A sampling of 'Potter' reviews

Here's what reviewers are saying about "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire":

"Sooner or later, even the best spells wear off. ... Now 14, Harry is unmistakably an adolescent, and Rowling's newest -- 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' -- is a perfect teenager of a book. It's spotty. It's opinionated. It's often strangely endearing. Most of all, as widely reported, it's ungainly. ... By the time the story's payoffs finally come due -- in a book even speed reader Evelyn Wood couldn't finish in a single sitting -- many readers may only vaguely recall the original IOUs."

-- David Kipen, San Francisco Chronicle

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Review: Gladly drinking from Rowling's 'Goblet of Fire'

"If 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" were to sell only five copies instead of -- potentially -- its first print run of 5 million plus, it wouldn't change the fact that we are dealing here with one of the pinnacles of children's literature. ... The longest of the books, 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' is also the most relaxed and, ultimately, the most intense in the series so far. ... [P]art of the deepening pleasure of the series is the way Rowling is making her young heroes aware of contingency, of the impurity of motives, of how good and evil are never as simple as they at first appear."

-- Charles Taylor, Salon

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"After unprecedented foaming and frothing, J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' has arrived. Alas, the 734-page tome mostly makes the reader wistful for the exquisitely plotted, beautifully buffed, enchantingly imaginative first two books, 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' and 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.' ... There is a reason this baby is more than 700 pages, and it's not the plot. ... [T]he fourth installment is a hurried novel that highlights Rowling's ability to crank out pages but shows less of her breathtaking creativity.

-- Deirdre Donahue, USA Today

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"As usual, Rowling has written a fast-paced story full of surprises. ... [S]he manages to keep a tight enough rein to keep the plot from faltering."

-- Deepti Hajela, Associated Press

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"Rowling has a way of making the wildest, most whimsically unlikely inventions and scenarios seem utterly plausible, of creating a world so convincing that you don't even stop to question the existence of flying broomsticks and invisibility cloaks. ... There is not a whiff of condescension in her writing, not a single instance where she seems to be self-conscious about writing a 'children's book.' Harry's adventures aren't cute or cloying -- to the reader, they're real. They matter. ... 'Goblet' is the best of the four: It beats out 'Sorcerer's Stone' and 'Prisoner' by a crooked nose and easily trumps 'Chamber of Secrets' (the weakest of all, in my opinion). It is not only longer, but richer in spirit."

-- Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune

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Scholastic: Harry Potter
Warner Bros.: 'Harry Potter' movie Web site
Harry Potter Web site
Random House Audio: Harry Potter
The Unofficial Harry Potter Fan Club

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