my thoughts on Harry Potter 7 and writing (!spoilers within!)

[pyan]

Originally Posted by Culhwch

But to say she got this wrong, and this wrong... Well, in the end, she is the author, and sole arbiter of what did and did not happen. Whether it played out the way you wanted, or the way you'd have written it is immaterial. It is as it is.

And that's about the most sensible thing I've read yet on the subject, Cul!

[Lacedaemonian]

Parts of the story were shaky. The Ron arriving on the scene was a little contrived, but also completely contrived by Snape. So I think you lot are wrong there. You can not blame the author for Snape's work.

The exciting bits were a little short. However, action tends to be quick and the kids really had to rush before Tom Riddle arrived.

As somebody else has pointed out already, many of you seem to have missed the whole point about the Hallows. Harry did not become a Hallow Quester. He did not seek the power the Hallows 'supposedly' contained. 'Supposed' being the key word.

The epilogue was quite clearly JK's way of silencing calls for an 8th book. It was also a ploy by her to stop herself from writing an 8th book.

I enjoyed the book a lot. Particularly the transformation of Neville, the redemption of Snape and Hagrid's Harry Potter party right in the middle of the war. Got to love Hagrid!!

There were some loose ends, but life is filled with loose ends.

[orionsixwings]

Very good observations y'all! And I thought I was the odd one. I think most of the Harry Potter books have a shaky storyline. The 6th one, half-blood prince, also had its moments of glory, but the Ginny-is-a-bombshell storyline just didn't seem right. It was too fanficky. I mean, since when was Ginny a major babe in Hogwarts? Sure she had the Weasley blood, and she has red hair, but she never stood out. I would have preferred if Harry fell for Luna instead. And Ginny acting all haughty and feisty was deeply annoying.

Rowling is clearly not the best writer out there, but her fame will benefit the better writers who have been struggling to get their work noticed and loved by the reading public--which, thanks to Harry Potter, has now ballooned.