Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter)

J K Rowling (Mary Grandpre, J. K. Rowling)

Since pretty much everyone I know has read these books, I figurere viewing them is pretty...more

Since pretty much everyone I know has read these books, I figurere viewing them is pretty pointless. But with the new book coming out in a couple of weeks, I have to go through them beginning to end. To make the reviews more entertaining, I will be doing them in a variety of unexpected formats. For this review, I will be writing as Crookshanks fan fiction. Crookshanks swished his tail back and forth as he crept up the stairs to the boys' bedrooms. He knew the rat wasn't what it was pretending to be, but all of his attempts to alert the humans to this fact had failed. "I don't know why I even bother," he muttered to himself. "I could get along fine without any of them. Let the rat do whatever it is it's trying to do. So long as Girl keeps feeding me and scratching my belly, I'll - hello, what's this?" He could smell the rat. Its scent was like nothing Crookshanks had ever smelled, and for all his time living in a magical pet shop, he'd smelled a lot. The rat did smell like a rat, yes, but there was also something else. Something... human. It was just like that big black dog he'd met on the grounds the other day. Every instinct in him had screamed to run away, but there was that smell. And even Crookshanks knew what they said about cats and curiosity. The dog had turned out to be more than just a dog, and it had convinced Crookshanks to help it. First order of business: retrieve a certain rat from the bedroom of the Red-Haired Boy. The Boy wasn't in, but the rat was. Crookshanks circled the bed a few times. This time, maybe, he would be able to get the damn thing. He tensed for a moment and then leapt onto the bed. By luck or skill, he was nearly on top of the thing when he landed. "A-HA!" he yowled. "Gotcha!" He pinned the rat under his sizable paw. "Where you gonna run to now, ratty?" he asked, sneering as best he could. The rat writhed in his grip. "Please," it said. "Just let me go. You don't know what will happen if you eat me, it would be a terrible mistake!" "A mistake, eh?" the cat said. "We'll see about that. I have a great big doggie friend who's just aching to get his jaws around you...." He barely had time to finish his sentence when the rat went mad. It squealed and bit and slashed with its paws. And then, against all of Crookshanks' previous experience - it grew! It nearly threw the cat off the bed as it became much more massive - its legs lengthened and its arms stretched until it had reached a human size and shape. Crookshanks goggled. Of all the things he'd expected from this rat, this wasn't it. The human grabbed at him, but Crookshanks was too fast. He jumped off the bed and shimmied under the wardrobe, where he could see but not be seen. The human looked around, breathing heavily. He was pale and thin, and still looked ratty. "Think, Peter, think," he said. "Gotta get out of here, but..." He stopped, glanced at the wardrobe, and grimaced. "You may just have given me my way out, cat," he said. And then he bit the ball of his hand. Blood dripped out, leaving spreading red blotches on the sheets. "They'll think it was you," he said. "They'll leave me for dead and I'll be free to rejoin my Lord." He looked at the recently repaired curtains on Ron's bed. "It's not safe here anymore." He sucked at the wound to stop the bloodflow and then went to the window. Perched on the windowsill, he looked over at Crookshanks' hiding place. "If I were human," he said, "the fall would kill me. But as a rat...." His body rippled and twisted and shrank, and then there was an old grey rat on the sill. Crookshanks was pretty sure it winked at him before leaping off. After a minute or two, Crookshanks wriggled out from under the wardrobe, his thoughts dark. The Red-Haired Boy was going to be angry, and so was the Girl. But more importantly, the Dog was going to be furious. It was barely holding on to its sanity as it was. Crookshanks shook his head. This was going to get worse before it would get better....   hide

this is my favorite potter book. i don't know what my second is but i am sure most of the rest are...more

this is my favorite potter book. i don't know what my second is but i am sure most of the rest are close on this ones heels. many things happen in this book and many characters are introduced. i almost consider this a better introduction to the series than sorcerer's stone. Rowling i have to say really starts to shine as a story teller in this one. there is an undertone of bitterness and anger to the book very much unlike what i consider the relatively innocent and childlike first 2 volumes. Sirius black is akin to Tolkien's nazgul. in which they are both a distant threat growing ever larger while the plot thickens. Remus lupin is a gem, i found it was high time that harry had gotten a decent d.a.d.a teacher and unfortunately he would really be the last. (you may think the one in the fourth book is but just you wait and read) his character is the apothesis of wit and sincerity and it really lightens up this otherwise dark and brooding tale. some characters barely get a few pages. some that i really like. Minerva Mcgonagall who in most of the other novels is a fairly important secondary character, gets about 10 lines i think in the whole book. professor dumbledore remains as mysterious and guarded as ever. though his seeming hatred for the dementors guarding his school. gets quite a bit of study. this is pretty much the best potter book. tied perhaps only with the final installment "harry potter and the deathly hallows" pretty much all the characters in this book are here to stay. and the ones that were introduced all serve great purpose later on. but i urge you try not to think of this series as long book. because if you merge them all together you will probably lose the magic of it all. i hope this helped you.    hide

J.K. Rowling (July 1999): "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (alias HP 3) Excellent and...more

J.K. Rowling (July 1999): "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (alias HP 3) Excellent and almost beyond criticism. I very much admire these books, and hope my grandchildren will read them all. I'm admittedly posting these reviews after having read all seven of the books, and the exercise of re-creating my thoughts about it all would end, after having read HP 3, is not sufficiently fruitful to record here. But yes, I did struggle through the Russian edition, and once upon a time I shall endeavour to re-read the story, but then in English.   hide

This would have to be my favorite book of the series. From the beginning to the end, I find myself...more

This would have to be my favorite book of the series. From the beginning to the end, I find myself laughing at little jokes that are stuck in. I think the dialogue is very well-written for all the characters in this book. Also, this is the book where my favorite character, Sirius Black, is introduced. It is really neat to have a character with such dynamics as he has. From the beginning you think he is this horrible murderer, then you find out that he is a traitor and the reason that Harry's parents are dead...and then at the end you find out that none of that was true at all. His character alone takes your emotions on a whirlwind, and I just loved it! ha. Anyways, I just thought that this book kept you on your toes and always interested, and I really really liked it.   hide

This is final chapte rin what I like to call the "overture" of the war story of the HP series. The...more

This is final chapte rin what I like to call the "overture" of the war story of the HP series. The final ingredients of Voldmort's rise to power which were hinted at so tantalizngly in the previous books are bearing fruit. JKR pulls no punches. The discovery of Sirius' secret, the writing of Professor Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, and the fate of Buckbeak helped make this the most suspenseful of the series so far. There is also some neat tension between Ron and Hermoine that gives their characters needed dimension as well as some necessary backstory on some of the background characters. That JKR would devote her time to delineating such seemingly inconsequential characters for the greater good of the whole story makes this series truly something special. The conclusion is also heartwarming and gives Harry a chance to breathe in his oh-so-tormented life.    hide