Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The worry, when faced with the follow-up to books as good as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (both winners of the Nestlé Smarties Prize Gold Award), is that it won't be as good. With J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban any concerns are banished from page one. This, the third in the series, continues where the previous two left off and is a fantastic adventure of mystery, magic and mayhem combined with liberal doses of humour and plenty of suspense.

Forced to do his homework in the dead of night and forbidden to refer to his magic skills or his life at Hogwarts school, Harry Potter is forced to endure the summer holidays with the dreaded Dursleys. The arrival of Aunt Marge is the final straw and, in a fit of anger, Harry breaks all the rules and casts a spell on her, causing her to blow up like a balloon. Running away from his dreaded relatives, Harry expects to be expelled from Hogwarts for his blatant flaunting of the rule not to use magic outside term time. However, the arrival of the mysterious Knight Bus and a meeting with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, result in Harry enjoying the rest of the holidays in the wonderful surroundings of the Leaky Cauldron.

The escape of Sirius Black--one time friend of Harry's parents, implicated in their murder and follower of "You- Know-Who"--from Azkaban, has serious implications for Harry for it would appear that Black is bent on revenge against Harry for thwarting "You-Know-Who". Back at Hogwarts, Harry's movements are restricted by the presence of the Dementors--guards from Azkaban on the look out for Black--however, this doesn't stop him throwing himself into the new Quidditch season and going about his normal business--or at least attempting to. Despite warnings Harry is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Sirius Black--how could this one-time close friend of his parents become the cause of their deaths?

And why does the presence of the Dementors have such a devastating effect on him, causing him to hear the last moments of his mother's life?

With another four Harry Potter novels planned, Jo Rowling is creating a series of books which will become classics to rival C.S. Lewis'Chronicles of Narnia--books written for children but loved by adults too. (Ages 9 and up) --Philippa Reece

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Rowling exceeds expectations again. - Rated
The third installment of the Harry Potter series sees magic, mystery and adventure return to Hogwarts and the lives of the interesting characters considered in this novel. Gently, Rowling develops the plot to a level more complex and appropriate for readers of all ages. This is a book to read again and again.

In my opinion the best in the series - Rated
Brief Plot Overview:
Times are dark as famous mass murderer, Sirius Black, is on the loose. This notorious muggle killer is not only barking mad, but he was He-who-must-not-be-nameds' most loyal follower (or so we're lead to believe) and is seeking revenge for the fall of his master, in the form of murdering our hero, Harry Potter.

Review:
This book is probably one of the best children's books I have ever read, not only does it bring together the plot so far in the exciting and dramatic way we've come to expect from Rowling, but it does so in an informative way and allows the reader to gain insight into the future instalments to come, which only engorges the thirst for more from this talented writer.

Rowlings' style is well balanced and these books reek of careful planning from the start, there are no inconsistencies in story (and trust me I've tried to find them by re-reading) and everything works together like a well-oiled machine.

The Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite out of the seven because it adds a human touch instead of a whizz-bang finale, by that I mean there is little magic involved in deciding the outcome of the book and it is based around argument, conversation, good old fashioned sneaking about and human decisions rather than an all out brawl with spells and incantations.

Followers of the series will not be disappointed with the third instalment and (for those few who haven't swallowed the hype) are definitely recommended to fantasy readers who also enjoy a bit of good-old-English reality. The fact that the base-audience is children but adults all over the world read these books shows their versatility and ability to appeal to a wide range of audiences.

I am not the first to say this and I definitely won't be the last, but Kudos to J.K.Rowling!

I'd rather be a prisoner in Azkhaban than read another Potter book - Rated
Having watched the films and enjoyed them, I spoke to my fiancée with regards to reading the books. She has read them all and suffers from what can only be described as 'pottermania'. Knowing me as well as she does, she recommended that if I was to get into the story in the book, I would be better reading "prisoner" to start with as it was probably the best written of the early books.

Armed with a lazy saturday afternoon and the phone off the hook, I sat back and read what JKR had to offer. I hasten to add, I am an avid SF/Fantasy reader and own several hundred books of the ilk, so I felt that I could seriously give it a go and get myself immersed in potterdom.

Ok, on to the book.

That evening, I finished what can possibly be described as the worst waste of time in my life. Now, I understand that the story is for kids, I'm not knocking that fact and the way that JKR writes, it is as if a kid had written it. I found I couldn't get to grips with her storytelling style. The language used was basic and how adults could be drawn into such a world, defies belief. It just goes to show that even if you aren't a good writer, you could still become a millionaire on the back of media promotion and the hype that surrounds a new book.

If I were you, I would stick to the films, they at least are enjoyable to watch, contain the interesting bits of the books and thankfully are only 2 hours out of your life wasted!

A good read - Rated
I got to say I enjoyed the film more than the book but you should still read them all.

Fabulous - Rated
This book was amazing.I am a big fan of Harry Potter having read some of the books. Of the ones I have read this has to be my favourite. You go through lots in this book, but find out most of the mysteries by the end,so don't get frustrated if you don't know lots by the middle. Overall this is a brilliant book.