It's funny though, because I've never quite put my finger on what makes the series so very addictive. Sure, it's a funky story, sure, it has some imaginative ideas - but no more nor less than any other series. What is it about Harry Potter that really gets into you, makes you genuinely care about what happens? (I'm sure you will be split among those who totally agree and those that totally don't - either that or you're all a bit freaked out by now).

Harry Potter has a firm grip on reality despite being magical. Everything happens in our real world, with plot devices used to keep it consistent with the world we know. It could genuinely be happening right now - it has no immediate contradiction with reality, so long as your imagination can propel it.

It's the same with Stargate, I guess that's why I'm addicted to that too. Stargate is set in reality, in the present, and part of its story is how it's kept secret from the world at large. As long as your imagination allows ideas like magic or space-portals, you can live a suspension of disbelief which gets you hooked on what is ultimately a deeply detailed conspiracy theory. But it's so fun.



Expect updates and reviews as soon as I get the book.



Watch this space for what I thought of the book. Alternatively, if it turns out that Harry was actually the Dark Lord in disguise, or it was all a dream, or something else just stupid watch this space for profanities as-yet unheard-of by mankind.



Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was by far one of the best in the series (with the worst being the preceding Half-Blood Prince, in my opinion). It is thoroughly un-Harry-Potter-like, in that the formula you'd got used to for six books was completely cast aside. At first this was worrying, but ultimately gave the book a unique, desperate atmosphere (to match the desperation of the strife of the story) - we've broken all formulas, we don't know what to expect, we just know what has to be done. The freedom of breaking from the formula allowed the book to explore plotlines previously impossible, and draw together everything that had been set up in books 1 to 6.

For those of you who have read the prior books, you will know that it was already determined that in the 7th book the task was to locate and destroy the remaining fragments of the Dark Lord's soul, so as to finally kill him. Thankfully, Rowling manages to pull this off in a non-linear way, drawing old characters and places together in the line of the plot. Unfortunately, much of the book is padded out with pointless paragraphs, and despite its thickness it doesn't have much more in it than any of the previous, thinner books. That said, thankfully plenty does happen (unlike the utter nothingness of book 6).

One of the shocking things about the book is that it's so hardcore. Right from the word go everyone's dying, and it doesn't relent even till the last pages. Many characters survive, but even some of your favourites are killed. The book has as little mercy as the Dark Lord it describes.

Predictably, the book leads up to a final confrontation, but, unpredictably, not before whole new facets of the plot are revealed, involving the Deathly Hallows, perspective-changing revelations, and characteristic explained-afterwards inexplicable happenings. Harry's final confrontation with his arch-nemesis Voldemort is epic, believable, and incredibly tense, and heart-warmingly, the characters who've stood out of the limelight in books 1 to 6 really show their mettle in helping Harry get to this final battle.

I won't ruin for you what happens, but I will say this. It's not as simple as a duel, and all the better for it. Rowling doesn't shout in your face how the ending works - it takes a while for you to realise exactly how it all happened. But when you do think about it, everything that's been set up over 7 books finally snaps into place. Whether Harry survives his final battle is a spoiler I won't reveal, but the very beginning of the saga is a sacrifice - Harry's mother for her son - and so too, fittingly, does the saga end.