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

by J.K. Rowling

[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.