Paperback, 870 pages
English language
Published Sept. 19, 2004 by Scholastic Inc..
There is a door at the end of a silent corridor. And it’s haunting Harry Pottter’s dreams. Why else would he be waking in the middle of the night, screaming in terror?
Harry has a lot on his mind for this, his fifth year at Hogwarts: a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a personality like poisoned honey; a big surprise on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; and the looming terror of the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. But all these things pale next to the growing threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named---a threat that neither the magical government nor the authorities at Hogwarts can stop.
As the grasp of darkness tightens, Harry must discover the true depth and strength of his friends, the importance of boundless loyalty, and the shocking price of unbearable sacrifice.
His fate depends on them all. (back cover)
So, I’ve been rereading this book a chapter a week for about a year with the Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast. The podcast will hit the last chapter on Thursday’s episode. It’s been great to read a book this way.
Order of the Phoenix was the first Harry I saw on CD. For the last time, I got the Adrenaline rush, which faded as I got older, but sitting there listening to the news report with Harry under the window rekindled that feeling. Interestingly, it was also the first time I actually had a novel from the series in print, and the first time I’d read an original potter at the computer before being able to get the audio version.
I say original because of the profusion of fanfiction I’d swallowed. I was first introduced to Harry at the end of 2000, and this one appeared halfway through 2003. I’d of course pounced upon the first four and eaten them quickly and, like many die-hard Potter fans, dived into reading fanfiction because of the huge gap between releases. There’s a whole category of “Post-GOF” fanfic in my archive, none of …
Order of the Phoenix was the first Harry I saw on CD. For the last time, I got the Adrenaline rush, which faded as I got older, but sitting there listening to the news report with Harry under the window rekindled that feeling. Interestingly, it was also the first time I actually had a novel from the series in print, and the first time I’d read an original potter at the computer before being able to get the audio version.
I say original because of the profusion of fanfiction I’d swallowed. I was first introduced to Harry at the end of 2000, and this one appeared halfway through 2003. I’d of course pounced upon the first four and eaten them quickly and, like many die-hard Potter fans, dived into reading fanfiction because of the huge gap between releases. There’s a whole category of “Post-GOF” fanfic in my archive, none of which I’ve even looked at in over 7 years, but it’s still there, for a day I decide to revisit
my youth.
I liked Order of the Phoenix. Rereading it now, the blend of Harry’s teenage tantrums, interference at Hogwarts, the stress of Sirius and Dumbledore’s distance make for a powerful cocktail. Reading it for the first time I suppose I didn’t look for reasons for the emotion, just enjoyed the story, so that was different.
It’s also huge, of course – the longest by far, and certainly with a wealth of depth and detail. Something was missing – (innocence, the world gets darker, and I think something of the charm of the world Rowling made fades with it, which is sad. Still, it’s a most worthy story, a powerful and compelling book and certainly worthy of more detail and attention than I’ve been able to give it in this brief write-up.
