Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)

If you have read the first three books in the Harry Potter series you have probably for the most part found the books enjoyable - otherwise why would you be looking at a review of the fourth book? But if you are like me you might have been wondering how this installment holds up after the disappointing Prisoner of Azkaban (which I gave only 2 stars). Is the series in decline?

Fortunately the answer appears to be "no". That isn't to say that this is the best in the series to date, but it is closer in quality to the excellent first two novels and (mostly) avoided the pitfalls of the previous work. Let's get the drawbacks out of the way first, then on the positives...

Drawbacks: Unfortunately this novel does suffer to a degree the same fate as Azkaban - it is overly long and could have used additional editing to tighten up the story and improve the pace in the middle section of the book. A specific example of this are the side stories (such as Hermione's attempts to free the house elves) that attempt add a bit more flavor/character development, however they seem forced and are not well integrated into the main story. Instead they mainly serve to bog down the main story as they don't have any impact on the outcome of events.

Positives: For the most part the balance of humor, wisdom, camaraderie and darkness that was so well done in the first two novels (but lacking in Azkaban) is back. Structurally the book is the same as its predecessors but this time the intro portion covering the Quiddich World Cup was a welcome change from the usual overdone browbeating Harry receives at the Dursleys. And finally, the "confrontation" section of the book (essentially the last third) has excellent pacing and has equal parts of excitement and impending doom - the confrontation in Chamber of Secrets is still my favorite but this one is a very close second.

I was tempted to knock this down to a 3-star rating due to the distractions and slow pace of the middle of the book, but the strong ending convinced me this deserves 4 stars. Hardcore fans of the series will no doubt find even a four-star rating to be harsh, but for me 4 stars indicates a solid work worthy of recommendation. In the end, I'm just glad to see the series seems to be back on track.

" Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach. She shot fire, which he dodged. Her jaws opened wide....." (Rowling 355) This frightening scene is from the enormously famous novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Harry Potter is an extremely popular series of books written by J.K. Rowling, who began it by writing on napkins in a restaurant. No one could have guessed that her books would become book-blockbusters. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth installment in the seven part series of the adventures of Harry Potter.
Harry Potter is the main character in the series. Throughout the series, he shows that he's strong, courageous, and a fierce friend. In the parts before this, he has fought trolls, killer sports balls, a huge snake, and dementors, the soul sucking guards of wizard prison. He also destroyed the most powerful dark wizard ever to walk the Earth, when he was a baby. Harry had to be courageous to stand up to all these things. He has practically been put to heck and back. Harry has two best friends, Ron and Herminone that he has put his life in danger to help.
In his fourth year of Hogwarts, the wizard school, a great tournament is being held for wizards 17 and up. A special item, the Goblet of Fire, is used to pick contestant from the three wizard schools, Hogwarts, Beauxbaton, and Durmstrang. When Harry's name comes out of the Goblet, he is accused of cheating and nobody supports him. The people who compete have to fight dragons, merpeople, and many other fierce creatures. First, he has to fight a dragon. Then, delve into a lake filled with merpeople. Finally, he has to fight the trophy inside a gigantic maze. What will happen? Will Harry emerge the youngest champion ever? Or will he be dragon chow in a merperson's stew?
In my opinion, this book gets an eight out of ten from me. It is a real page turner, and very hard to put down. The many descriptive words made visualizing extremely easy. The book also has well-developed characters that make the non action sequences interesting, and not that many books are able to do that. At 734 pages, it's a relatively long novel, but all the amazing elements make it seem too short. In conclusion, this book is a must-read for any person who loves the series or who just wants a good thrill, and even for people who don't love magic or thrills and chills.
If you like Harry Potter, this is a must-have!

This product - like all the other Harry Potter Audio Books are Superb! Jim Dale performs so well, that a listener becomes enraptured in the story. His variations in speaking for different characters is wonderful and is constant throughout the entire series. Best Audio books to which I have listened.

The product arrived late and was so damaged as to be partially destroyed. The tapes were very worn. Some of the titles on each cassette were worn off. The tapes had been repackaged in a soft vinyl packaging which was badly bent so that two cassettes were broken
and could not be played. The tapes that could be listened too were not rewound or only partially rewound. I will not be purchasing from this vendor again. The product was misrepresented, only partially useable and not fun to listen to if it could be listened to at all.

To make this short and sweet, this was my favorite out of all seven Harry Potter books. I will not give a detailed explanation as this the five thousandth and something review. It was exciting,engrossing,fast-paced and humorous, end of story.