Impressions from the final Harry Potter book
At the first death of the book, my first thought was "OMGWTF, JK Rowling eats babies!"
The Delacours are Eddie Izzard French-in-American-film: "I'm here to have sex with your entire family!"
Ginny: Now with characterization and lines! *presents Award for Most Improved*
Snape - Ha! Told you!
Harry's Aslan moment. I did like it. I also thought it finally gave the 'Religious Right' something to get upset about. Hey, that's our myth!
How did the sword get back in the hat?
All things considered, I liked this one. She's still not in the running for my favorite author, but it's a good ending to a decent series.
I'm going to miss the cultural phenomenon surrounding the series more than the books themselves. Who could have predicted it? One in Five American adults has read at least one HP book. Crowds of people waited for hours to purchase the last three releases at midnight. The NY Times printed a review (with spoilers? Must remember to check now that I've read) before the final book was released - and received angry letters and threats of a possible lawsuit. And the phenomenon is worldwide... people went nuts over these (honestly, fairly average) juvenile fantasy novels all over the planet. The books have been translated into 65 modern languages and two dead ones. The movie series is still running strong, in defiance of the usual drop in audiences for successive sequels. The tie-in marketing is a phenomenon unto itself - everything from children's action figures to gold-plated collector's recreations. And some tie-in merchandise preceded the movies, making it strictly book tie-ins, which just doesn't much happen.
And then there's the fannish output. The informational websites. The fanfiction archives. The artwork. The stories. The epics (launching the occasional original book deal). The doujinshi.
Unbelievable.
Unrepeatable.
Pretty darn cool.