The longest book in the series at a whopping 800 pages, I don't feel that Order of the Phoenix deserves its length, which seems to drag on and on. The plot basically follows the (spoiler warning) full return of Lord Voldemort at the end of the last book. Basically Harry, his close friends and the powerful headmaster (Dumbeldore; an extremely important character that I feel ashamed for not having mentioned) are the only ones who believe that he is back. Cue torturous reign of horror on the edge of society, bubbling over into the fore-ground just when it's too late to do anything.
The titular Order is a group of "goodies" that are fighting against Voldy, and play a major part in the beginning of the book where Harry faces trial for using magic to stop a dementor that attacked his cousin and he while walking about before meeting a squib. And if that made sense to you, I'm so, so sorry.
Ok, I'll admit that there are a lot of aspects of the plot that I don't mention here. It gets rid of the one-sided potential of the earlier books while building a lot of tension for the serious danger that one can feel coming from the threat of Voldy's armies. So far the books have painted Harry as Jesus and Voldemort as Satan (more of these religious connotations on Sunday), and this is the first book that actually gets to the point where she is obliged to say, "Well everyone's human in the end heh heh".
Again, the prose is beautiful and detailed in a way that doesn't deter from the story. One can feel empathy for the characters, and that is perhaps the most important aspect. One feels frustration at the world's misbelief of Voldemort, and that's just brilliant.
I notice that in the reviews of book 2 through 4 I say that the next book is serious. Just to clarify; we get serious next week! :L
Thanks.
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