Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good and sober with just some negative details , 25 Dec 2007
Well, many have written about the stories of each book and if you are thinking in buying a boxed set you have probably read all that. So, I will just keep to this particular boxed set as an all.
The look of the boxed set as you can see it on the picture is quite close to what you get in reality. The books and case, being mostly black, give a very sober aspect to the set. The binding is reasonable. I still did not read The Order of the Phoenix (the largest volume) so I cannot say surely that it will handle the reading, but it seems it will.
As another reviewer pointed out the pages have very narrow margins which means they are a bit crowded with text. This influences negatively our first impression of the books. Nevertheless, as the stories are fast paced one tends to forget this issue. On the other hand having larger margins would surely mean breaking some of the largest volumes in two (or three) to keep them at reasonable dimensions.
The paper used is also of reasonable quality, yielding a nice flexibility and resistance. It would ease the reading if it was softer (a bit like Bible paper) as the books cannot be left open in any page.
All books have black dust jackets with Harry Potter written in embossed gold letters. Below the dust jackets there are plain black covers with gold lettering on the spine.
But, apart from the notes I left above, one must not forget the price one pays for this set. So the options taken regarding margin size, binding and paper quality are, I think, a compromise to attain such a reasonable price. And I would rate it as 5 stars. So, why am I giving 4?
The 4 stars are due to some details which I find could have been taken into account without interfering with the production costs.
If you look to the boxed set picture you will notice that the first four books have vertical lettering on the spine and the last three have horizontal lettering. This looks a bit weird. Why should anyone think in doing the lettering different after the fourth book?. Specially if they had to reduce the horizontal lettering sizes depending of the size of the book? This annoys me quite a bit. Why not stick with the first idea?
The second issue which I think could have been better looked at is the size of the case. Well, the books are neatly packaged inside, very securely. The problem is how to take them out to read!! As all the books are tightly together and because they fully reside inside the case one cannot easily put a finger on each side or even on the top to take them out. Books 1 and 7 are the hardest. So I keep them slightly out of the case to manage to take them to read which in general means I have to push the case a bit from the shelf...
So, for these two issues which I think could have been properly dealt with I give this set 4 stars. Apart from them this is a very nice set to read this great set of stories.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Defining Book Series Of This Generation, 8 Feb 2008
What is there to say about the Harry Potter book series that hasn't been said before? The story is genius, the characters are brilliant and the overall world is simply one of the greatest fictional creations in the history of literature. If you haven't read these books then i heartily recommend picking them up instantly. They will delight children and adults alike, as every single page of every book in this series is simply a delight to read.
Here's my assessment of each book individually:
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone: 8/10
Though the simplest book in the series narratively, and the shortest in length, The Philosopher's Stone is a stunning debut filled with a great sense of humour, a clever narrative with many twists and an overall magnificent introduction to Harry's World
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets: 9/10
The narrative and humour is a step up from the previous book, the confrontations and mysteries feel more epic and better developed. The book has a slightly darker tone then the 1st, but the great characters and broad sense of humour still shines through.
Harry Potter And The Prizoner Of Azkaban: 9/10
Probably the most together book of the entire series, Prisoner is short but sweet. It contains many great memorable sequences, as well as possibly the best twist of the entire series.
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire: 10/10
One of the best books of the entire series, Goblet is longer then it's predeccesors, which gives more time for character and plot development. Though this also means the books has a bit of filler, overall the longer length enriches the story, giving a more ambitious structure then previous books, action sequences that rival anything in the previous books, and a finale which is simply one the greatest sequences of the entire series.
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Pheonix: 9/10
A difficult book in the overall flow things, Order Of The Phoenix is the first of the real darker books in the Potter Series. It is also the longest book, which means that it does suffer quite often from filler. However the main story of the book, which seems to be an angry outcry from Rowling on today's exam-obsessed school system, is clever and original. It also has some real great sequences; one of them being probably the best duel in the whole series.
Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince: 9/10
Like the previous book in the series, Half Blood Prince is a mixture of the good and the bad. On one hand: the story has many boring sequences that don't really go anywhere, the lessons aren't as interesting as they were in previous books and the twists aren't as clever as the first 4 books. However on the other hand: no previous book in the series does more to flesh out the back-story of the characters, the sequences that are good are excellent and the climax is incredibly moving. Overall the book, while not perfect on it's own two feet, is still a great yarn and a fantastic set up for the finale of the series.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: 10/10
Okay, first thing first: yes, the structure isn't as solid as any of the previous books, yes, some of the sequences do seem to lead to nowhere and yes, certain elements of the ending are slightly dissapointing. However, that aside, the final book in the series pretty much turns everything in the Potter series up to 11. This is a radically different tale to the 1st book in the series. The 1st story was basically a book about a boy's year at school, this story is about a young man struggling for survival in a war. The plot doesn't flow quite as smoothly as previous books, and the first 400 pages, while excellent do make you think: 'where is this leading?'. However, the last 200 pages are probably the best of the entire series. They are simply epic, moving and altogether brillaint, as really, is the entire book.
Overall through the Harry Potter series J.K Rowling has created characters, storylines and an overall world which will surely be at the centre of popular literature for decades to come. They are simply magical books.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love the UK versions, 21 Jan 2008
I have been ordering the UK versions as each one has come out. I like having the original British language as it was written instead of the "Americanized" versions. Sometimes it loses something in the "translation".
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