| Philosopher's Stone | 0 |
| Chamber of Secrets | 1 |
| Prisoner of Azkaban | 0 |
| Goblet of Fire | 3 |
| Order of the Phoenix | 1 |
| Half-blood Prince | 1 |
| Deathly Hallows | 24 |
(actual count may vary depending on your definition of death. The above is based on a very liberal acceptance, i.e. it includes Tom Riddle who is really just a horcrux, as well as Hedwig who is not a sentient species.)
Does anything look a little forced here? I think so. the fact that the death toll hits 4 by chapter 5 is a good indication of the pacing. The real issue is that they aren't good deaths. Most of these people don't die, but are listed as killed. For instance, We never see Moody die. We simply hear that he fell off a broom. Now, Moody is the ultimate survivor. Missing a leg and an eye, this guy will take anything that's thrown at him. If there was one person to suspect a return from it's him. But Rowling just wants it over with so he's reported as dead and she moves on. Problem: In a series where she's made it a point to drop little clues and return to things that have previously been small details why does she now expect everyone in her audience to accept things like this? Because she's immature about death in her books? Hell, take Tonks and Lupin. The first time we find out they're dead is when Harry sees their bodies on the ground during the battle of Hogwarts. Fine, kill off some random professor who's never been mentioned (who teaches a class that's never been mentioned) off screen. That's... OK. But to kill off two big characters who you've been building up for a couple of novels the same way? That's cheap and sleazy. Those characters deserved a better author than that. And then to not get around to mentioning their son (who, because Harry is his god father, should have been living with Harry) until that slap dashed, soft-focus "19 years later" epilogue? It's (painfully) obvious JK Rowling loves her characters. The problem is that she lets that get in the way of writing them the way they should be. Instead she panders to them and attempts to make it easy on the characters, the readers and herself. There is no greater instance of this weakness for her characters than in the final fight between Harry and Voldemort. It's the same "fight finale" as in Goblet of Fire. The only difference is that this time Harry has both wands on his side. This is such a powerful turn of fate that Harry doesn't even have to cast a single offensive spell against his opponent. No, instead Voldemort simply kills himself. Now I get something like that in a kid book. And I know that these started off as such. But at this point it's being written for a mean (math term, not "nasty") reader of 17. That's pushing what can be considered the upper bounds of Young Adult. Also, we've had 10 years to see how she's trying to develop people in her world. Top that off with nearly a whole chapter of her having Dumbledor say "Harry needs to die" and it's a safe bet the stage is set for something darker than "Evil kills itself. good will triumph because good is... better at being good...." In the midst of a war that the good guys have been fighting for years (and books) on the side of right we are suddenly told that pacifism is the ultimate ideal? I know that's now what the author meant to put across, but in being so careful not to hurt Harry in any permanent way that's what she has told us. There are all sorts of problems in this novel but most of them point to the writer's ability rather than bad plotting. In a series where she's made it habit to lay the foundations and clues early on the whole "hallows" concept seems to come out of nowhere. Fine, she may have had plans for the cloak. I'll buy that. But the ring that meant nothing until now? The wand that didn't exist until this book. Suddenly Ron knows all about it and it's the one thing that Mr. Lovegood isn't full of crap on. Deathly Hallows starts to sag under the weight of all these easy coincidences. That's not to say I didn't enjoy this book. I have a lot of criticism for it because it has a lot to live up to. Sure, most of the middle of the book is boring and pointless. Endless days camping and not accomplishing anything. As much as Ron was criticized for leaving them on their quest he absolutely had a point. They didn't have a plan and were not accomplishing anything. It felt like she was stretching out Harry and Hermione's time in the wild simply because her books all have to take place over the course of a year. Once things picked up again the book was entertaining. The overall style was a little too bipolar as a whole. I felt that there was no consistent pacing. The opening is manic. The camping is a lull. The race to the horcruxes comes from nowhere and is manic, then it calms a bit while they crash at Serius' old place. Suddenly there's a battle and it's over. I know that there's rising and falling action but this was all over the place. I think it would have fared better had she done a 7th book at the school and then an 8th book out in the world. It would have given her more opportunity to lay the groundwork of th hallows and the super-wand business that came from nowhere. Once the main characters went out into the world they didn't know what to do. I don't think that was just Ron, Harry and Hermione. I think that was JK Rowling as well. She was out of her element. She had so much room to move around in that she panicked and they spend months doing nothing at all. I know I'm complaining a lot. I swear, I was entertained by it. It was a fun read. It was frustrating at the slow middle third, but overall I liked it. Just the blad fact of know how it ends gives this book a "must read" banner. The battle was ridiculous and nerds the world over will ponder: Who would win in a fight: Xavier's School of the Gifted of Hogwarts? And I think it's a pretty close fight. The mythology was fleshed out more. Snape was (as I never doubted for a moment) vindicated, if a bit ham handedly. Ron and Hermione kiss (about goddamn time) and technically a bunch of the characters did get laid in this one. Hooray for all of that. And although it was a little strange, I did like the Serius house section. The turn of both Kreacher and Ron/Harry was nicely done. The part where Harry kicks Lupin's ass for running away; I liked that too. So I don't mean to seem all down about that book. The fact still remains that it just didn't live up to what book 7 had to be. Some of you might say it's not fare to factor in the hype for a book review. Normally that's the case, but this is "Harry frickin' Potter". There's 10 years of hype and it's not all media induced. The author has been reveling in it and, for the most part, living up to it. Each element of this has been rolling downhill like a snowball, getting bigger and better. The books, the movies, all of it. This needed to be the biggest part of all, a fine send off to a publishing monster. And it wasn't. Sure, it was better than the early books, but it didn't top Order of the Phoenix. Even Half Blood Prince had paced itself better. If the books were all part of an evolutionary path, this book would thrive for a bit in it's time, but die out in the end.Rating +1.5 I would love to give this a higher rating, but actually wrestled this up from a -1. Now, here's my idea for a better ending. I hate the fact that the themes she's been trying to establish for 10 years have been broken or at least bent to the limit in order to insure that Harry end the series with clean hands an no long last ill effects, as evident in the Hallmark quality epilogue. Here's how it should have ended.... Harry and Voldemort begin their duel to the death. After a few rebounded attacks Voldemort realizes that the wand is not obeying him. He launches one last desperate curse against Harry, who deflects it and expels Voldemort's wand. They both look at each other. Voldemort then lunges for Harry and Harry casts the killing curse. Voldemort dies but Harry's soul is damaged. Voldemort was evil and trying to kill Harry, but was unarmed and beaten. Harry is then taken to St. Mungo's for treatment and rehabilitation. We get to see a little bit of Harry here, trying to balance the fact that he acted in the right with the fact that the master plan was wrong on some level to damage him. Perhaps the rules aren't perfect? Did Harry know better? At St. Mungo's he has to face all the elements that would have made him a great Slytherin. The last chapter ends. Epilogue: They're all at the platform as in the novel. This time Harry and Ginny only have Teddy Lupin in their care while Ron and Hermione have 2-4 kids. The children run off to the train. Once more, we see Malfoy sending off his kid. Instead of just giving a nod he comes over. He's friendly, though not polite, with Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione. We can see that he has become very close to Harry since Malfoy was partially redeemed and Harry has partially fallen. End
Say, who would win in a fight between Xavier's and Hogwarts?
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