SpecFic Junkie

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

This book made me angry. Really angry. I didn't even realize how angry at first. It's not really an issue with the end itself (although I do have issues with that); it's an issue with the writing. I complained in a previous review about how the Pensieve is one of the worst writing cop-outs ever. So here's a cool story: when it takes 100 pages of exposition to make the ending make sense, you're doing it wrong.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter, #6

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Still good?
Yeah...

Previously:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I'm of two minds about Half-Blood Prince. There were some parts in it that were rather well done, and other parts that made me roll my eyes. It's just so frustrating to read a book and go, "Ugh, it was so close to being good!"

Nostalgia Review:: The Stainless Steel Rat for President, by Harry Harrison

Title: The Stainless Steel Rat for President

Author: Harry Harrison

Series: Stainless Steel Rat, #5 (Publication Order)

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still good?

Hella!

Previously:

The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World
The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!

Harry Harrison making fun of politics? Yes, please! The hijinks in this Stainless Steel Rat book poke at the way democracies end up not being so democratic. He probably could have used a less stereotypical backdrop than Space Latin America to show off his "democratic" dictator plot, but because the setting isn't the joke, it works better than the issues in the last book.

Nostalgia Review:: Wizard at Large, by Terry Brooks

Title: Wizard at Large

Author: Terry Brooks

Series: Magic Kingdom of Landover, #3

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Still good?

...sigh.

Previously:

Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!

The Black Unicorn

So, here's the thing. These books are better than I'd expect them to be (considering the Shannara books) but really aren't great. And they keep declining in goodness. The first was better than the second was better than the third. Probably because the protag can't learn.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter, #5

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Still good?

...meh.

Previously:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I don't remember liking this one that much. I do remember being oh-so-sad about Sirius' death. This time, I was just like, "Oh, you dropped a bridge on Sirius to try and make us feel bad. That's poor writing." Most of the plot is that Harry is a stupid git (I know he's a teenager, but come on...) or that Umbridge is oh-so-evil. Consider 870 pages of this, and I'm just left bland.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Still Good?

No...

Previously:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I'm really sad. I remember sitting down and reading Goblet of Fire on our kitchen table. I remember liking it so much. Being so excited.

And missing all of the really gross racism. Now, as I pointed out, The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You! had some racism problems, but not to this extent. And what makes it sadder is that without that subplot, Goblet of Fire would have been fine... and quite a good book that didn't make me feel gross.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter, #3

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still Good?
Yup!

Previously:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I remember as a kid thinking that Prisoner of Azkaban was much better than Chamber of Secrets. Of course, that's really not saying much, as I didn't like it as much. In my other re-reads of the series, I felt like this was a turning point for J.K. Rowling, where she really started to get a handle on her writing. This re-read, I felt that way as well.

Nostalgia Review:: The Black Unicorn, by Terry Brooks

Title: The Black Unicorn

Author: Terry Brooks

Series: Magic Kingdom of Landover, #2

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Still Good?

...meh.

Previously:

Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!

In this book, everyone holds the idiot ball! And so a lot of bad things happen! Somehow, that's not entirely enjoyable! There are mild spoilers in this review! Look! Exclamation marks!

Nostalgia Review:: Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!, by Terry Brooks

Title: Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold!

Author: Terry Brooks

Series: Magic Kingdom of Landover, #1

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Still Good?

...meh.

I loved Terry Brooks as a teenager. I ate up the Shannara books. Thank god I haven't re-read them and can remember enough to realize how awful they are. However, there were a couple other Terry Brooks series I read (...there are only two other rather short series Terry Brooks wrote. Shannara = cash cow). I thought this one might have been better, from what I recalled. And it's true! It was. But not a lot better.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter, #2

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Still Good?

meh.

Previously:

I remember reading this shortly after it came out under a tree in a park in Denver, Colorado. Our teacher had just read the first to us in school, and I devoured this one almost in one sitting. But I also remember being slightly disappointed with it. And going forward, I remember it being one of my least favorites. Welp, yes. It certainly is not that great in comparison.

Nostalgia Review:: The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!, by Harry Harrison

Title: The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!

Author: Harry Harrison

Series: Stainless Steel Rat, #4 (Publication Order)

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Still Good?

...yes?

Previously:

The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World

If you've read any of my other Stainless Steel Rat reviews, you'll know the drill: this is larger-than-life, over-the-top pure skiffy goodness that's a self-aware parody of Golden Age Science Fiction. Needless to say, though, they have their problems. This one is one of the more problematic books in the series due to the way it's handled, however, it didn't ruin the enjoyment... at least for me.

Nostalgia Review:: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Author: Douglas Adams

Series: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still good?

YES

Okay, this might not quite count as a nostalgia review because I pretty regularly reread this book and fall asleep to the audiobook. But I haven't actually read it properly in a few years and I wanted to reread the series before I read the book Eion Colfer wrote.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was one of my favorite books as a kid and a young adult. I also loved the text adventure game and the radio dramas. Basically, if it involved this series, I ate it up. The re-read wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I don't remember it being so short and I remember some of the passages differently for some reason. However, one thing was clear: this is still an amazing book.

Nostalgia Review:: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Author: J.K. Rowling

Series: Harry Potter, #1

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Still good?

...kind of.

In my book club guild on HabitRPG, someone posted a challenge to re-read all the Harry Potter books. I grew up alongside, Harry Potter. The final book was published when I was 18 or 19. I really was the perfect age for these books. I made friends over these books. I loved these books. So how do they stand, now that I'm an adult? It was good... but not great.

Nostalgia Review:: The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World, by Harry Harrison

Title: The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World

Author: Harry Harrison

Series: The Stainless Steel Rat, #3 (Publication Order)

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still Good?

YES

Previously:

The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

After frustration with other time travel books (think Blackout/All Clear) I'm reminded that time travel stories can be fun. Granted, The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World is pointing out how ridiculous time travel stories can be half the time... so maybe it's not the best example.

Nostalgia Review:: The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge, by Harry Harrison

Title: The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

Author: Harry Harrison

Series: The Stainless Steel Rat, #2 (Publication Order)

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still Good?

YES

Previously: