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How she's going to top this, I have no idea
I know. I normally review web comics. I'll have a web comic review up later today, once I've slept and caught up on the daily comics. But this... this deserves a tangent, I think.
Well. It's just shy of 8 a.m. and I have finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It took me a little under seven hours to go through it all, and no doubt I missed a bit here and there in my mad caper through Rowling's imagination to the end, but from the beginning until the end one thought reverberated through my mind: This is the best novel J.K. Rowling has ever written.
Oh, I can hear the snide remarks on this now. After all, it's her sixth published novel, and with each newer novel writers learn things. We learn how to craft a story, how to put it together properly, how to link our varied plot points and make it into a greater whole. But for the longest time I considered her third novel to be the best of her works to date.
There is something special about Sirius Black to me, and the novel that made him big. From the beginning I realized that it was obvious that Sirius Black, this horrible murderous fiend, was not the threat. If you've read Rowling's other novels, the pattern is clear: expect the unexpected. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or Philosopher's Stone if you're in England) faked us out with Snape being the obvious villain... and but for one dream and a few subtle clues, no real sign that another was the threat to the school and to Harry.
Again, in The Chamber of Secrets we had the oh-so-helpful glimpse of the past from Tom Riddle... only to learn later that Riddle was in fact something dark and dire. (And if you've not yet read The Half-Blood Prince, keep in mind the second novel, because Rowling skillfully crafts the story of Riddle into this latest novel.)
In my eyes, after the first two fake-outs, I naturally then Sirius Black was not evil. He had to be a scapegoat, and his interest in Harry was not something murderous, but instead to protect him. I was pleasantly surprised to learn I was right. I was even more surprised at finding out who the real threat was. (I mean, really. Scabbers? He'd never done anything... which is sort of the point, I suppose.)
But after the third novel, things cooled down slightly. Sure, Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix were good stories and well crafted. They continued the story quite well. But... they didn't have the oomph that Prisoner of Azkaban had. They didn't ignite my interest in quite the same way. The doppelganger in GoF was unexpected, but it was once again part of Rowling's repertoire. OotP... well, it was good but... it felt empty somehow. I don't know why, but it was (to me) the least favorite of Rowling's stories.
Around 5 a.m. I tried putting down The Half-Blood Prince. I couldn't. I needed to return to the story and finish it. I needed to learn what happened. And I was shocked and amazed and amused and more. Rowling has bottled a genie, and unleashed it in this novel. She's stated that it's her favorite of the works to date. It's also mine, now.
Oh, and the rumors? They're true. Someone very dear to Harry dies. Amazingly enough, it's the very character I predicted would die for over a month now. And this character's death tears up Harry something fierce. It affects every surviving character in Harry's cadre of friends.
I don't know how popular the seventh book is. Because the very tone of the series has changed. Up until now, Harry Potter has been as much about Hogwarts the School as it's been about Harry Potter. But now... I'm willing to bet that we won't be seeing much of Hogwarts in the seventh novel; while Harry may return there; it will not be as a student. It will be to find the clues he needs to destroy Voldemort, once and for all.
If you've not read any of the Harry Potter novels, or if you've skipped one or two, do not read The Half-Blood Prince just yet. There are ties from every novel preceding this one, and you cannot appreciate how encompassing this novel is without having read the ones that come before. So catch up on the rest of the series. Then you can appreciate this masterpiece of literature.
R.K. Rowling? You've outdone yourself this time.
Addendum Note: For those of you who *have* finished the novel, if you think hard enough, you should be able to figure out the initials R.A.B. (however, if you want my thoughts on who it is, highlight the next bit: Regulus A. Black (yes, I know we don't have Regulus's middle initial, but still) Surprise! Makes sense, doesn't it. :)
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- Personally I think she should be dressed in Bern's cloak for the intermission...
 (From Flipside. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
It's the attack of the Chibi-Maytag! *laughter* One of the fun things about Flipside is that it doesn't take itself seriously at times. This was much more noticeable in "Book 0," but even in the current storyline you can see times when Maytag is feeling especially frisky or flirtatious. It suits her, as does the quieter more abashed side of her when she removes her costume.
To be honest, we've needed some levity after the recent storyline. Let's face it, near the end things were getting rather dire; we had Maytag cowed, Crest unconscious, and Sir Orransong dying. Finally it took Bernadette's long-awaited appearance before things were set straight. (I just hope those knights are smart enough to imprison Voulger, or even better, execute him. Sorry, he's a madman and a mass murderer and has on more than one occasion casually killed people who bother him, in front of witnesses. I'm all for civil liberties and that... but this isn't the U.S. and those people have already been shown to be inept in dealing with Voulger.)
Anyway, we have an Intermission! Brion has done this before, to explain how magic works in his world. Fortunately, for those who hate chibis, Brion tends not to use chibi in his regular comic; instead saving it for short intermissions like this one.
(As an aside, I must admit to being rather amused by Maytag's casual use of swearing, and Bern leaning on-panel to scold her about it. You might notice that I try my best to avoid swearing or even many curse-words in Tangents. This is because of my personal beliefs about swearing. Swears have power to them. However, the more you use them, the less potent they become. Let's take everyone's favorite fornicative swear, f___. You hear it so often it doesn't mean anything anymore. I mean, I've heard three-year-old children running around the streets shouting f___ this! and f___ that! It's truly sad. However, let's take another word referring to female genitalia, c___. You don't often hear this word, and it still evokes a strong sense of emotion when used. Likewise, if you don't hear a person swear, when he or she does, it's a bit of a surprise. So when something truly upsets me or just deserves a swear word for emphasis... I'll use it then. And it'll mean something when I do.)
I'm not sure what today's intermission is going to be about. It could be about magic again and enchanted people, it could be about the upcoming storyline, or anything else like that. Still, it's fun to see Brion using an intermission again, even if Maytag is being particularly foul-mouthed. Which is why she should be dressed in just Bern's cloak, I bet she'd be much more polite if she were. *evil grin*
Enjoy the intermission! Me, I'm going out for popcorn before the feature starts again....
Robert A. Howard
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