beginning! I didn't even want to eat dinner because I was so hooked. I admit, I might have read it too fast, BUT I already have another book on hold, and then I'll read HBP over. And I'll read it [B]thoroughly[/B] this time. I still enjoyed it IMMENSELY and I can't wait for Book 7! :D

[Brasil]

Greg, quickie little question here.

You seem to just shrug off comments about how this new book seems like pure Fan Fiction...yet when I read your synopsis of one of the "love" stories...

[quote name='Syk3][color=black][size=2][spoiler'] Before you knew what was really going on, it raised some mystery of perhaps a Black/Tonks pairing, or that something else was happening with Tonks, but all-in-all something to keep you thinking. In the end, it did touch upon love with a werewolf and the difficulties faced that the two finally believed that they could overcome, and it also helped develop both characters and keep them interesting. And you said it yourself: this is a two part with the next book, perhaps their romance will come into play later.[/spoiler][/quote]
(I'd spoiler this, but it wouldn't have the same impact.)

...you're describing a love story that involves [spoiler]a werewolf[/spoiler], and that explores "the difficulties faced that the two finally believe they could overcome," and you don't see the Fan Fiction flavoring in that?

Now, I've never laid a hand on any of the Harry Potter books for the sole reason that there are better authors out there...but I have read literature before, and I have read fan fiction before, and I can point to a wide variety of entries on Fanfiction.net that have that exact summary you gave for the love subplot. There's no fan fiction flavoring in the new novel? Unless you're not relating things well...there is a fan fiction flavoring. lol

I suspect you'll disregard me because I've not read any of the Harry Potter books, but you're not going to really convince anyone by doing so. Seems to me that if you want to show that HBP in fact isn't some random HP lovefic written by HermiRonFan...you're going to have to come up with more than just "Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha...oh man."
[/size][/color]

[color=red][size=1]Alex, not spoilering a post because it 'would ruin the impact' is not enough. In future, please err on the side of caution. You may not care about the HP books, but others do. -- Lady Asphyxia[/size][/color]

[Azure Rose]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]Well, I just finished reading the book earlier today, and I must say, it didn't really impress me all that much. It lacks the flair and intensity (with the exception of a few scenes) that Prisoner of Azkaban or Goblet of Fire had.

Quite honestly, Half Blood Prince just had too many random threads thrown in seemingly for the hell of it. Oh it had a plot, but Rowling just kept throwing in [spoiler]useless drama[/spoiler] that did nothing to advance it. [spoiler]Barring Harry's visits with Dumbledore, trips into Voldemort's past, and Draco Malfoy being a sneaky but less pompous arch nemesis, it felt like reading a teenage soap opera. "Oh I really love Hermione, but just to get her back for kissing Krum two books ago I'm gonna have a make out fest with Lavender..." "I really love Ron but I'm just going to be upset with him or ignore him for half the book because he keeps kissing Lavender" "I love Ginny but she's going out with Dean, maybe I should punch him..." Ugh. Just, ugh. It was tiring to read after a while. I just wanted to shout "GET OVER IT!" to everyone. I admire that Rowling was trying to show a more human side to the heroes, but she could've handled it better. And really, those 100 pages or so of drama would've been better spent elaborating (as many have said before) on Snape (who I think deserved more "page time" than he got) or any of the supporting characters, like Lupin (who I adore) Tonks (who just seemed to randomly pop up with declarations of love) or Neville and Luna.[/spoiler]

When all is said and done, it was a decent enough book, but it simply didn't delve deep into much of anything except the mysterious Lord Voldemort, a.k.a. Tom Riddle. [spoiler](His transformation from orphaned youth, to outstanding student, to power hungry man, to completely evil was fun to read about though!) And then to kill off Dumbledore like that, was just, well, sad. I wasn't about to write Rowling a nasty letter like I felt like doing after Sirius was snuffed, but it was still a blow. I understand why he had to die, but really. It was sad.[/spoiler]

Anyway, though I wasn't impressed, I feel a kind of loyalty to the series and will see it through till the end. I just hope book 7 imporves tremedously on this one.

p.s.- This is just a thought, but about the ending: [spoiler]Dumbledore says "Severus...please" asking Snape to kill him. I wonder if Dumbledore realized that Draco would be killed if he failed (since his task was to kill off D) and since we all know that Dumbledore loves his students more than anything (yes, even the naughty ones) I think perhaps he was willing to give up his own life for Draco, and that Snape was doing what he wanted. At least, I would hope so. I hope Snape doesn't turn out to be Voldemort's flunky. That would just blow everything for me, I think.[/spoiler] :P[/COLOR]

[Syk3]

[quote name='Shinmaru']And I find it a bit insulting that valid complaints are reduced down to me being unhappy about what happened to my favorite characters. If you disagree with me, then discuss it. That's why we're here. There's no need to make sweeping generalizations. I have no problem with you enjoying the book - hell, for $30 you should be enjoying it! I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.[/quote]If you were referring to me, I was doing my best to discuss my disagreements with your points about the book. What I noticed when I read your post, though, was that it seemed to me to be largely negative, talking more about what you disliked than felt was enjoyable, so I hope you'll forgive me for interpreting that as meaning that you didn't really like the book. :/ I was never saying that you had to like the entire book unconditionally (even I had a few issues myself), but a few people seemed to have looked at particular points with.. well, a negative flair, lol.

[QUOTE=Siren]...you're describing a love story that involves a werewolf, and that explores "the difficulties faced that the two finally believe they could overcome," and you don't see the Fan Fiction flavoring in that?

Now, I've never laid a hand on any of the Harry Potter books for the sole reason that there are better authors out there...but I have read literature before, and I have read fan fiction before, and I can point to a wide variety of entries on Fanfiction.net that have that exact summary you gave for the love subplot. There's no fan fiction flavoring in the new novel? Unless you're not relating things well...there is a fan fiction flavoring. lol

I suspect you'll disregard me because I've not read any of the Harry Potter books, but you're not going to really convince anyone by doing so. Seems to me that if you want to show that HBP in fact isn't some random HP lovefic written by HermiRonFan...you're going to have to come up with more than just "Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha...oh man."[/QUOTE]I "shrug off comments about how this new book seems like pure Fan Fiction" because had you read the book, you'd know that such claims are rather rediculous. Yes, you can point your finger to my specific example of werewolf loving all you want, because that's all you have to go on in your argument, but it was such a miniscule part of the book that it hardly seems fair to classify the entire thing as one big fan fiction. There will be romantic encounters throughout the series, and you seem quick to condemn them just because you think they might sound a little like fan fictions. I myself don't spend time reading fan fictions, but judging by your attempt to hold them in a negative light, I can tell you that despite the initial description, these sorts of things in Harry Potter work out well and realistically, lol. Summaries of subplots are hardly going to take you a long way.

If you don't want to read Harry Potter, then fine, it's your loss, but honestly, please don't try to come back and support these claims without reading it first. Oooh, but I guess now I'm avoiding the question by saying that, right? :p

[BlackTigerGurl]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]I just finished this book early this morning. I was really upset about the [spoiler]headmaster dying. :animecry: I want to know though who R.A.B is. My mother and I think it might be Sirius's(if spelled wrong forgive me) younger brother, Regulus Black. We do not know, however, his middle name. But if anyone remembers in the 5th book, he was a death eater that tried to back out once he realized what Tom was up to. When he tried to back out Tom order him killed. This is only a guess that he could be R.A.B. [/spoiler]:catgirl: [/FONT][/COLOR]

[color=red][size=1]BlackTigerGirl, I have already said [i]in this thread[/i] that [b]everone is to include spoilers.[/b] If I find out that you have again failed to spoiler your post, I will be very displeased. -- Lady Asphyxia.[/size][/color]

[Roxie Faye]

[quote name='Queen Asuka][color=hotpink][size=1][spoiler] When Harry and Dumbledore got back to Hogwards, Dumbledore told Harry to get Snape. And then he said, "Severus, please." or something like that, because he knew that Snape wasn't going to want to kill him. MAYBE it was all a plan from the beginning because Dumbledore told Malfoy that he wasn't the one that was going to kill him. He already knew what Malfoy was up to, and I'm sure that therefore he knew what Snape was up to.[/spoiler] I'm sorry if this is hard to follow, I'm just LARGELY theorizing. We wont know the truth until Miss JKR herself sends the last book our way, but it's always fun to think about. ^_^[/color'][/size][/quote]
[color=#9933ff]Thank you for your comments on my post. ^^; And I LOVED your theory. After it happened, that quote was what I was thinking about. I'm still convinced - I do trust in the HBP!

You know, I think I'm too easily persuaded. I really honestly, did like the book. But then I saw Lunox's reply, and I thought I was just being foolish. And now, after seeing that I'm not the only one who liked it, I can't get myself to really like the book the way I did, because now all I see are the bad parts, and it's harder for me to find the things I like about it.

I never really have a problem with books I read - I'm really bad at picking up at stuff I don't like. These were my only complaints with the book, initially: [spoiler]The one thing which killed me, was that Harry didn't even get to find another Horcrux. Do you realize how MASSIVE this next book has to be, for him to find [i]three[/i] of them, [b][i]plus[/i][/b] kill Voldy? He could have a least had a head start, and found another one before the one with the fake Horcrux. Sheesh!

I also just felt that the whole thing read more like "SS/PS, CoS, and PoA" rather than the more detailed "GoF and OotP" It was like her editor decided everything was too long, and just tore out half her manuscript. I mean, at one point we're going from winter to May - She didn't even bother to include the usual class chapter (she description of classes on the first day) or easter. EASTER! *was really upset about easter*

And, of course, I thought the Tonks/Lupin thing was out of nowhere. It makes sense NOW, but memeh. Could have been more developed.[/spoiler]

For those of you who have a problem with the teen romance: [spoiler]I loved it. I've been waiting SIX BOOKS for this to happen, and I'll be damned if I don't like it. Harry and Ginny has never been my choice - more of a Ginny/Draco shipper myself, but it's nice to know he's not gay, and has a girlfriend. The Ron Hermione thing was great - I've been waiting a REALLY long time for that, too - since GoF![/spoiler]

And I will tell you now, everything else about it, I either loved, liked, or didn't hate. [spoiler]Quick thought that popped into my head - I'm pleased to see that Harry inherited 12 Grimmauld Place, including Kreacher. Having him tail Malfoy was brilliant! ^_^[/spoiler]

OotP I didn't like because of the death, and because Harry was acting like a whiny brat (it was okay before they got to school, and then he wouldn't shut up). He hardly yells in HBP, which I liked, and the death was expected. I had actually heard rumors of who it was going to be (that person among them), so when I read it in HBP, I wasn't as upset as [spoiler]someone being killed in their prime of life! *wails over Sirius' dead body. I LOVE YOU!!!! ...Okay. Emotional outburst is over now. :X [/spoiler]

So... yeah. There you have it. ^^ [/color]

[dMage]

Primarily, I wish to say that this story, while very different than what we are used to from JKR, was still a fantastical read.

[QUOTE]
[I][B]Lunox[/B] said[/I]
[spoiler] Didn't we read about 40 pages of Harry sitting through Occlumency lessons in OotP?[/spoiler] [/QUOTE]

[spoiler]
Some people have talked about that, not only here, but in other forums as well, and I can't help but think that this a flaw of Harry's which he will realize, and augment in the final installment. JKR has to, as of yet, write something without fleshing out somewhere later along the line. My theory on Occulemency is that it will be among the final and most key forms of magic that Harry will become powerful in. At the end of the book, when he's semi battling Snape (I say semi because in reality, he's getting totally pwned!) Harry will be in the middle of a hex or spell, and then wham, Snape hits him with the counter. Even when he's using slient magic. I think this is due to Snape mastery of Occulemency (and we know Volemorts is just as good, if not better) and abiltiy to know what will get thrown at him. I think that Harry will realize this, and then train in the art (which we know he can be very good at, as was showed a few times in OotP) so that he will be a much more deadly adversary.

I do agree with some that the whole HBP thing seemed kind of forced, if not almost totally inconsequential title. Unlike the other stories, in which the title is very much important, in this book, HBP seems just really kind of quick out.

I think the fact that theres all these love declarations and such at the end of the novel is not only very important, but almost like an homage. Dumbledore believed in love conquering all, and with both Tonks (and let us not forget) Fleur still loving these highly dangerous men, it shows that even in when all hope for such things would be lost, love still allows itself to not only spring eternal, but realize itself in even the most darkest places.

Again, I agree with most that Snapes lessons were almost non-existant, but of the few that he gave, they were incredibly insightful. Snape describes the dark arts in a way that links it almost to fire or chaos, in that it is ever evolving. This is the power that Voldemort has. Yet to conteract it, Harry has an art which is equally as dangerous and just as powerful and incomprehensibel; Love.
[/spoiler]
I think thats all my insight, or at least babble, for now.

[Brasil]

[quote name='Syk3']I "shrug off comments about how this new book seems like pure Fan Fiction" because had you read the book, you'd know that such claims are rather rediculous. Yes, you can point your finger to my specific example of werewolf loving all you want, because that's all you have to go on in your argument, but it was such a miniscule part of the book that it hardly seems fair to classify the entire thing as one big fan fiction.[/quote] You see, that's part of the problem, it seems. What is the likelihood that HBP didn't need to be two novels? I think it could have been one. Just cut out all the irrelevant and extraneous relationship cheese that don't develop (and ultimately, distract from) the focus of the book...what the title refers to, no less.

And some other aspects of this book are? I suppose a clumsily-written, clumsily-handled red herring is something that doesn't plague fan fiction?

Having a red herring in a mystery is fine, provided that even with the red herring, the actual ending still feels inevitable. If the reader feels cheated, like the actual ending/revelation feels tacked on at the end, with no real precedent in the film...that's a lousy plot development associated with lousy writers who really don't know what they're doing.

But sometimes red herring fake endings work. See The Usual Suspects. Perfect example. The revelation at the end of the film works because the film is inevitably leading up to that revelation--and there are very steady hints throughout the work that point to that particular revelation, even when there are distractions along the way.

Are readers seeing that type of development in HBP? Judging from the responses here about how the titular character seems largely irrelevant to the content of the book...you be the judge.

[quote]There will be romantic encounters throughout the series, and you seem quick to condemn them just because you think they might sound a little like fan fictions. I myself don't spend time reading fan fictions, but judging by your attempt to hold them in a negative light, I can tell you that despite the initial description, these sorts of things in Harry Potter work out well and realistically, lol. Summaries of subplots are hardly going to take you a long way.[/quote] Greg, I invite you to head on over to [url="http://www.fanfiction.net"]www.fanfiction.net[/url] and just browse the Harry Potter sections, the Romance sections, et cetera. A werewolf subplot like you described (by your own description, mind) is something you will find (not possibly find, not may find, [i]will[/i] find) in 99% of all the teeny angst "artistic" "social outcasts finding each other and overcoming obstacles in their lives" entries there.

Those annoying subplots and plots may work better in Harry Potter...but that doesn't mean they're not fan fiction concepts through and through. The quality of the writing doesn't change a horrible fan fiction lemony concept.

[quote]If you don't want to read Harry Potter, then fine, it's your loss, but honestly, please don't try to come back and support these claims without reading it first. Oooh, but I guess now I'm avoiding the question by saying that, right? :p[/QUOTE] Problem with your response here, Greg, is when I can read Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Pynchon, Joseph Conrad, Kurt Vonnegut, Pierre Boulle, Tim O'Brien, James Joyce, and so on, instead of reading highly derivative, mass-marketed adolescent "magic" novels...I don't think I'm really losing out, nor anyone who picks Gravity's Rainbow over Harry Potter and the [insert catchy, cutesy, kitschy name here].

And honestly, I don't think I really need to read a 350-page children's novel to know a bad, corny, downright lousy premise when I see one.

[quote name='Syk3][color=black][size=2]Plot: [spoiler]Harry finds out about Voldemort's past in an attempt to figure out how to kill him once and for all (not to mention give us plenty of background information as readers); Voldemort and his forces have fully regained their terrorizing throne, and the magic community must take precautions to try to stop them; Malfoy has begun to work for Voldemort, and Harry, suspecting him, tries to find out what he's up to; Harry, as well as us as readers, must decide whether or not Snape is as trustworthy as Dumbledore believes; and of course, there are romances and Quidditch to worry about.[/spoiler] Hope that helped.[/size'][/color][/quote]
Quick, incidental note, too. That's not a plot. That's barely a story. Plot and story are different things.

[Mitch]

Alex, to be honest, you sound like a pompous jackass by what you've said in this thread. I'm not going to sit here and refute anything you've said, nor should anyone else. You've never read the books so you shouldn't be saying anything at all. You don't understand what's good about them. More or less, you sound like you're purposely saying all this just to turn some people's gears and get them mad, which is all in typical PT fashion.

Well, you can think whatever you want, my friend, but a lot of people are going to disagree with you.

[eleanor]

[color=darkslateblue] Yes, so in my defense.

I did not finish the book and go "I am going to look for everything I hated, because I <3 bitching about things." I wanted to love this book so badly, I was expecting this book to be the one of the greatest out of the series, I was so ready for an amazing read. I didn't get it. And random tidbit, this is the order of my most favorite HP book (top being best):

Order of the Pheonix
Prisoner of Azkaban
Goblet of Fire
Sorcerer's Stone
Chamber of Secrets
Half-Blood Prince

I definately don't have time to go through everything and make a pointed repsonse, but I will try and sum up everything best I can. :)

Plot: Uh...I guess this personal opinion, and I'm still not seeing a solid one. I won't argue further on this, because this is really just my opinion.[/color]

[i]The story isn't going to stay "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer?s/Philosopher's Stone" forever. In fact, damn it, think of this as all one book, split up into seven "parts," if you will. It's about Harry Potter fighting an evil in the form of Lord Voldemort which is the source of many of the hardships in his and other wizards' lives.[/i]

[color=darkslateblue] Yes, I would hope so. It's definately about Harry's fight against Voldemort and his own personal demons, although I don't see how this matters. HBP definately made some plot progress in the overall story, but every book has something else, like details (whether they are small or big) that makes it its own. All of these in HBP were things I disliked...leading to me not liking this book.

And yes, the theme of love. I realize that JK Rowling is beating us over the beat with the fact that even in the stead of a war against evil, love still prevails. Um. Yes, well, I got the fact that love happens. I realize that the problems in the book were very good concerning how most teenagers act, and that Harry being a 16-year-old boy, girls would be on his mind [i]a lot[/i]. I know, Harry's ability of love is a huge part of all of this, it just got on my nerves. And where was the whole Romilda Vane thing going? Another annoyance.

As for Snape. Ok, when I said 'blood problems' I meant that he was not a pureblood, as he so wanted to be. As with Tom Riddle. I wasn't talking about the exact blood-thing. And... the Harry Potter dork I am, JK Rowling posted on her site that the Half-Blood Prince was not Voldemort/Tom Riddle, so I knew it wouldn't be him. When I say 'elaboration', I mean more into his character. I disagree with you on wanting to know details about his past life. I wanted it badly. [/color]

[i]It?s a side story, get over it. [spoiler]Before you knew what was really going on, it raised some mystery of perhaps a Black/Tonks pairing, or that something else was happening with Tonks, but all-in-all something to keep you thinking. In the end, it did touch upon love with a werewolf and the difficulties faced that the two finally believed that they could overcome, and it also helped develop both characters and keep them interesting. And you said it yourself: this is a two part with the next book, perhaps their romance will come into play later.[/spoiler][/i]

[color=darkslateblue] Yeah, I did say that this is a two-part book. Why did JK Rowling choose to do this? If the [spoiler]Remus/Tonks pairing comes into play later, which I doubt, I will still be annoyed that JKR made the decision to split the two book up like that. If it helps with character development with Remus and Tonks in the next book, I will be overjoyed, but still annoyed that it was so horribly woven into the 6th book.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Harry/Ginny: Not so much the romance, but Ginny as a character. I'm sure everyone is scratching their heads, because Ginny is portrayed as such a strong, female lead. Which is the problem, because ultimately she became a Mary-Sue for me.[/spoiler]

Neville: I was missing him badly. He is one of my favorite characters, with so much...I don't know, I'll use 'potential' for lack of a better word. I was expecting something more from him ever since OotP, but there was nothing. I love this guy. :)

[b]Ok, I'm just going to say now that I can basically sum up all my problems with HBP in one word: rushing.[/b] If there is something I am 100% certain of on HBP, it is that it seemed very rushed. Extremely rushed. And with this rush, some all of these characters and incidents that are put into the book and then thrown away into the corner and forgotten about. The details of Hogwarts, the thing I loved most about the HP books, all centered around romance. So many things that I saw that could've been something more, but was not. That is why I was so sorely dissappointed.[/color]

[color=darkslateblue]Random other stuff:

1) [spoiler]Am I the only one here who still thinks that Dumbledore...was not really Dumbledore? During the whole book I suspected him of being an imposter, or [i]something[/i]. Something sparked in my mind when Dumbledore allowed Harry to go on his little mini-quest to find one of the horcruxes with him. And from that point onward, the whole journey they took seemed very surreal to me. I still don't really connect.[/spoiler]

2) [spoiler] Is it possible that Harry himself is a horcrux? I'm sort of fond of the theory, far-fetched as it may seem.[/spoiler]

3) [spoiler]Harry's maturity sort of...a little...shocked me. In a good way. :) Go Harry![/spoiler]

4) [spoiler] I REALLY hope that JK Rowling will give readers much more info on Harry's parents in the seventh book. [/spoiler]

And as for the seventh book itself... I am sort of expecting it to be large. [spoiler]Harry has to find several horcruxes, I will be raging mad if JK Rowling excludes other things just to focus on Harry's fight, and... [/spoiler]what are your thoughts?[/color]

[size=1][color=red]Lunox, while you spoilered some of your post, you forgot other parts. In future, just be a little more careful. ^_^ -- Lady Asphyxia.[/size][/color]

[Ozymandius Jones]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][QUOTE=Lunox][color=darkslateblue]

2) [spoiler] Is it possible that Harry himself is a horcrux? I'm sort of fond of the theory, far-fetched as it may seem.[/spoiler]

[/color][/QUOTE]

YES.

I sat there the last however many chapters it was thinking that Dumbledore would tell Harry that he was. We all know that Harry and Voldemort are so very, very connected, and that [i]part[/i] of Voldemort's....soul, magic, what-have-you...is what gave him the scar, but if [spoiler]a horcrux is part of his soul, it seems very likely. Of course, it would mean that Harry would be forced to sacrifice himself in order to completely destroy Voldemort forever.[/spoiler][/COLOR]

[eleanor]

[color=darkslateblue] ^_^ And it would fit in with the prophecy thing, because then [spoiler]Harry would have to die...or sacrifice himself. But I think JK Rowling will make it more original...or better, in a sense.

I read on Mugglenet that JK Rowling said that the color of Harry's eyes are of importance, so maybe that somehow ties into it. I mean...remember when Dumbledore and Harry were getting that horcrux, there was a green potion? Eh? *dork moment* Or more possibly his scar.[/spoiler][/color]

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f][QUOTE]Plot? What? What Plot? What is this Plot you talk about?: JK Rowling herself said that books 6 & 7 were like one book split into two. Good going, because now book 6 has the most watered down plot. Ever. If you asked me to give you the solid plot of Half-Blood Prince, it'd be a bunch of nonsense. Hey, ever notice the title? Harry Potter and the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. The actual 'half-blood prince' played such a minor role in the plot (whatever that was) that it astounded me that JK Rowling didn't name this book 'Harry Potter and A Bunch of Stuff and a Rushed Ending'. Things didn't get into a good flow until near the end when Harry found out what horcruxes were and Dumbledore took him to get one of Tom Riddle's horcruxes. [/QUOTE][spoiler]Well, it seemed obvious to me that there was indeed a plot in this book, that is, the plot to kill Dumbledore. The book is called [I]the Half Blood Prince[/I], because the Half Blood Prince is important to the plot, he was directly involved in the plot to kill Dumbledore, and was the one to kill Dumbledore.[/spoiler][/COLOR]

[Sara]

[color=#6699cc]I read the book yesterday, and largely enjoyed it. It seemed very rushed to me, but I know that's at least partly due to the fact that I read it quickly.

Anyway, my thoughts:

I would have [i]really[/i] liked to see more D.A.D.A lessons. [spoiler]All those years of build-up about Snape wanting the job, and what do we see? Nonverbal hexes? I was hoping for some serious Snape awfulness, and didn't really get a lot of it. Not that he wasn't awful, mind, he just wasn't there.

I did know something was up when he got the job, though. No one else has lasted more than a year--I liked finding out about Voldemort's application for the job!--so I was holding my breath to see what would turn up with Snape. Well, not really--when he made the Unbreakable Vow, that kinda sealed it, didn't it? But I kept hoping till the very end that he'd be "good."

I'm torn between wanting to believe that Snape'll turn out okay* and remembering what Dumbledore said about his mistakes (when he makes them) being huge.

There's no doubt in my mind that R.A.B is Sirius's brother. (I could be wrong, but that doesn't mean there's doubt in my mind. :p)Pretty awful about the false horcrux, though. I'd like to know how Regelus got the original out (and replaced the potion stuff). Not to mention, wondering how he knew about the cave, and all sorts of stuff. If Harry's inherited Grimmauld Place, I'd love to find some notes or journal of Regelus's... Hm.[/spoiler]

Just for the fun of reading, I'd've liked to have had one more Quidditch match.

Room of Requirement! [spoiler]I seriously love everything to do with this room. It's quintessentially Hogwarts to me, you know? Anyway, I would have liked to see more of this--How funny that Harry got to Draco's needed room, entirely by accident, and actually saw the wardrobe. That had to be a dagger afterwards--"Why didn't I sabotage the perfectly innocent broken piece of furniture when I had the chance!"

And Trelawney cracks me up. [/spoiler]

As for the title and the Half-Blood Prince himself... [spoiler]Like Shinmaru, Snape was my first guess. And the title... Well, Snape did play a large part, but it was all behind the scenes. It seemed like he even had less "page space" than in previous books.

Of course, that's as Severus. As the "Half Blood Prince" from the potions book, he turned up quite a bit. Do you think he actually made all the hexes that he had scribbled in the margins? Anyway, I think the title was fine, especially because of Harry's reliance on the book, his continued suspicions of Malfoy and Snape, and the final battle with Severus.

It kinda irked me that Harry was right about his obsessive Draco thing. I mean, okay, the Draco bit was brilliant, but the actual "entire book of Harry telling people things and no one believing him" has been done. *crooked smile*

*more on this later. [/spoiler][/color]

[eleanor]

[color=darkslateblue] Ergh, so I am on my break from work, and I've decided to make a list of stuff I liked in HBP, because I still love the Harry Potter fandom so.

Draco Draco Draco [dracodracodracodracodraco...*combust*]

Considering that Draco used to be one of my least favorite characters... my sudden love for him says a lot. After I finished reading Order of the Pheonix, I was *guh* very hoping that JK Rowling would go more into Draco's character. Delivered and well-done, I say. When [spoiler]Draco hexed Harry and left him on the train[/spoiler], I was already turning into a Draco fangirl. It's like [spoiler] he magically transformed into something awesome when the pressure was put on him. It was *so* in-character to see both the clumsiness and determination that was in Draco's plots to kill Dumbledore... and when he couldn't kill him in the end. I was loving how Harry was so irritated by all of it, because Draco was not being the same as he used to be, and how no one would believe Harry about Draco doing something evil. Actually, that was odd. Was it REALLY that improbable that Draco would be doing something? If I were Harry's friend I'd probably agree with him. Ok, anyways. Yeah, Draco was freaking awesome. And along with Draco, I started to love Crabbe and Goyle. Whether or not they're being loyal to Draco because they're idiots and fear or whether they're loyal...they were girls. Tee-hee. [/spoiler]

*grudgingly* [size=1]Snape[/size]

[spoiler]Even though I still don't like how JK built everything up, Snape... became a likable character for me (seriously, this book made me like a lot of characters I used to hate). Snape's character? I will sum it up: Snape is a good guy pretending to be a bad guy pretending to be a good buy pretending to be a bay guy pretending...confused yet? I still believe that Snape is drifting somewhere along the river of doubt, and that the reason he killed Dumbledore was because it was something planned (the far-fetched theory) or...maybe just because he really does love Draco. Or whatever. I hope JK Rowling really does a fantastic job in the next book of bringing out the human in Snape. [/spoiler]

Not really something I liked, but found interesting:

[spoiler] Dumbledore's withered hand. I know that we do not know the reason why he has this (though I think he got it from trying to break one of Tom Riddle's horcruxes), but I looked for withered hands in literature. Of course, there is a bible story about a man with a withered hand. What interested me about this certain story was that when Jesus noticed the man (who was outcast because people thought the withered hand was some sort of...bad thing), he told the man to "stretch out his hand", which could stand in meaning for the man to, in a sense, come out of his hiding and vulnerability and to heal himself by his response. Don't want to think much into this, but I just thought it was interesting. And I only vaguely remember a man with a withered hand who made trouble in Arthurian literature, so the words 'made trouble' jump out at me. Yes. So. I think too much.

Anyways... I am still very suspicious of Dumbledore's character in HBP. I also wish for a more drawn out explanation as to why Dumbledore trusted Snape, which I assume will be given in the next book. The fact that Dumbledore is wise and eager to see the good in people doesn't really...eh.

Tom Riddle's History

[spoiler]I really liked the old-styled fantasy-esque things that came about with Tom Riddle's backstory. Ok, not so much 'old-styled fantasy-esque', but something different and...don't know. Like a surreal (bad word choice) history. It reminded me a lot of the novel Everything is Illuminated, and the story that told the history of a village, although not as prominent or well-decribed. I'm only sad that there wasn't more. [/spoiler]

Hermione & Fleur

[spoiler] Hermione annoyed me a lot in this book for some unexplainable reason, but I also liked the way JK Rowling presented her. I loved it when Hermione made it so Ron won the Quidditch try-outs. :) And how she was getting irritated that Harry was getting so good in Potions because of Snape's notes, but was still truly concerned a bit...deep, deep...deep down. lol (jk)

I am a Fleur fangirl now. I loved her at the end of the book. Love.[/spoiler]

In conclusion... I am cautiously expecting that the seventh book will be awesome. As much as I did not enjoy this one, it created many, many awesome openings that could make something incredible happen in the next book. [/color]

[Sara]

[color=#6699cc]More on Snape.

[quote name='Lunox][spoiler']Even though I still don't like how JK built everything up, Snape... became a likable character for me (seriously, this book made me like a lot of characters I used to hate). Snape's character? I will sum it up: Snape is a good guy pretending to be a bad guy pretending to be a good buy pretending to be a bay guy pretending...confused yet? I still believe that Snape is drifting somewhere along the river of doubt, and that the reason he killed Dumbledore was because it was something planned (the far-fetched theory) or...maybe just because he really does love Draco. Or whatever. I hope JK Rowling really does a fantastic job in the next book of bringing out the human in Snape. [/spoiler][/quote]

Right, so I was going to talk more about [spoiler]Snape's motivations and betrayal[/spoiler], but I don't know what to say that Lunox didn't just post. Hm. Well, here goes.

[spoiler]I'm still waiting for a better reason why Dumbledore trusted Snape. I always thought he had some sort of unbelievable reason for it, and I find it hard to swallow that it was because Snape "repented" for telling Voldemort about the prophecy. Surely even someone as inclined as Dumbledore to believe the best in people would have a more solid reason than easily-faked remorse?

I was pretty surprised when Snape swore the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa (Cissy!). I obviously didn't know what the oath was about, but from the very beginning, we knew it had to be serious. He always intrigued me more as a double-agent than as Harry's Evil Potions Professor. I loved that there was someone (besides Mundungus) on the "good side" that just wasn't [i]likable[/i] on any level.

The hours I spent reading the book were also spent trying to figure Severus out. Was he really evil? [i]No, he couldn't be. I like him too much as a nasty good guy![/i] But he made an unbreakable oath! [i]But he could still be good![/i]

I assumed that Severus really deeply cared about either Narcissa or Draco. I mean, it's clear that he never fit in with the Order of the Phoenix, but he's got to have a life outside Hogwarts. After he made the vow, he really had no choice but to kill Dumbledore. And while he never particularly [i]liked[/i] Dumbledore or any of the others, it doesn't mean he's [i]evil[/i].

I did like how he called out for Draco to run. Not a typical bad-guy action; they're usually represented as every-man-for-himself. So that made me happy, in a "I am still [i]so[/i] going to kill you, you murdering bastard" sort of way.

*laughs* I know I sound silly. But I still really want him to be good.[/spoiler][/color]