Very minor Spoilers present
6 hours and 30 minutes.
That's about how long it took to read the new Harry Potter book, subtitled THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE. For Harry Potter fans, the real shock will be not be finding out who the Half Blood Prince is (Rowling holds true to her word that it is neither Harry nor Voldemort), nor the untimely death of a yet another central character near the end, but that rather the real shock is that she returns to her self created formula after the stunning creative success of THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX.
Year six begins with a chapter supposedly brewing in the author's mind since PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, in which the recently deposed Ministry of Magic meets with the Prime Minister of England to warn him of the increasing seriousness regarding the War on Voldermort. Its an intriguing ideal (and one wonders how Margaret Thatcher might have dealt with talking portraits), but its quickly forgotten, as Rowling delves deeper into the back story of that plucky orphan who can talk to snakes and who's mother died a tragic death: Lord Voldemort.
Let's get one thing straight: Most of Half Blood Prince is clearly dedicated to setting up events for the final book, and that's where some of its strength is diluted. Between the various character revelations, romantic hookups, and betrayals, many of the key scenes develop in the pensive (the past-seeing cauldron), an unavoidable effect of having kept her main villain on the backburner for most of the series.
That's not to say that Rowling's gift for complex plotting has been diluted; while not as insanely complex as GOBLET OF FIRE, HBP is (like the year before it) largely psychologically rooted, as Harry and Dumbledore try to discover Voldermort's only weakness in order to gain the edge in what is increasingly looking like a losing battle. And what's more, a central conundrum regarding everyone's favorite Potions master and Slytherin House Head is pushed, poked and prodded-- and at long last settled. Suffice it to say that when the inevitable movie is made, Alan Rickman will finally have his day in the spotlight.
I liked how the are-they-or-aren't-they relationship between Ron and Hermoine is mercilessly twisted during the course of the narrative; I liked how Draco is seen in a much more sympathetic light than ever even during his darkest hour, and I liked how Harry's romantic troubles are also resolved and unresolved in a reasonable fashion, albeit with a very Spider-man like denouncement. But it seems that a lot of the wit and fancy is strangely absent , and the narrative tension provided by a particularly intriguingly DADA teacher --the tragic Lupin and the spectacularly foul Umbridge come to mind -- is uneven and almost anti-climatic.
The chess pieces are in place, and its up to Book 7 to see if there's a checkmate or a fold. If she can break with the formula (and all the elements are there for her to do so), we might go out on a high point. And if not?
Well it can't be more embarrassing than Anakin's "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"
--Steve Fishman
