Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) (Harry Potter, #3)

by J.K. Rowling

Kazu Kibuishi (Illustrator), Mary Grandpre (Illustrator), and Mary GrandPré (Illustrator)

For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter’s defeat of You-Know-Who was Black’s downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, “He’s at Hogwarts… he’s at Hogwarts.”

Harry Potter isn’t safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may be a traitor in their midst.

--back cover

• ISBN10: 0545582938
• ISBN13: 9780545582933
• Publish Date: 27 August 2013 (first published 28 June 1999)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 24 October 2023
• Imprint: Scholastic Inc.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[Risa Nichols]

This is when, in my opinion, the series started to get really good. Don't get me wrong--I absolutely adore Harry Potter, but I felt that the first two books were (dare I say it?) actually quite boring. This book I when the series started to open up for me and the books from here on out are all brilliant. I love this series and will until the day I die.

[mrs_mander_reads]

Another great re-read. I love when the series starts getting into Harry's history!

[clementine]

UGHHHHHHHHHHH I love PoA. It's really the transition between the lighter, more childish feel of PS and CoS and the much darker (and longer!) final four books. I know a lot of people dislike it and say that not much happens, but I think it works really well as a transition, and as an introduction to Lupin and Sirius (two characters who become hugely important later on, and shift the dynamic of the text).

Sirius's introduction is probably the first significant instance of JK Rowling completely leading her reader astray, fooling us and smashing our beliefs. Of course, when you know who Sirius is, you read the book in a completely different way - but Jo does such a wonderful job of setting him up as a terrifying psychopath, one who is directly responsible for Harry's current parentless lot in life. There is no reason for a first-time reader to believe that he is anything but a soulless mass murderer. One detail I particularly like is Trelawney's prediction that Voldemort's servant will rise, etc etc - obviously, a first-time reader would think she is referring to Sirius. Of course, once you know who Sirius actually is, it's obvious that the prediction is actually referring to Pettigrew. This is the sort of detail Rowling so expertly plants. I don't think you'd even stop to consider who Trelawney was talking about if you didn't know the outcome; it's just a given that it's Sirius - except it's not. The first two books aren't as enshrouded in this expertly hidden mystery, and the third really sets the stage for this constant wondering about allegiances in the last four, which becomes particularly urgent at the end of HBP.

Another reason why I love PoA is that the characterization is much more believable. Nobody stuck out as a storybook villain (except maybe Malfoy, but he is a particularly nasty one - and Jo certain redeems his character in HBP and DH). The new characters were fairly well fleshed out, even if they didn't have much dialogue.

I always feel like I could write endlessly about these books; there are so many incredible intricacies that I'd be here all day trying to point them all out and explain why I love them.

Looking forward to moving onto GoF when I have a bit of free time.

[mbtc]

This book felt like it went on forever. One of the disadvantages of an e-book I suppose. You can see percentage left, but that doesn't really give you a true picture of what is left. It wasn't that I didn't like the book (I did) but it felt like I was with Harry and his friends for far too much of the year. :) Anyways, good story. A bit slow at first, but the end was definitely worth it. Loved how much of Harry's parents and their lives were tied in with people watching out for him.

[boghunden]

Wow.

I remember that I started reading these in Junior High after the first movie came out, which I enjoyed. And I just loved these books that I had to read the first four books, that was how many were out at the time, and I read them all in probably a week. I love the main characters, the plot and it was just an easy read and definitely a page turner.

I would recommend these series of books to anybody.

[remo]

Tercera entrega de la serie de Harry Potter, en la que se nos muestra por primera vez Azkaban y sus temibles dementores. Conocemos también a Remus Lupin y Sirius Black, pilares de la serie. El libro va dejando de ser puramente infantil, toma algo de complejidad y los temas tratados son algo más oscuros, pero sigue manteniendo el tono amable. Se lee muy bien y por supuesto deja con ganas de más.