Rating: 
Summary: Jam-packed!
Review: I remember vividly the year 2000, the summer where the anticipation for the fourth book of the Harry Potter adventure finally reached a boiling point with its release, immediately becoming the fastest-selling book in history. The book was the longest in the series so far and undoubtedly the most exciting. For startes, the traditional Quidditch championship which Gryffindor had won the year previous was cancelled for the Triwizard Tournament, which introduced a whole bevy of characters from different parts of the world. Quidditch fans get their fix at the beginning, however, at the raucous Quidditch World Cup: packed with colorful surroundings and great details, the whole sequence is written with great prose and humour.
The three Triwizard tasks are also written brilliantly, Rowling seamlessly blending humour, anticipation and dread into each paragraph. Rita Skeeter is a new character, a despicable journalist who makes life a living hell for Harry with fradulant stories, another sign of Harry's maturity and Rowling's increasing worldview: journalism problems! No doubt something she's experienced since Harry Potter has become a worldwide phenomenon. At almost 700 pages, this book never drags in its sections of description as Rowling continues to captivate us with her magical world. Surprise, a fourth brilliant read.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the series
Review: After reading all four books I have to say I thought Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban #3 was the best. I love mystery books and this one I thought had the most mystery, it had me on the edge of my seat. I loved Buckbeak the hyppogriff. When I read it to the class, I was glad that I had already read the book, because it helped me understand the way the characters shouldtalk. she took WAY to long to read it. A real page turner, I highly recommend it!!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Harry Potter saga continues...and is great!
Review: It's another book in the series and worth every word of critical acclaim it receives. Just buy it!
Rating: 
Summary: What went wrong?
Review: I'm surprised, that so few of the readers of the Harry Potter series seems to notice, that "The Goblet of Fire" is markedly different from the first three books. Not only is it longer, but it's writing is very different and far inferior. The plot is not coherent or sensible and there is an unfortunate lack of creativity and the funny "twists", that made the previous books unique. I acknowledge the incredible success of Mrs. Rowlings, but I wonder what went wrong here? One guess is that it is a work of ghost-writers; but that wouldn't explain why this inferior book reached the shelves - unless Mrs. Rowlings has sold her rights to the characters? Another guess is, that she previously had a co-writer/editor that is no longer present? Either way, the Harry Potter universe suffers for some reason, and I am not sure that I bother reading book five, given this most disappointing predecessor.
Rating:
Summary: The Awsome Harry Potter 3
Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire is the only Harry Potter book I have. But of course I read every night. I'm only on page 20 'cause I started on August 17th although from the start it is already super! Harry Potter is seperated from his real mom and dad because of Lord Voldemort. Now he is living under a roof where his foster parents and brother treat him like nothing. The lightning bolt on his forehead is a scar from Voldemort. In the 1st chapter, Harry is dream about the Riddle house. The gardener, Frank lived in back of the house. The house looked like it was on fire. Frank went up to the house and went in. The Riddles all died because they wernt shot, stabed or even touched. They were frighten to death. But he heard voices in the room. It was wormtail and Lord Voldemort. A snake came in and went by Frank. Frank was frightend. I wont tell anymore cause I don't want to spoil the fun. Read it and you'll love it!
Rating: 
Summary: In favour of Harry
Review: It is odd how a chance comment on a radio talk show can spark off a train of thought one had long since parked in a siding. So my interest in HP revived when I heard in discussion of children's books the old saw that, " 'Grimm's Fairy Tales' are for children, but some of them are too scary for children" (and, ergo, best avoided, thus leaving no-one to read them). But Harry's adventures are very obviously a modern day fairy tale, seemingly, he did not belong in this Grimm category. This is a curious blindspot, and I did wonder what lay under this attitude. Personally, I hope in due course J.K. Rowling will receive a well-deserved official honour from the government for services to the UK Exchequer (is being made a 'Dame' is equivalent to a 'Sir'?), and she has my warm praise for boosting childhood reading habits, but the literary questions are something else.In Grimm most of the stories really strike home. They deliver justice and come-uppance to bullies, snobs, liars, the greedy, and the self-obsessed. They bestow good endings on the good--rather like Potter's tales. The few dull tales amongst them are either disjointed or too slight, they leave you asking, 'And your point is?'--rather like Potter's tales. So the discerning parent, if worried about the few scary stories in Grimm, will merely avoid reading those few out to the child who is too young for them (Grimm's tales are meant to be spoken, as they are a written record of oral tales, whereas HP is silent reading). And if the child is old enough and bold enough to seek out and read Grimm's Tales independently, then they probably are old enough! But does this tell us what the real 'value system' difference is between the worlds of Grimm and Harry? Harry gets into some murky matters in this book. As promised, the Dark Mark (see chap.9), rises a little stronger as each book is enconjured (q.v., 'learn a Summoning Charm', p.149). However, there is the properly natural magic of 'a hundred Veela...gliding out onto the pitch', casting their near-irresistible cheerleading spell of loveliness on the guys. Then there is that wickedly accurate parody of British journalism, Rita Skeeter of the 'Daily Prophet' (they do like to think they foretell as opposed to just tell), with a Coleopteran sting in the tail. But in fact the overall effect of Voldemort and Co. on the tone of the story is much more maleficent than anything in the venerable Grimm. Even a minor character like Peeves the poltergeist tends to out-grim the traditional tales. ('Peeves the poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow-tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration took aim again...Peeves stuck out his tongue...cackling insanely' (p.152-3)). So the wise parent may want to know what it is that really drives these adventures. It is no plot spoiler, as everyone knows by now, to say that there is a death in this book (and it was extensively trailed before release), and of course Grimm's tales, the daily news on TV, and everyday life contain deaths too. The issue is how you handle it in the literature or chosen medium. The death in the Goblet of Fire does not really matter, it is a bit like terminating a crash test dummy. Paradoxically this is the worrying thing: there is no real tragedy in it. We are not made to care about this character before this book in the series came out, and we do not build up any feeling for or against the character during the book. This is the key flaw. We are meant to care about 'the good': the fact that they do not have a good ending is the essence of tragedy. But in this book the Dark is more real, more dynamic, and more exciting than the Good. In fact, the 'good' in this book really tend to mere neutrality, a secular silhouette of goodness. It explains why the magic is so trumpery. Grimm's tales are of course shot through with a real spiritual strength and life (with many a miracle, but no churches, vicars, bibles, or angels), essentially being of medieval European Christian stock. Had I space we could consider the same way that 'Arabian Nights' are from Islamic stock of AD800. So it is the empowering and guiding worldview that is the real difference between Grimm's tales and Potter's, and it is the underlying reason why some would tend to neglect them in favour of Harry. The preference is probably instinctive as much as conscious. But we must ask ourselves what the real test is, which will endure, which will succeed in the long run--bearing in mind Grimm's headstart, which, being long earned, we cannot discount?
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable, but...
Review: I'm probably the only one to feel disappointed by Book 4, but I was. Mostly I enjoyed it, but a plot twist in the ending spoiled it. Rowling delights in performing last minute switches: good characters who are really evil, or vice versa. In this case, the character at Hogwarts who was revealed to be evil didn't work. There was no foreshadowing, no clues. It felt like a bait and switch. As if she picked the name out of a hat. This teacher seems to be basically good, and suddenly it's revealed that all year long he has actually been a psychopath? I don't think so. By the same token, I found the graveyard confrontation with Voldemort to be just too grim and ugly. It's possible, I believe, to write about evil and confrontations without reveling in the grotesque aspects. That's not a fashionable view, I know, but it's how I felt reading it. The other criticism I had is small but fair, I think: Hermione's sudden transformation into a beautiful girl for the ball. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad Hermione had a boyfriend, but I would have preferred if she had turned out as simply ordinarily pretty for the ball, something within the reach of the majority of her young girl readers. Most girls aren't going to turn stunningly beautiful with a little hair gel! Otherwise the book was an engaging read, though I think my favorite so far was number 2: enough danger, still the wonder, no unbelievable plot twists.
Rating:
Summary: I shall call him Wizard Boy
Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, is the 4th book in the ever-expanding Harry Potter series. By ever-expanding, I don't just mean that the series is getting longer. I'm talking about the books themselves. Compared to the previous three books, this one is huge. Weighing in at 734 pages, it's almost triple the size of The Prisoner of Azkaban. Does the increased length hurt the book at all? Not a bit. In fact, this is probably the best book in the series. It starts out as the same thoroughly charming narrative about Harry, his friends, and the lurking presence of Voldemort in his life. There are some chilling events at the beginning of the book which show just how evil Voldemort and his minions really are. However, these events are nothing compared to the ending. This book takes the series in a darker direction, with an ending that will make you shiver. The best part about it is that it's a surprise. The entire book leads up to it, but you don't realize how until you actually get there. Instead, you keep wondering just what Voldemort's plan is and why Harry is so important to it. Because of that, for about 650 pages you are given an extra layer to the story. There's the always enjoyable interaction between the characters and the adventures that they have, and the budding mystery behind it all. This is a book I wasn't able to put down very easily. The characters are much the same, though they do have a certain amount of growth that is common in moving from thirteen years old to fourteen. Harry's starting to think even more about girls, especially Cho Chang. He's still awkward around them, though, and acts like a typical teenager. Ron hasn't changed a whole lot, but I don't think he ever will. Some kids are like that, too. Hermione has probably changed the most, as she has become an activist. Events at the beginning of the novel inspire her to have a cause and create an organization to further that cause. It's too bad that Rowling couldn't make this aspect of her character more interesting, though. Whenever Hermione brought up the subject, the book took a major downturn and I became bored very quickly. Thankfully, though, these sequences are short so the book doesn't lose too much momentum. Unfortunately, this is going to be an ongoing plot line, so I hope Rowling can make it more interesting in the future. The interaction between the three characters is what makes the book so good, though. They bicker, they make up, they stand up for each other to the end. They are the perfect group of friends and they make the book a joy to read. The minor characters are done just as well. Dumbledore, the head of the school, is still the mysterious but always helpful old man that he's been throughout the series. He's never rattled, never quick to anger, and always willing to help Harry when he needs it the most. The other regular teachers are just as good, with the exception of Trelawney who is yet again terribly boring and one-note, always predicting that Harry will suffer some horrible fate. However, it's the new characters that shine in this one. Mad-Eye Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, is vividly portrayed. He's paranoid, always looking over his shoulder with his magic eye that can see through things, but he's enormously helpful to Harry when the chips are down. He harbours a secret though, and throughout the book you think you know what it is. But you don't, really. He's incredibly interesting and his characterization is wonderful. The other new character is Rita Skeeter, a slimy reporter for The Daily Prophet newspaper. She keeps writing stories about Harry that are completely untrue, making up quotes that make him look pompous and/or stupid. Harry is always embarrassed by these stories and his reputation around school takes a turn for the worse and everybody thinks he's a glory-hog. While I found Rita's character suitably smarmy, unfortunately the end of her story didn't do as much for me. It almost felt tacked on, like Rowling almost forgot to end it and then had to backtrack to put in clues to it. The plot of the book, with its mysterious tournament between the three schools and Harry's involvement in it, is thrilling. You really feel for Harry as he is constantly tormented by his classmates who think that he entered just out of a desire for attention. The events themselves are suitably exciting, showcasing Harry's charity and his quick-thinking. Ron finally cracks under the pressure of always being in Harry's shadow, and they actually have a truly believable fight. As I said above, I didn't like Hermione's subplot very much, but she did a wonderful job in a supporting role for the other plots. The atmosphere gets darker and darker, and then there is the ending. All of a sudden, it's midnight, getting ready for a very dark book 5. For the first time, you get the sense that this is one long story told over a number of books, rather than a series of adventures about Harry and his friends. The book leaves you hanging, and I really felt sorry for the people who had to wait three years for it, instead of just moving on to the next book like I was able to do. This is a wonderful addition to the series, and it keeps getting better and better. Bring on book 5! David Roy
Rating:
Summary: The best so far
Review: The first two Harry Potter books were good, solidly written escapist fantasy. The third (Prisoner of Azkaban) was mostly in the same vein, but with foretastes of complexity to come. Goblet of Fire is altogether different. Harry Potter becomes aware of the world around him. For the first time, he samples adult society, it's recreation, culture, and politics. The reader also becomes aware of the greater context of the stories, and the moral ambiguities that vex wizards no less than muggles. Harry and his friends mature visibly in this volume. The adult characters, who are presumably done maturing, are made much deeper persons in GoF, no longer typecast parts of the background. This is why Harry and we are made to see their imperfections as last year's child was not. Goblet of Fire lacks a happy ending, even though it is the most morally uplifting of all the books. This is a thick book, but worth every page.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Jim Dale's narration is perfection, even better than reading this terrific nove. This refers to the unabridged audio version of the book.
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