The Half-Blood Prince

Well, I just finished the latest Harry Potter book. Definitely a good one. As usual, I will try to whet without spoiling.

I'm sure most people have heard that a major character dies. It seemed fairly obvious from the beginning who it was going to be, so that the blow was lessened a bit (for me) at the end. While I can't say I'm happy about it, I think it was necessary for Harry to keep progressing.

And what about this "Half-Blood Prince?" Well, I had a few guesses. The most obvious one turned out to be right (though it wasn't revealed until the book was almost over).

Some very interesting revelations about Voldemort, and the price of immortality. Let's just say that Tom Riddle's diary isn't the only place where he's hidden bits of himself...

Incidentally, Malfoy isn't half as evil as he'd like to be. All swagger and no substance. Not sure if that's going to change in the next book, though.

As for our Harry, Ron, and Hermione... well, there's romance in the air for each of them. Some of it rather idiotic. So idiotic I wondered if there were a love potion involved, but that crops up later (and earlier).

What else? Oh, Snape. We learn quite a bit more about Snape. I'd like to say more, but a lot of it is rather vital to the plot and I'd probably reveal too much. Hmmm... yeah... I just made a rather obvious connection that I should have seen at the beginning of the book. *smiles mysteriously*