false 6 0439139600 9780439139601 209798 5011 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156039815m/6.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6.Harry_Potter_and_the_Goblet_of_Fire 1077326 J.K. Rowling 1674403 67287 4 0 false Fri Jul 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 06:53:58 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 10:18:28 -0700 2009
Rowling continues to expand her compelling cast of characters, introducing new students both from within Hogwarts and from two other schools of wizarding, as well as several members of the Ministry of Magic. Two other new characters of note include the highly enjoyable "Mad-eye" Mooney, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and the highly obnoxious Rita Skeeter, an invasive journalist who's not above making up large chunks of her stories.

We also get to hear from many old favorites, not the least of which being Potters' inseparable friends Ron and Hermione, although the former proves at least semi-separable for a while as he battles with jealousy over Harry's constant position in the limelight.

All of this is nice, but kind of expected by now. What's impressive though is the deft way in which Rowling wraps many of these characters' stories together and ties them into the central Goblet of Fire storyline. In this storyline, we learn that (as is par for the course), someone is trying to kill Harry. The assumption of course is that his premature entry into the extremely dangerous Tri-Wizard competition was orchestrated to accomplish this goal, and in a way it was ... but not how Harry or anyone around him expects.

The book culminates with a confrontation that results in the first "on-screen" death of a character in Rowling's universe and sets up some extremely important threads that will carry through the rest of the titles. It's also the first book in the series to end with no indication of who won the house cup (or if it was even given out given the tragic circumstances of the Tri-Wizard competition), and no indication of who won the quiddich cup. I thought it was nice and realistic that these issues - so seemingly important in the earlier books - have taken a back seat to the life and death concerns that Rowling is introducing into the books.

I think this is the best of the Harry Potter books that I've read so far, and I'm looking forward to Order of the Phoenix.]]>