Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5 - Unabridged 24 Audio CD Set - Childrens Edition): Child Edition [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Rowling's writing has matured, developing a new depth and, although I would have though it impossible, greater magic and grace. New characters pop out of the pages (some nice, some not so) and there is a superior quality of writing in this fifth offering, a richness which makes for even more rounded characters and an even more convincing Harry Potter world!

Everything Rowling offers us here is fantastic - new insights into the wizarding community, the realisation that even though these people possess magical powers and wands they can't just wave them and right all the world's wrongs! This magical world is just as complicated as the Muggle world and good and bad isn't just a simple matter - there are lots of grey areas. In this book Harry encounters corruption in places of power, people's willingness to believe almost anything - as long as it's not the fact that Voldemort has returned, and learns something that Dumbledore should have told him long ago - the answer to a question asked in the very first book!

Overall, this is a book any Harry Potter fan should not be without. If you don't already have it then my question would be - WHY NOT? Buy it now - you won't regret it. Buy it, read it, enjoy it and be sure that you'll be left enthusiastically waiting, almost salivating, for the next offering JK is working on right now!

*ahem* Let's get on with the review. As just about everyone in the world now knows, this is the 5th book in the famous Harry Potter series. The books tell the tale of a young orphan who has been raised by his Aunt and Uncle. Neglected by his adoptive family and tormented by his bullying cousin Dudley, Harry is startled to discover on his 11th birthday that he is a wizard, and that he has been accepted to Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

This book follows Harry in his 5th year at Hogwarts. It's not an easy year for Harry. Having witnessed Lord Voldermort return to life and power (and barely escaping with his life) this year Harry finds, to his immense frustration, that only a handful of people believe him. Worse still, the Ministry of Magic has been seeking to discredit Harry and his staunch friend and supporter, Professor Dumbledore. When Dumbledore refuses to stop warning people of Voldermort's return, the Ministry decide that its time for some changes at Hogwarts.

After the runaway success of the previous books, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has a great deal to live up to. Fans of the series will be delighted to know that this book does not disappoint. While it's the longest book of the series (over 700 pages) the story never drags. Instead, the reader becomes immersed in Harry's fight against Lord Voldermort, compounded by the Ministry's refusal to accept what is happening and that universal dread of all school kids - exams.

Rowling's writing is of her average standard - which is to say that the pages practically glow with the world and characters she creates. Familiar characters make a welcome return in this book, and Rowling introduces some new faces as well. My favourites were the dotty schoolgirl Luna Lovegood, and the detestable Ms. Umbridge. Key questions are also answered in this book. Why did Dumbledore allow Harry to be raised by a family that so obviously hate him? What is the connection that Harry has to Lord Voldermort? And above all, why did Voldermort try to kill Harry all those years ago when he was just a baby?

Overall an immensly enjoyable book. Now please excuse me while I go and read it again.