When I met Eric Stirpe, he was 10 years old and I was....considerably older. But I listened with great interest as Eric talked about a book he'd just read: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." I was then editorial Director of America Online, a vague title that seemed to allow me to make special features whenever I wanted, and because Eric had been so excited, I decided to create a feature about Harry Potter.
So I did. I waited for kids to show up and get as excited as Eric had been. But nobody came. It turned out Eric was like the first kid in America to twig to Harry. Six months later, we relaunched the Harry Potter special. By then, everyone knew.
When J.K. Rowling agreed to do a live AOL chat, my first idea was that a kid should conduct the interview. My second idea was to ask Eric. He did the interview from his home in Virginia, firing questions by Instant Message as I sat with J.K. Rowling in New York. I can report that, by the fifth or sixth question, she looked like a bobblehead --- Eric's questions were so smart that she couldn't answer most of them without giving away information from books she hadn't yet written!
Eric is now 17. He still knows more about Harry Potter than any young reader I know, so I asked him if he would review the latest novel. Bookstores put it on sale at midnight; by late the next afternoon, Eric had finished its 700 pages. A few hours later, I had this review.....
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
J.K. Rowling
Well, ladies and gentlemen, J.K. Rowling has done it again. Her latest foray into the land of magic and Muggles is, in fact, one of the best of the series. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" has taken everything successful from the past books, trimmed off some of the fat, and thrown in some new aspects that, simply put, just work.
One complaint of "Order of the Phoenix" was the overabundance of Harry's teen angst, with Harry chewing out Ron and Hermione at every free moment, and often screaming the phrase “No one understands me!” I'm happy to say that he has grown out of this. Harry --- and his friends as well --- go through enormous character development in their sixth year at Hogwarts, exploring some of life's scariest aspects: dealing with the world in times of crisis, new responsibility, and dating.
Unlike the incredibly awkward relationship between Harry and Cho Chang in Book Five, Harry and Co. begin to learn a thing or two about dating, as people who have known each other for years begin to look at each other just a little bit differently. Unlikely the often dull-to-read dating and ‘teen angst' portions of "Order of the Phoenix," the character development in "Half-Blood Prince" all feels very real and makes you care about the characters, rather than just feeling sorry for them. Even the ‘secondary' characters --- in the story of Harry, Ron, and Hermione --- have been fleshed out nicely. One character we learn a lot more about in particular is Dumbledore, as he takes Harry as his confidante and partner and points him on his way to a quest that will utterly decide the fate of the wizarding world.
The pacing of this sixth chapter in Harry's life is written perfectly . Rowling neither rushes you through this adventure nor does she drag you through at a plodding, uphill pace. I was especially fond of the opening of the book, which starts, not with Harry but with the Prime Minister of England. It is a completely fresh twist, but totally believable, to have Muggle world leaders in contact with the leaders of the wizarding world. The meeting between the Minister of Magic and the Prime Minister is also a brilliant way of recapping what has happened since we last left the wizarding world.
The entire book is rife with Rowling's signature humor, with some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments. Rowling also has mastered the action sequences in her writing as well, writing with such vivid imagery it's hard not to feel you're sitting right in the middle of it. The ending of this story, unfortunately, is punctuated by an extremely moving and sad death. Unlike the death of Cedric Diggory in Book Four and its ensuing backlash throughout Book Five --- which left most readers saying “Oh, who cares?” --- the death and burial of one of the series' main characters is very touching and manages to tug on every heartstring. This ending also sets up Book Seven to be a very different sort of book indeed…
SPOILER ALERT (Stop reading here if you don't want to know how the book ends): I'd like to take the liberty to now indulge in some speculation, so if you haven't yet read the book, I would advise you to skip what follows...
At the end of "Half-Blood Prince," Dumbledore dies at the hands of Snape. A mysterious figure named ‘R.A.B'appears. And Harry, Ron, and Hermione drop out of school to pursue the quest for the Horcruxes. I think this ‘adventure/quest' angle will work very well for Book Seven, shoving Harry and Friends into a real world now full of genuine danger. Harry, after the death of Dumbledore, is once again without any true ‘parent' figures, leaving him free to do what he will, but I think it will be interesting to see how the Grangers and Weasleys react to this news. Dumbledore's death came out of nowhere , but it totally fit, finally giving us some closure on who Snape really is and where his allegiances lie. Snape and Malfoy will obviously be a major part of Book Seven, as the two of them are now essentially Voldemort's top officers. A confrontation is inevitable, but I really wouldn't be surprised if Snape has something to do with the fall of Voldemort, such as sacrificing himself to take Voldemort down, as a sort of redemption to end his character arc. The Half-Blood Prince being Snape was an interesting twist, especially when it is discovered Snape was responsible for the death of Harry's parents. It gave a bit of a betrayal aspect to it, as Harry had ‘trusted' the Prince all that year. I also liked how Voldemort has been set up as having a magpie-like thirst for trophies that had been established and then used to solidify the idea of the Horcruxes. And speaking of Horcruxes, who is R.A.B.? If my suspicions are correct, RAB may be none other than Regulus Black, the turncoat Death Eater and deceased brother of Sirius. That is the biggest mystery now established, and will obviously be a cornerstone of Book Seven.
But let the future be. For now, I would easily count "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" as one of my favorite books in the series. A perfect blend of mystery, action, romance, and true character development really makes this book a joy to read --- and makes me confident that J.K. Rowling will be able to pull off one killer ending to this series next book.
--- by Eric Stirpe, for HeadButler.com
To buy "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" from Amazon.com, click here.
