Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author Joane Rowling, under her pen name – J K Rowling. The genre of these books is fantasy literature and the subgenre is intrusion fantasy ( where magical events intrude the normal world ). This series is mainly directed at young adults. The series feature mystery, adventure and horror.
Plot synopsis:
Told from the third-person point of view, the plot happens in fantasy land, where wizards and witches hide from the muggle (non-magical) world, fearing the muggle’s dominance. And there rises a dark wizard, the main antagonist of the plot, Lord Voldemort (who people fear to call by name), who strives to be the most powerful person, through the means of becoming immortal, and conquer the wizarding and muggle worlds with the help of his followers, the ‘Death Eaters’.
Eventually, according to a prophecy, Lord Voldemort will mark a person his equal. The person would be the son of the parents who defied Lord Voldemort three times. And, this person would have a power Voldemort has never known of. The power is love which Voldemort lacked from a young age. When Voldemort learns of the prophecy’s first part, he hunts down the Potter’s family and loses his power due to the shield protection made by the boy’s mother before dying. Thus, the protagonist of the story, Harry Potter has to grow up to face Voldemort one day, who is sure to raise again. The plot strings life-threatening situations Harry Potter escapes with the hope to fight back armed with friendship, love and mentoring. In the end, Harry Potter kills Voldemort fulfilling the prophecy and saving all the lives of muggles and the wizarding world.
Series Review:
This is my favourite novel series because it takes the reader to another world where only he/she can reach through imagination. It gives the world view with people having many desires like having power, getting love, being good, and being bad. People who learnt from their mistakes, people who don’t.
Though a fictional novel, it proves what society is like nowadays. A view of the contemporary world. How the wars can be tragic: the Two World Wars are similar to the Two Wizard Wars. The loss of lives, the destruction of society, miserable cries of victims.
It helps realise the sorrows and hardships of life and the need to face them rather than run away from them. An inspiring quote I would pick from the books is “Where your treasure lies, there will your heart be also”- the desire of the heart becomes a treasure to be possessed.
But, in my opinion, the series does have minor flaws:
- The 5th book, Order of the Pheonix is too long. It was a little boring.
- Peter Pettigrew being sorted into Gryffindor house (traits: courage and determination), while he was always fearful and took shelter under the people stronger than him.
- Almost all the evil people being Slytherins, or almost all Slytherins being evil. A group of people in society with just villainous people is a little weird. People who supported the crimes of Lord Voldemort were only recruited to be Death Eaters, whereas people with traits of being cunning, leadership, ambitious and resourcefulness were sorted into Slytherins. Even Harry Potter had the potential to be sorted into Slytherin.
- The bonding between Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley is not complete.
Rating:
I would give 4.5 stars overall to this novel series because it contains an intriguing sophisticated plot with well-developed characters. Values that can be learnt from. And situations being relatable (without magic).
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