I just finished the audio book of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was rather long and could have done with being edited down a bit in my opinion. That said, it was utterly gripping, especially into the second half. The whole series has now been raised in my esteem (for whatever that is worth) to the level of the Narnia and Tolkien books. Perhaps that will change as I continue and hear them again (as, having two children, I have no doubt that I will) but there is just so much in these books: morality, fear, ego, jealousy, fame, the media, etc.) I also see some parallels with the Star Wars trilogy (i.e. New Hope, Empire and Jedi) but without the apparent religious aspect.

It’s actually doing me some good as I learn about how an apparent ordinary boy deals with overwhelming odds one day at a time and I think that children in particular will learn a lot about values from these books.

Oh, and the quality of the writing is really rather good too. It seems to have improved since the first book and is rather more literary.

And naturally I’m into the sixth book and will not stop until I reach the end. It’s really a gripping tale and I have no inkling as to how it will turn out.