'Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban' is a 1999 book written by J.K. Rowling. It is the third part of the 7 part Harry Potter series and the book covers the third year of Harry's at the school of Hogwarts.
So,to the people who arent't familiar with the Harry Potter series yet, here is a quick summary. Harry Potter is a boy who is living a miserable life with his uncle and aunt. But his life changes quite suddenly as he gets an invitation to study in the prestigious school of Hogwarts. Harry hadn't quite known he possessed a thing as magic yet. His life becomes better at the school with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. To read my reviews of past HP books, go below.
So, this year is quite a treat for any Harry Potter fan, because here is where the story actually starts. New characters, spells, charms, and concepts are introduced with this book. Specially to be said is that important characters like Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, who come to later books as well, have their origin in The Prisoner of Azkaban. Even characters like Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang originate from here.
A thing which I quite liked is that, unlike the previous 2 books of Harry Potter, this book brings a lot of spells to the stock, such as Waddiwasi, or Riddiculus.
Remus Lupin may well be the best character I have seen til now in the series; and he is the character which holds much importance as you read the book. Unlike the other teachers, the students actually like Remus, and many consider him the 'best Defense against the Dark Arts' teacher. (spoiler alert!) At last, Lupin is said to be leaving the school, and that means there is a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher next year. This is a part where the story actually troubles you, but I acknowledge that that aspect is what keeps it moving. I wanted Lupin to go on further, but I did love the period of time of his teaching; a teacher who is not an antagonist at last!
Sirius Black is the most important part of the story as the whole plot is based upon him. Noted as a convincted murderer, and an alleged follower of Lord Voldemort, Sirius Black is said to be on the run; and is coming after Harry. And, because of him Harry has to face several restrictions, including not being able to visit a fun village. It is because of these restrictions that I tell that the story is based off Black, because, well, it is always Harry making the way through rules with his friends.
I really tended to confuse Sirius(Black) and Severus(Snape) for some reason. I know its funny, but J.K., you could have come up with a better naming scheme.
As the story reaches its climax, we start to find out links between different characters, for eg. Remus and Sirius; Potter and Sirius, Severus and Remus, Sirius and James, etc.
What I liked about the book:
- Drawing so many different connections between different characters- as said in previous paragraph.
- By the end of the book, the book is able to provide most of the explanations needed- This is incredible because the story was getting so complex, I thought for a second, I wouldn't be able to receive elucidation on everything.
- More spells!- again, as said in a previous paragraph.
- It has started to bring in more about Harry's past- like who betrayed James, or so.
- Started to bring in important series-long characters- like Remus, Black, Pettigrew, Dementors, Patronus, etc.
What I didn't like about the book:
- At a particular point, the story seemed to be cramming with important events, which kind of stressedd me out.
- I felt the story could change a bit(spoilers), and I know this is on a personal level; but it would have felt a little better if Sirius and Buckbeak were acquited of their charges. The previous books were always like that; clearing all bad names at the end. This concept of an end kind of leaves a blank space instead of a good ending.
- Scabbers had been in Ron's pocket for so long, (again, spoilers, sorry) yet when Scabbers was turned out to be Pettigrew, there was not much input from Ron in terms of emotion. I felt Ron was a little bit sidelined there.
- Not enough info. for people starting out on Harry Potter:The book itself is very complex, a new reader could get messed up by the storyline if adequate information is not provided.
So, finally, as I said before, this is the start of the actual Harry Potter. 'The Prisoner of Azkaban' apprises about characters, concepts and spells which are really important throughout the series. If you are a Harry Potter fan or an adventure lover, totally recommend the book! If you are relatively new to the Harry Potter series, I would recommend you to read the previous books before coming to this one, because it covers very advanced topics and there doesn't seem to be any start-up info. You can read my reviews on my Harry Potter books below.