Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
]I’m probably the last one to read this, but whatevs.
It’s great, what can I say. Rowling is a master at creating an effect and a mood. It’s like you’re there. This edition wraps the whole thing up. It could be argued that it wraps things up a little too neatly, but OTOH, she effectively shorts circuits any sort of eventual Brian Herbert / Christopher Tolkein issues.
A plot synopsis isn’t needed for this, so my take on it is that I thought it was very well done, but the wandering in the wilderness part went on for too long. That could have been trimmed enormously as nothing really happened either to Harry et al, or to the world at large (other than the normal “things are getting bleaker” stuff). I also thought the denouement dream sequence with Dumbledore was a bit contrived and pat. The Snape pensieve sequence, though, was inspired.
The one thing that really confused me, and does a bit even now, is why was Draco the legitimate owner of the Elder Wand? That came completely out of left field. If the wand had to be taken by force, when did that happen. Quick research tells me that Draco disarmed Dumbledore at the end of Half-blood Prince, but I don’t remember it. And does a simple disarming mean defeat? No, something doesn’t ring true there somewhere.
But in any case, and excellent, excellent read.
