Saturday, February 23, 2008

#9: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

The third in the insanely popular Harry Potter series, which I am finally coming around to, was the strongest book yet in the saga of a young wizard coming of age at a magical boarding school while evil forces mount against him.

In this installment, a mass-murdering wizard named Sirius Black escapes from the magical prison Azkaban, intent on seeking out Harry Potter. While these gears start moving, drawing Black closer to our young protagonist, Harry continues to deal with typical teen problems, school chums and school enemies and at least one very mysterious teacher (out of a whole lot of odd ones).

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban regained some of the dramatic tension I felt was lost in the author's sophomore book, and Rowling has done a good job in re-introducing, and then growing, a vast cast of characters (though this is the first of the three I would say wasn't entirely stand-alone). Rowling is a clever storyteller and spins an enjoyable yarn.

I have been listening to these via audio book one after the next, carried along by an exceptional performance by Jim Dale. I checked this out from the Morrison-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.

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