I know i am opening myself up to much mocking and ridicule for starting this topic...but it had to be done. So what were general opinions of The Order of the Phoenix? Any other 7 hr geekathons of reading out there?

It only took me about 4 hours to read Goblet of Fire. I don't expect Order of the Phoenix to take 7.

And I haven't bought it yet. I'm either gonna wander in to a bookstore on Monday, and grab a copy. Or I'm gonna wait to see how many copies I get for my birthday next month.

In Response to zamphir (#6621):

Hmm, actually it took me about the same (a little more than 4) for Goblet of fire...I dunno why the difference this time. Oo la la, enigmatic.

I bought it at walmart today. Yes, codpieces AND harry potter. However, i had other errands and such to do today and i tend to meander through my books allowing them to engage my entire mind and wrapping myself into the given environment.

I think i could read the books in 4 hours or so, but i'd rather spend my $16 over a few days rather than a few hours.

Well, I just finished it (~12 hours after buying it). Although my brain is mostly mush from reading 860 pages of 'young adult' literature in one day, I think I liked it a lot.

The books have been steadily increasing in overall darkness of theme, and this one definitely continues the trend. Harry, while becoming less and less likable as the series wears on, is correspondingly becoming a far more complex and compelling character. His puberty-associated rages throughout the book were dead on, and JK does an excellent job showing how the stress is making him wear at the edges.

I thought the final conflict and resolution was a bit too familiar - didn't the last four books end with this formula? That's a minor quibble, though. The purpose of this book is to advance Harry's character as well as the overarching narrative behind the series, and it's simply amazing in this regard.

So yeah, perhaps this is more analysis than an "ages 9 or older" book warrants. But I still enjoyed it immensely…

I've got my copy, but haven't started reading it yet. First, for the past couple years I've been using the Harry Potter books as airport/airplane reading. I'll be traveling in late July, so I don't intend to finish the book before that. Second, I see no point in rushing through it in any case; it could be a while before the next one comes out.

In Response to mea37 (#6628):

it could be a while before the next one comes out

Yeah. They're gonna hve to let the trees grow back a bit first.

In Response to zamphir (#6633):

For one brief second I wa ready to start a huge tirade about how I hate people ruining books on me and giving away the storyline. Vitriol and rage welled up inside me like a fountain of pure hate ready to spew abuse.

Then I got the joke.

I hate Monday mornings...

In Response to evilaltor (#6647):

Vitriol and rage welled up inside me like a fountain of pure hate ready to spew abuse.

At least you're awake now, right?

A personal request -- if you post anything with spoilers, just mark yer post appropriately (or start a separate spoilers thread, whatever makes you happiest).

I need to re-read book IV before I start in on V, so it may be a while before I can fully participate.

In Response to jon (#6677):

Yeah, i'm noticing that things are VERY unfamiliar that were dealt with in the fourth book. That and my memory is like that of a 3 year old on a sugar-high; i barely remember how the 4th book ended.

In Response to AsphaltBuffet (#6701):

I reread IV a month ago to take my mind of the monotany of finals. It helped a lot with V.

As phritz said, yea harry is definitely become quite the puberty enraged teenage boy. Do you think this makes the books better or worse? More realistic perhaps. Either way I've just finished after sporadic reading fiestas, not my favorite of the five, I think i enjoyed three and four the most. Four definitely exciting with the tournament.

One thing which I find annoying is the same theme throughout all of them. This one did stray a bit, but each has that same "Harry saves the day and Dumbledore and him become closer friends". It gets old.

Anybody know when the next one is being released?
 

In Response to sushiswindler (#6840):

I think this is a good point to migrate the conversation to a spoiler thread [goats.com].

In Response to sushiswindler (#6840):

i'm halfway through now....the first half of the book is nothing but harry's teenage angst at the world for being against him.....extremely tiring IMHO

In Response to sushiswindler (#6840):

I heard something about next year... I'd maybe believe 2005.

So I am still plodding along in the middle of the book, and I have to say...I don't think it has the charm and wit that the fisrt couple had. It all seems very forced and kind of spiritless. Granted, I still have a couple hundred pages to go, but it seems a little tedious in style to me. Anyone else finding it less than satisfactory?

I can't say I took 7 hours for Pheonix, but that's about what Goblet of Fire took me... I had a hard time with this one, you could tell that Rowling had writer's block at the begining of the book because it took forever to get to the point. It's one of those writer tricks they teach you in college classes, the cure for the block is to just keep writing until the idea comes back to you.
Overall, it was entertaining only for the fact I've read all the other books and now I'm addicted like any other Potter Junkie... and even though this book was a little dissappointing I'll probably still reserve my copy of number 6 when it's written.