Tension, or lack of

[skull_bearer]

Don't things seem to be just a little too easy in the HP world? Maybe I've been reading too much George Martin, but in the last book there hasn't really been much along the lines of plot tension. It's being taken for granted that the world will roll over backwards for the characters. Take Quidditch for example, hands up who thought that Gryffindor

Comments

[avidbeader]

I'll agree that there seemed to be very little dramatic tension in the book, other than seeing when Dumbledore was going to bite the dust. (If Ron was ever going to die, it would be in book 7. And frankly at this point I don't expect Harry to die at all

[harrythebrave]

Very true that any tension was lost here. It was mostly backstory on Voldemort (which wasn't that intriguing, unfortunately). There is a war going on but so much in the background that it seemed more a palatable dread in previous books. It lost its danger and urgency in HBP. There was so many lost opportunities for anything interesting. 99% was quite obvious/predictible/dull/bland

[annearchy]

After thinking about HBP more than I'd like for the past 11 months, I've decided that HBP was mostly "the calm before the storm". JKR herself said the HBP is only "the first half" of what would have been a ridiculously long book (like 652 pages isn't already really long). I think, or at least would like to believe, that HBP was just a very long, elaborate set-up for some massive stuff in book 7....

[cursedfire]

I totally agree. *salutes*

[revolution25]

My big problem with HBP is that she sacrificed what may have been conflict so she could explain backstory and using chapters to do so.

As far as it not having conflict because it was predictable, well I think she's just not trying, or maybe she's making it predictable so that in the next book she can turn it completely around.

[annearchy]

That's my feeling exactly. I expect all sorts of reversals in book 7.