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Book Review By David Loftus
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter is now 15 and in his fifth year at Hogwarts. At the end of the year he and his classmates face the O.W.L. exams, but before that they suffer the dismissal and disappearance of Dumbledore, who is replaced by a brutal and vindictive hag named Dolores Umbridge, the latest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and "Hogwarts High Inquisitor" -- also on a mission to evaluate the Hogwarts teaching staff for the Ministry of Magic. Because Umbridge seems determined to undercut Harry, if not dismiss him altogether (she sentences him to a lifetime ban against playing Quidditch, for one thing), and not to teach anything of substance in class, Harry and a bunch of his classmates begin meeting in secret to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts tactics. The story climaxes in the Department of Mysteries, deep in the Ministry of Magic in London, and along the way several professors end up in the hospital and one of Harry's closest allies is killed. This 870-page monster starts rather slowly and drearily -- the first 200 pages or so could have been cut with little damage to the plot -- but eventually rises to the excitement and quality of its predecessors.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy story on current Earth
Coming of age Yes
Youngster becomes - a powerful magician
Magical Beings/Mental/Magical/Powers Yes
magical powers:
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20 %
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 %
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20 %

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - a teen
If magical mental powers: - mind reading - can fly - can cast many different spells - Invisibility - is very quick

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status:
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - can cast all sorts of spells
Eccentric: Yes
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a substantial amount
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Setting
Terrain
Earth setting: - current (early 21st century)
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog
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