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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Thoroughly Enjoyable Read, 7 Nov 2003
Of the first three Harry Potter novels, I can honectly say that I enjoyed the Prinsoner of Azkaban the most. Perhaps this is due to the aging of Mr Potter et al. in the books. The first two seems very obvious and child like, but no. 3 went a little bit furthur.The plot is well spun and revealed to the author in understandable chunks. What Rowling does very well, is turn nothing into something. There is always a surprise - if you have read the previous novels, then something established in those will feed into the next - it is a great technique. As an example, think of the snake in the Philosophers Stone, and Harrys talents in the Chamber of Secrets. In this case the Whomping Willow suddenly has greater purpose. There have been comments about the possible inspirations for these novels, and this book is no exception. Azkaban's Dementors owe a lot to Tolkien's Ring Wraiths, and some times you get the feeling that even simple names have been listed from Tolkien - Butterbur and Butterbeer for example. There are also many Star Wars moments, the whole perversion of the Dark Side and so on. But then, in essence, perhaps these are just the great traits of fantasy. In summary, I'd recommend this read to all, child and adult. I would also add, that you should endure the first two books to get here.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
The best of the first three books, 29 May 2007
In this book Harry discovers that a murderer called Sirius Black has escaped from azkaban (the wizard prison) to kill him and when Harry returns to Hogwarts it is being guarded by the horrible cloaked guards of azkaban known as dementors.The dementors suck all the happiness out of you and remind you of your worst memories, the dementors can also suck your soul out.This year at Hogwarts they have their first nice defence against the dark arts teacher,his name's professor lupin.This year they also have an eccentric divination teacher who enjoys predicting Harry's death and Hagrid also becomes their care of magical creatures teacher.
This book was my favourite of the first three books and you discover a bit more about Harry's dad and his friends at school and you also start to discover why Snape hates Harry's dad so much.All the books are filled with mysteres and plot twists but this one probably had the biggest plot twist of them all.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Harry returns for a third time, 14 Mar 2004
Upon learning of the Harry Potter series entering the BBC’s Top One Hundred Books list, I finally admitted defeat: there was simply no way to escape J K Rowling’s phenomenal influence over children’s literature. I read and enjoyed The Philosopher’s Stone, was enthralled by The Chamber of Secrets, but felt slightly disappointed by The Prisoner of Azkaban. That’s not to say it’s a bad book – far from it, simply that it lacked some of the sparkle (and humour) of its predecessors.The story follows thirteen-year old Harry as he prepares (and looks forward to) his third year at wizarding school Hogwarts. Upon arrival he learns that a mass murderer, partly responsible for his parents’ demise, has escaped from the high-security prison of Azkaban. Sirius Black is the name of the criminal, and as a further twist to the tale it emerges that he was Harry’s father’s best friend, and also appointed godfather to the young wizard. Although the book is slightly darker than the first two, it is no less entertaining: what with the resignation of Professor Lockhart the previous year, the students of Hogwarts find themselves with a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher – Professor Lupin. Harry also feels the presence of the sinister Azkaban guards – the Dementors – who feed on people’s positive emotions. On a lighter note, Ron’s brothers Fred and George are incredibly amusing, and causing as much mischief as ever before. They even give Harry a gift, the Marauder’s Map, which depicts a series of secret tunnels leading out of the school. One of my favoutite characters in the book is Sir Cadogan. Like many of the figures in the paintings around Hogwarts, Sir Cadogan is free to move around from picture to picture. He is keen to prove himself a hero, and enthusiastically challenges everyone that crosses his path to a duel. Ron is quick to label this sort of behaviour ‘mental,’ and refuses the knight’s request. There are many inventive new ideas and features introduced to the reader. The Knight Bus, for example, suddenly materialises when Harry is in trouble, with the offer of transporting him to any place he wishes to visit. Similarly, the Boggart is a shape-changing creature with the ability to assume the identity of its opponent’s greatest fear. Professor Snape has a larger role this time around, as more information about Harry’s past emerges. All in all, I greatly enjoyed reading The Prisoner of Azkaban and with its array of colourful and often comical characters, it was a pleasant way to pass the time. However, I didn’t feel it was up to the high standard of my personal favourite in the series – The Chamber of Secrets. It’s a highly entertaining book, nonetheless.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Absolutely Wonderful!, 21 Jan 2006
I admit, when the Harry Potter phenomenon was a new craze just a few years ago, when I was 7-11 years old, I did not see what was so special about the Harry Potter books, though many of my school-fellows did. Funnily enough, I never actually gave them a chance. We did, only a year ago, decide to buy the movie of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. After a few times of watching, I was hooked, and bought the second movie of the series. Again, I was very safisfied, and purchased the books. I am 16 years old, and for the past year I have been in love with the Harry Potter phenomenon, books and movies and merchandise alike. I'm only ashamed I hadn't fell in love with it sooner. I highly reccommend this book and all in the entire series to anyone aged between 7 to 70, as they are full of imagination, fun, witty characters that you will just adore, and the storylines will capture you from beginning to very very end, leaving you bursting for more. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is even better than the first two. The mysteries will have you guessing and, as always, there is no way of being able to just guess the end. If you love mystery or magic, this book is a must. It doesn't matter how old you are, you will love this book, if you loved the previous stories, you will not put this one down until every word is read through a dozen times. Go - buy!
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
I am not a Muggle, I am a free Wizard!, 7 Jul 2001
By A Customer
The Prisoner of Azkaban starts off in quite the same way as The Chamber of Secrets with Harry's birthday. Harry is 13, and like Kevin the teenager, he seems to have transfigured into something quite unruly overnight. Harry Potter has become an adolescent, with all its incipient furies and lustiness (see his reaction to meeting Cho Chang for the first time!). It's the summer, so Harry has been imprisoned with the Dursleys once more. If there's one thing worse than the Dursleys, it's Harry's Aunt Madge. It's not long before Aunt Madge is blown into a bigger balloon than Violet in Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. Harry escapes, sure that the Ministry of Magic will be on to him in no time, and that he will be expelled from Hogwarts. He's picked up by the Knight Bus, and deposited at the Leaky Cauldron, where Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, is waiting for him. But instead of admonishing Harry, Fudge makes sure that he gets everything he needs, and waves his misdemeanours away. This is the first sign Harry has that something is very wrong. Still, the only obstacle Harry has to overcome is the biting book that Hagrid has sent him for his birthday. It's not long before Harry's meeting Ron and Hermione in Diagon Alley. Unfortunately, Hermione chooses to buy herself a cat as an early birthday present, and inevitably, Ron and Hermione bicker as the cat, Crookshanks, sets about hunting Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. All Harry has eyes for is the Firebolt: the most sophisticated broomstick ever produced. The Wealseys seem somewhat overprotective of Harry, and then Harry finds out why: Sirius Black is out to murder him. Sirius Black is considered to be so dangerous that Fudge has even alerted the Muggle Prime Minister, and the Ministry of Magic has provided the Weasleys with a fleet of cars to transport them to King's Cross. Sirius Black, Voldemort's faithful servant, killed thirteen people before he was apprehended, including one wizard... Whilst on the Hogwarts Express, Harry and friends encounter the dishevelled Professor Lupin, their new teacher of Defence against the Dark Arts. They also have a visitation from a Dementor, one of the sinister Azkaban guards (the wizard prison we learnt about in The Chamber of Secrets). Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban, which no one else has ever done before, so the fear is that he may well try to break into Hogwarts. The Dementors, however, seem far more interested in Harry than looking for Black. Harry fervently hopes that Gryffindor will win the Quidditch Cup, but then the Dementors attack him during a game. Harry hears his mother's dying words in a dream, and believes he may have even seen his father... But what is that mysterious dog that is stalking him? Will he really die, as Professor Trelawney believes? And why is Hermione appearing and disappearing, and acting so strangely? Dumbledore's choice of teachers seems suspect when a Hippogriff attacks Malfoy in Hagrid's first lesson. However, Harry seems to have found an ally against the Dementors in the form of Professor Lupin. But the post of Defence against Dark Arts is not one to be taken lightly... There are the usual encounters with the sinister Professor Snape, and we learn a bit more about his background (surely Alan Rickman's too old to play him?). Rowling seems to have been delving into Thomas Bulfinch's The Age of Fable again, with her depiction of Salamanders as fire lovers. Perhaps she's been also reading some Susan Cooper, as a Boggart makes a handy plot device. The plot itself is as tight as usual, with the Prisoner of Azkaban being the most thrilling and disturbing in the series so far.
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5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Good Story but.........., 6 Jan 2001
By A Customer
Believe me, I like Harry Potter very much. They are excellently wriiten and Stephen Fry reads it very well but I wasn't very happy with the voices of some characters. Tom, the barman at the Leaky Cauldron seems to have aged 50 years since Hary started at Hogwarts. Professor Lupin also sounded a fair bit older than Sirius Black and they are both the same age as Harry's father, James. Still, I found it wonderful and really enjoyed it.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Wonderful, 13 Jan 2003
By A Customer
My three daughters age 7, 9 and 11 got this for X-mas, the two older has read the books several times, the younger one have seen the two first movies and I have read the two first books for her. This CD has not been out of the player since they opened the present, they listen to it again and again, and all three of them love it. They praise Steven Fry for his presentation, and just enjoy listning to the books. They are all Harry Potter "experts" and this is just another way for them to enjoy the books. We will be getting the fourth one soon.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
The dark turning point, 22 April 2009
Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts sees the arrival of Dementors, soul sucking guards here to protect the school and in particular Harry from escaped lunatic Sirius Black.
After the release of the film in 2004 this was showcased as the point in which the settings changed from adventurous mayhem to dark drama and Rowling once again proves that she can tackle all aspects of the magical universe.
Starting off with a disagreement with the Dursleys and Harry and again we see the discomforting lifestyle of Harry's life away from Hogwarts.
The charming interplay between the wizard and Uncle Vernon gets things off to a nice start and to make things that extra bit spicy Aunt Marge is thrown in. Some heated discussions follow and we see Harry alone without a clue what to do. What follows is a swift adventure to escape the ministry of magic in a triple-decker bus that not only flows smoothly and swiftly but opens up the central theme for the narrative, the mysterious escape of mass murderer Sirius Black.
This inclusion is the point when the sense of adventure disappears and drama conforms to the minds of the teenager and friends. Prisoner of Azkaban is not an adventure but a fast paced drama that is still tremendously funny but significantly dramatic. This is fantastic build up to the latter books and where there is lack of adventure there is no shortage in twists and magic.
We are still learning all of the magic qualities of Harry's world. The horrible Dementors are the creepiest inclusions to ever grace J.K Rowling's series. The concept of a lunatic on the run is also quite a step up from the Basilisk as a villain.
But there is more drama than just Black. Hermione and Ron have heated debates regarding their pets, the pressure of classes is showcased with a time travel twist and there are numerous inclusions of dangerous animals.
The characters are all as brilliant as ever with Professor Snape even darker than ever before which makes more exciting reading. The inclusion of Professor Trelawney as Divination teacher is great and though ruined by Emma Thompson in the picture, is still a delight to read.
The film adaptation is not as sharp as this third instalment as plenty is left out. Prisoner of Azkaban, though not as adventurous, still maintains a wonderful sense of escapism and wonder to be enjoyed by readers of any age.
8.5/10
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
One of the best "children's" books written!, 21 Aug 1999
By A Customer
When JK Rowling created Harry Potter she created one of the most memorable characters,purposely written for children, since Gandalf abd Bilbo Baggins. And this new book carrys on in the same vein as the previous two, with the same strong characters and gripping storylines. This is not a book to be "skip-read" on the grounds that you do actually need to pay attention to be able to fully understand the storyline, particularly in the last section of the book. It starts with the escape of one of the most dangerous prisoners that Azkaban, the wizard's prison, has ever seen, someone who we later find out to be Harry's godfather and among other crimes he was imprisoned for leading Harry's parents to their death. His presence haunts the story as do the predictions of Harry's death from his Divination teacher, and the two do appear to be linked. But all is not what is seems to be and there is a twist in the tail that not even the most dedicated Harry fan could possibly guess. We also see Harry and his friends growing up, even seeing the beginning of what could be Harry's first crush and the realisation of the prophecies that Harry may well be the greatest wizard who ever lived. The story is left with a very open ending and as there are still four more books left in the series it seems likely that this story will be revisited in the future. And, like this book, that story will make riveting reading.
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faster leaner stronger..., 2 Sep 2009
This Book is much better than the first two, The pace is faster, the writing style stronger and the content leaner, more compact but more in depth...
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