Rob

This is my first time reading Zelazny. I hadn't heard of this book before. The more popular pick seems to be Lord of Light.

Someone in my book club suggested doing a chapter/day starting on September 30th because each chapter is a day. This worked well for me because most of the chapters were short and could easily be consumed while doing a simple task around the house like making lunch. There are a few exceptions to this including the final chapter which was by far the longest.

My interest in the book was up and down, with some day's events keeping my attention more than others. I'm not a classic monster/horror/literature guy. So while I mostly followed who the various unnamed characters are (The Count, the Great Detective, etc) I'm sure there is a lot of stuff that I just didn't get.

Overall the story was fine, but didn't really grab me. I think if I had tried to just listen to this as my normal book and not doing 1 chapter/day I might have enjoyed it less.

I listened to the audiobook version of this because it was included with my audible subscription. I thought the narrator did a pretty good job with a variety of voices for the different characters.

Executive Summary: This is a really great end to what has truly become and instant classic series. I'm a bit sad my re-visit is over, but I'm sure this won't be the last time I revisit this series.Jim Audio Book: I really enjoy Jim Dale. I imagine whatever I listen to in the near future will have an incredibly tough time measuring up.Stephen Fry Audio Book: I really enjoy Stephen Fry as well. Now that I've done the series with both, I still can't decide. If I had to pick, I think Dale is better for the earlier lighter books and Fry is better for the later darker ones, but you really can't go wrong either way.Full Review I originally gave this book a 5, but dropped it to a 4. On this re-read I up-rated [b:Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 5 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499277281s/5.jpg 2402163] because it was better than I remember. This book didn't quite hold up. It's a high 4 though.Early on I was definite I wanted to drop it 4, but as I got closer to the end I was less sure. I'm still a little iffy on it. This is really a story of two halves. The first half is slow sometimes to the point of being tedious.I'm not sure if it was intentional or not. I certainly felt as frustrated as the characters at their lack of progress.The second half of the book is truly excellent. The first part is what spoils a 5 star for me though. I'm trying to be a bit more frugal with what I give 5 stars to, to give that rating a bit more meaning. Cover to Cover this book just wasn't as enjoyable to me as [b:Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 5 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499277281s/5.jpg 2402163] or [b:Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 6 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361482611s/6.jpg 3046572].That said, I love this book and I for one am happy with the ending. I have this perception that many(some?) people were upset at the epilogue. I've heard complaints that Ms. Rowling left nothing to the imagination.In some books that would bother me. For Harry Potter, it does not. I think if I had to imagine what would happen next, the Epilogue is exactly what I'd have wanted.

Executive Summary: This is a really great end to what has truly become and instant classic series. I'm a bit sad my re-visit is over, but I'm sure this won't be the last time I revisit this series.Jim Audio Book: I really enjoy Jim Dale. I imagine whatever I listen to in the near future will have an incredibly tough time measuring up.Stephen Fry Audio Book: I really enjoy Stephen Fry as well. Now that I've done the series with both, I still can't decide. If I had to pick, I think Dale is better for the earlier lighter books and Fry is better for the later darker ones, but you really can't go wrong either way.Full Review I originally gave this book a 5, but dropped it to a 4. On this re-read I up-rated [b:Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 5 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499277281s/5.jpg 2402163] because it was better than I remember. This book didn't quite hold up. It's a high 4 though.Early on I was definite I wanted to drop it 4, but as I got closer to the end I was less sure. I'm still a little iffy on it. This is really a story of two halves. The first half is slow sometimes to the point of being tedious.I'm not sure if it was intentional or not. I certainly felt as frustrated as the characters at their lack of progress.The second half of the book is truly excellent. The first part is what spoils a 5 star for me though. I'm trying to be a bit more frugal with what I give 5 stars to, to give that rating a bit more meaning. Cover to Cover this book just wasn't as enjoyable to me as [b:Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 5 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499277281s/5.jpg 2402163] or [b:Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 6 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361482611s/6.jpg 3046572].That said, I love this book and I for one am happy with the ending. I have this perception that many(some?) people were upset at the epilogue. I've heard complaints that Ms. Rowling left nothing to the imagination.In some books that would bother me. For Harry Potter, it does not. I think if I had to imagine what would happen next, the Epilogue is exactly what I'd have wanted.

Executive Summary: I've gone back and forth on bumping my rating up from 4 to 5. The ending of this book is one of the best in the series but as a whole, I find this book just isn't quite as good as [b:Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 6 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361482611s/6.jpg 3046572] or [b:Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 5 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499277281s/5.jpg 2402163]. It's very though, as it's another excellent book.Jim Dale Audio Book: I really want to try the Stephen Fry versions to compare, but Jim Dale has me firmly in his corner as THE way to enjoy these books.Stephen Fry Audio Book: Now that I have tried the Stephen Fry versions, I'm still torn. I'll simply revise my opinion at this point to be you can't really go wrong with either narrator in my opinion.Full ReviewI have to start with the end. Possibly one of the largest spoilers of all time. At least in terms of people being upset finding it out before reading it. I remember being at a convention the year this came out and people seemed to be making it a point of yelling Snape kills Dumbledore. I put that in tags on the very slim chance you either haven't read the book, or somehow avoided that. If you did, I'm impressed. Tell me what your secret is please!People got really creative about this too. I remember someone did a mashup with castaway where Tom Hanks was keeping a copy of the book in that unopened package and then someone flew by the island with the spoiler on a banner behind the plane.I also recall just before the final book came out, people who preordered from Walden books had their choice of bookmark one saying Trust Snape, and the other: Snape is a very bad man. I think I was more in the former camp, than the latter, but it's hard for me to remember anymore.Above all I think this division among readers during what felt like a very long waiting time until [b:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 136251 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474171184s/136251.jpg 2963218] came out, is what is best about this book. It is certainly THE cliffhanger of the series.Also, in this book, Ms. Rowling finally starts to reveal some of the deeper secrets of the series as Harry and Dumbledore explore memories of the past.As a grown adult, I find the descriptions of Harry's feelings toward Ginny both amusing and nostalgic. I remember having similar feelings when I was I was high school. I don't miss that “monster” as Harry calls it.

Executive Summary: I've gone back and forth on bumping my rating up from 4 to 5. The ending of this book is one of the best in the series but as a whole, I find this book just isn't quite as good as [b:Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 6 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361482611s/6.jpg 3046572] or [b:Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 5 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499277281s/5.jpg 2402163]. It's very though, as it's another excellent book.Jim Dale Audio Book: I really want to try the Stephen Fry versions to compare, but Jim Dale has me firmly in his corner as THE way to enjoy these books.Stephen Fry Audio Book: Now that I have tried the Stephen Fry versions, I'm still torn. I'll simply revise my opinion at this point to be you can't really go wrong with either narrator in my opinion.Full ReviewI have to start with the end. Possibly one of the largest spoilers of all time. At least in terms of people being upset finding it out before reading it. I remember being at a convention the year this came out and people seemed to be making it a point of yelling Snape kills Dumbledore. I put that in tags on the very slim chance you either haven't read the book, or somehow avoided that. If you did, I'm impressed. Tell me what your secret is please!People got really creative about this too. I remember someone did a mashup with castaway where Tom Hanks was keeping a copy of the book in that unopened package and then someone flew by the island with the spoiler on a banner behind the plane.I also recall just before the final book came out, people who preordered from Walden books had their choice of bookmark one saying Trust Snape, and the other: Snape is a very bad man. I think I was more in the former camp, than the latter, but it's hard for me to remember anymore.Above all I think this division among readers during what felt like a very long waiting time until [b:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 136251 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) J.K. Rowling https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474171184s/136251.jpg 2963218] came out, is what is best about this book. It is certainly THE cliffhanger of the series.Also, in this book, Ms. Rowling finally starts to reveal some of the deeper secrets of the series as Harry and Dumbledore explore memories of the past.As a grown adult, I find the descriptions of Harry's feelings toward Ginny both amusing and nostalgic. I remember having similar feelings when I was I was high school. I don't miss that “monster” as Harry calls it.

Executive Summary: I'm not sure if it's how much I liked Goblet of Fire or if it's all the teenage angst, but this book just isn't as good. The DA goes a long way towards making up for all the brooding and whining Harry seems to do for most of this book, but not completely. Really it's the women: Luna, Ginny and especially Hermione who help make up for it the most. 3.5 Stars

Jim Dale Audio Book: Jim Dale just seems to keep getting better with each book. His voices for Luna who is new to this book, as well as some the O.W.L. test givers and Neville with a broken nose are all excellent on top of all the ones he seems to have mastered in previous books.

Stephen Fry Audio Book: Another great job. He was particularly good at making me annoyed at the characters who were being annoying. His Umbridge voice is nearly as irritating as the movie, and the part at the end with Neville was getting on my nerves it was so good. Once again making it impossible to choose between narrators.

Full Review

I've always been torn on this book. On my very first read through, this was my least favorite. I think in retrospect it's more due to how great Goblet was (as mentioned above).The first time I read this I was 20 years old and still in college. I was much closer in age to Harry and his friends. This time, I'm 30 years old and long removed from my teenage years. I have recollections of similar thoughts and feelings to Harry, but they are just that.

Overall I still enjoy this book, and on this re-read, I put it ahead of Chamber of Secrets but probably not Sorcerer's Stone on my ordering of the series.

There are several things this book has going for it to redeem all the miserable time of Harry feeling sorry for himself. First it introduces Luna Lovegood, whose one of my favorite supporting characters.

Second it introduces the DA. This is a place where Harry really comes into his own. It also gives you a reprieve (for the most part) from all of his teenage angst.

Third is just how great Hermione has become. I've always identified with her more than Harry or Ron. I like order and following the rules. I like books and the learning they can provide. I like being cautious and thinking things out. She's the voice of reason in a book full of teenage angst.

Fourth is the Weasley Twins. They have what could be argued as the best scene in the series in this book. While they are people I probably wouldn't get along with too well (you tell them Hermione!), they sure go a long way to lighten things up.

And speaking of Weasley's, Ginny really finally comes into her own. She's smart and capable and moved on from fawning over Harry.

The final thing I'll highlight is Dolores Umbridge. This is someone I'm torn on. She is utterly obnoxious and frustrating. However, that is the point of her character, so Ms. Rowling does a fantastic job with her. I think simply coupled with Harry's obnoxious traits, it's just a bit too much for one book.

I also find her to be TOO much of an antagonist, and maybe a lost opportunity. If she was a little more like Fudge and less of a sadist, she could be a truly great villain, though maybe Rowling didn't think the subtlety of inaction would be apparent to her readers?

Overall this book is uneven, and I find how much I like it seems to vary with each reading.

It's a fine story with the typical Scalzi humor. It may be that later entries in this series (assuming it continues) will be a bit better without needing to take up so much time world building. The world building would have been fine for a longer story, but it felt like the story took too long to get started.

Audiobook: The audio is fantastic. Amber Benson does a fantastic job with a variety of voices. As this is currently the only way to consume this story, it's a nice benefit to get such excellent narration.