J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 2005)
A saga ends. The story is over. No more Midnight Madness runs to the bookstore at 12:01 wearing wizarding robes and odd glasses. No more counting down the days until Mary Grand Pre's new cover artwork is released. And no more secret surprises at J.K. Rowling's Web site -- well, hope springs eternal for that last one. With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we say goodbye to all things Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and Harry. This is the last stop folks; you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Come on now, no tears. Just take my hand, and we'll get through this. No, I haven't been crying; it's just these darn allergies that have my eyes red.
Shell-shocked? Sad? Disappointed? No, kinda and not really. Since this is a review and not a critique, I'll leave spoilers out of it, so those of you who haven't had a chance to get through yours (and those of you who don't read the books and instead catch the movie version) won't have had the cat let out of the bag. Too much.
For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past seven years or so -- I'll just pretend the Harry Potter build-up came at the start of the first film, you poor dears -- J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series deals with a typical boy (Harry) who has a not-so-typical gift; his ability to do magic. Lucky for him he's not the only one. There is a whole other world of magic that non-magical folks (muggles) don't know about, including schools (Hogwarts) and places (Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade) that the wizarding world calls their own. But all is not well, thanks to the re-emergence of the evil Lord Voldemort. Voldemort tried to kill Harry when Harry was a baby, but only left a lightning-bolt scar as proof that he even tried to harm Harry at all. There have been trials and tribulations -- as well as fun and friendship -- but Harry and his friends know that ultimately, Lord Voldemort must be destroyed. And each book in the series has lead Harry and readers to believe that there's only one wizard that can do it. Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived.
The series has had high points (The Sorcerer's Stone, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, The Order of the Phoenix) and low points (Chamber of Secrets, The Half-Blood Prince), but overall J.K. Rowling's storytelling held the series together where other writers could have things fall apart (are you listening to me, Robert Jordan?) Her ability to create people readers care about and places readers long to see for themselves is further testament to her craft. This capstone could make or break the series as a whole, and though there are a few things that could have been changed or expanded upon, Deathly Hallows lives up to the hype and delivers a wild roller coaster ride to readers who have been happily chugging uphill for the past six books.
The first handful of chapters start off with a look at both sides of the camp; Lord Voldemort and his minions, and Harry with his family (or the remnants; his distant-at-best aunt and uncle and felon-in-training cousin Dudley). While not necessarily quiet, things aren't in high gear either. But the story leaps out of the starting gate quickly, with action and mystery-solving taking the lead. Deathly Hallows sees celebrations, tragedies and reunions; some you may expect, others sneak up on you without warning. Things happen quickly, and the 759 pages fly by. There are even a few new characters among the death and destruction (yes, there are deaths. It's a war, and there will be casualties. Keep hold of my hand.) What readers really want though, are the answers to all of our long-standing questions. Is Snape a good guy or a bad guy? Why are Harry's green eyes such an important fact? What's up with Peter Pettigrew's silver hand? Is Neville an important part of defeating Lord Voldemort? And for crying out loud, what's going on with Ron and Hermione? Fear not, because all of the answers are here, and then some.
So, does Harry buy it or not? Wait; have you just started reading this review? I promised no real spoilers, and I meant it. But I will say that Ms. Rowling plays out the final battle in a way that should have long-time readers amazed at the way she handled things. Was the final battle well fought? Absolutely. Was it breathtaking? You betcha. But, there were certain passages where I would have liked more description. There are also plenty of characters I've come to love (and a few I've come to, well, not love so much) that get short shrift here, while a few get no mention at all. In fact, one scene all but tosses a few deaths away in a brief sentence (remember, I said there would be deaths. There, there now, it'll be okay. Honest.) That bit didn't sit well with me at all, and I'm guessing my neighbors who had to listen to my howls of anguish and righteous indignation probably didn't like it much either.
The only spoiler of any kind I had heard before I cracked open this final installment was that there would be an epilogue at the end of the tale. That was spread all over the world a while ago, so I'll mention it here. The epilogue is set nineteen years later, and gives readers an idea of what happens to some of the characters -- those that survived the final battle -- after things settled out. To use a descriptive that J.K. Rowling has uttered about some of her fans, I'm not interested in knowing "the middle names of Harry's great-great-grandparents", but I would have liked a more fleshed-out ending to this series. A few basic questions of mine were left unanswered, but it was a nice way to wrap things up. And what about you readers that do want to know all the finer details? Never fear. Ms. Rowling has said that she'd like to do a Harry Potter encyclopedia someday, where fans can read all of the background material she created but never got a chance to fit in to the series. Hmm, perhaps there will be one last midnight bookstore raid after all. But until then, sit back and relish Deathly Hallows. It's been a long, strange, overall beautifully crafted trip. I for one enjoyed every moment of it.
