The Deathly Hallows

The seventh Harry Potter book.

I just finished reading Rowlings final installment in the series. I was
fearing that things would get too dark and end badly. I am elated to report
that this was not the case! The final book is perhaps not her best work.
The story line drags a bit through the middle. In the first several
chapters, Harry looses a lot of things that were comforting to him. As
He-who-must-not-be named, AKA Tom Riddle, AKA Lord Voldermort, is on the
rise, Harry finds himself going into hiding, along with everyone else who
has been resisting.

My prediction that Dumbledour would have at least one Horcrux, and would be
able to return proved false, however, the shadow that he cast still has
great impact upon this book. In other words, he may not be coming back to
life, but then again he isn't exactly gone.

If you're worried about who lives and who dies, then let me tell you this:
none of the major characters die. You can be at ease on that count,
however, the list of "former friends of Harry" grows quite long by the final
pages.

Rowlings style continues to impress me. The story is imaginative, detailed,
and intriguing. There are the bits of human interaction that always make me
laugh, there is plenty of action and some mystery. She has drawn from the
vast well of details written into the previous six books, and made sense out
of them. A lot of otherwise pointless details come floating back and impact
us in this book.

And should you be wondering about moral issues, this volume is better on
that count than all the previous ones. I have often critiqued the first
book because Harry is rewarded lavishly three times for breaking the rules,
and on the one occasion that he attempts to right a wrong, he is caught and
punished. It is not a tale for young children who have no solid sense of
right-and-wrong. This book however, makes it clear that the way you do
things (meaning that your motivation) is important. At times it is even
more important than what was done. Your motives impact your method and the
final results of your actions. That moral is perhaps a bit complex, but it
comes through rather clearly.

In all, I have to say, "Thank you J.K. Rowling for so many laughs and so
many pleasurable hours of reading. Your work has been delightful,
imaginative and so true-to-life."

I'd rate the entire series PG-13 and give'm a confident thumbs up!