Harry Potter and The Half-Milked Tear (spoiler-free!)

[Rob McCow]

Asda's price wasn't far off what Tescos are quoting there. Surely Bloomsbury should give all the supermarkets the axe to be fair, but Tesco muscle is not to be messed with.

The Metro ran the headline 'Harry Potter and The Publisher's Asda Ban'. Because it's a newspaper produced by C***s.

[Dirk Gently]

Surely Bloomsbury should give all the supermarkets the axe to be fair...

Well, to be fair Asda only lost their delivery because thy never paid for them, presumably Tesco, W.H.Smith's, Waterstones, Sainsbury's etc paid for their consignments where as Asda didn't.

[Dave Lewis]

The Metro ran the headline 'Harry Potter and The Publisher's Asda Ban'. Because it's a newspaper produced by C***s.

The "Asda Ban" bit is quite good, actually. Reminds of me of the Potter porn spoof series, Harry Botter. Classic episodic interfaces include "The Philosopher's Bone", "The Chamber Of Semen", and "The Order Of The Penis."

[Milky Tears]

I only finished reading The Gobbet of C*m last year and Order of the Phoenix last month.

[Rob McCow]

Hmm - James is still a book behind. We could spring spoilers on Milky Tears! This could be a PS first!

[Dave Lewis]

MILKY SPOILERS ALERT!

I think the moment when Snape slips a length toDumbledore in the Half Blood Prince is the most shocking bit of the entire series. Plus, Dumbledore's rendition of "Every Loser Wins" at the end always brings a tear to the eye.



James probably knows the entire plot of every book he buys before he reads it...

[Pip Madeley]

Our copies have arrived at work. Boxed up, and put away in the staff room.

We've been warned:

Manchester Libraries have signed a binding agreement to the effect that no copies will be placed on library shelves or issued before midnight on July 21st – neither should any details of the contents be revealed. Any members of staff breaking this agreement will be deemed to be in breach of their employment contracts.

Which is fine, as I couldn't give a toss about Harry Potter.

[Dirk Gently]

Start telling people that ask about it that Ron dies.

[Pip Madeley]

Big Ron didn't die, he won 500,000 on the National Lottery and emigrated to Spain.

[Rob McCow]

Start telling people that ask about it that Ron dies.

That's the second time I've heard that rumour in 26 minutes.

[Dirk Gently]

You work quick, Pip!

[Milky Tears]

We're too late to save Neville!

[Captain Tancredi]

Isn't everybody going to go straight to the end to find out who dies?

One interesting point which never occurred to me until the time the last one came out is that the foreign translators don't get to see it until the English edition is out either.

[Andrew Curnow]

Isn't everybody going to go straight to the end to find out who dies?

For shame!

[Andrew Curnow]

Our Amazon page is now showing as 'dispatched 15th July' (Super Saver) with an estimated delivery of tomorrow!!

Mind you, I suspect I shall be reading it to/with Little Miss, so depending on how many chapters there are, and how long it is, I could be desperately avoiding spoilers for another month or so yet.

[Dave Lewis]

One interesting point which never occurred to me until the time the last one came out is that the foreign translators don't get to see it until the English edition is out either.

I don't think that's true... for example, us spoiler-hounds wouldn't know what the "hallows" of the title refer to if we didn't know the precise English translation of the Swedish name for the book. Or if we hadn't read the New York Times review.

Isn't everybody going to go straight to the end to find out who dies?

I sincerely hope not. Even I don't want to be spoilered this time... for once, I want to go in as blind as possible...

[Dave Tudor]

I've just been to Watersmith's to buy it, and I have to say, it's the best Harry Potter book of the lot*. I cannot believe that ending!!!

*Some - or, indeed, all - of this post may not actually be true.

[Milky Tears]

The final page made me weep Crappy Ending Tears. I cannot believe Ron did that!

I look forward to the Hogwarts spin-off books/series/big screen bomb followed by series of p*ss-poor TV movies.

[WhiteCrow]

I'm hoping to get the book today. I'm not terribly hopeful - JK Rowling likes to big up what she does but really in terms of plot it's just a bog standard fantasy novel. I got so bored reading book 5, which is driven by a prophesy which in the end is that either Harry or Voldemort must die - and for that she reconned she was turning the world of fantasy on it's head.

And since book 4 when Haggrid said "as long as we have Dumbledore we'll win", you know that's standard "death sentance speak". Goes hand in hand with "Ben Kenobi is here with us to save the day" and "Gandalf the mighty wizzard will protect us from the beast in the deep".

What she does excel at though is writing some very engaging characters. But I think on the whole she needed to be kept on a tighter leash by an editor (yeah that again). She's writing for a childrens market, but her books have ballooned in size ridiculously. Book 5 - Order of the Pheonix was a mess which needed to have it's length cut by half. But she's too powerful to be edited now.

Going to see Order of the Pheonix today - not looking forward to it, the worst book will no doubt make the worst film. I feel on a slow death march to the cinema.

[Dirk Gently]

I went to bed as normal last night & woke up this morning @7:40 to hear the Post Lady hanging on the Doorbell holding my copy. I'm now listening to the last CD of Half-Blood Prince to gt in the swing before I start on Deathly Hallows. I'll be starting on the at about 9:00am.

D.H is 607 pages, exactly the same length as Half-Blood Prince. Bodes well, I still like that book very much. D.H must be the most read book in the entire whole of all of today.

[WhiteCrow]

D.H is 607 pages, exactly the same length as Half-Blood Prince. Bodes well, I still like that book very much. D.H must be the most read book in the entire whole of all of today.

I don't understand those people who speed read through books to get to the end - knew someone who claimed to get through all of Lord of the Rings in one day.

For me a book is about taking a journey with the author, so worth taking your time. Okay you got me I'm a slow reader!

[Andrew Curnow]

Ours came about half an hour ago. I suspect Zel will read the whole thing during today (lazy beggar!) and then me and her other ladyship will start it tonight.

I agree with Whitecrow's posts above, to a large extent - I don't think in the case of the later books the story is as much of an appeal as the characters, and the 'incidental' stuff (such as the SPEW business, or the various romances). It's a very engagingly painted world, and it's very enjoyable to find out what happens to the various people in it, and I think that is the author's real strength. The plot is cleverly worked out, no doubt, but overall it's the journey rather than the destination which makes the books so charming and 'page-turning'. I hesitate to say it, but maybe she's a bit like Terry Nation - she got lucky in creating something that really caught the public imagination, and knows how to keep that going by telling rattling good yarns!!

I also never quite understand people speed-reading these books (and particularly if you know you're never going to get another one) - to me it's a bit like watching a six-parter in one sitting (no, I don't do that either). Or maybe I'm just slow too...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it Tim (and everyone else).

[Lord President]

I picked mine up from Smiths at midnight. I had no intention of buying it last night, but I got drunk and followed the crowd!

[Milky Tears]

I only had a quick look at the last few pages.

[Alex]

I gave up after the fourth book, I loved the first three but was just really disappointed by the fourth one, and when I saw the size of the fifth I thought sod that.

Anyway, Wiki have spoilers up for those interested as to how it ends but have no intention of reading the book.