It's been roughly three years since I stepped down off my soapbox. Roughly three years since I stopped critizing the phenomenon that was sweeping the world. Roughly three years since I let my inhibitions run away and cracked open Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. At the time, the fifth book of the series had just been released, and I figured that if I somehow did get sucked in, by the time I finished all of these absurdly thick children's novels, I'd probably not have to wait long for the final two. So I sat down and read. I'd already seen the frist two movies, mind you . . . I blame a girl for ever exposing me to that world; it's really always their fault with stuff like this, isn't it?

As I was saying, I sat down to begin reading the first 2300 or so pages, or, in simpler terms, 5 books, of the series. The first three books total maybe 900-1000 pages, and by the end of a week (of reading after work and on weekends), I'd finished them. I thought "Man, that's wild - I don't normally average 80-90 pages an hour . . . well I'm sure these last two monstrosities will take me forever." Wrong, again. 4 days later I'd read books 4 and 5, totalling 1400 pages, and was completely in shock at the way the 5th book ended. Where the hell was book six?!?

Fast forward 8 or so months, to the day that Amazon e-mailed me with preorder info for HP 6. After that long, the enchantment had somewhat worn off, and I decided I was too cool to preorder that book - the plan was to borrow it from my brother when he finished. Now we reach the part where World of Warcraft ruined yet another thing for me. In the off chance that some of you actually don't know how book 6 ends, I won't say exactly what people were spamming all over the internet - just that it was the horrific climactic ending of the sixth book.

I lost complete interest in the Harry Potter series about that time, and never read the sixth book. I still remembered how amazing the first 5 books were, and my soapbox was turned to face Laura Mallory of Loganville, Ga., who was campaigning (and probably still is) to have the entire series removed from schools, as they were pure evil. I'll say again, as I did in my 1100+ word rebuttal to the article advocating the ban:

"The Harry Potter series has done something amazing for this generation of youth. It's gotten them to put down their twinkies and Xbox controllers long enough to read "really very long" books. Hello! You fucking parents are complaining that your kids play too many video games, and now that Harry Potter has actually diverted their attention and gotten them interested in reading, you decide that it's evil?!? Evil! It's a fucking BOOK! It's called Imagi-fucking-nation! Fine, take the books away from them, let them get back to F.E.A.R. or Warcraft or any of the myriad of First-Person Shooters or Mortal Kombat games drenched in blood...because man that's nothing compared to witchcraft! Take away the only hope this next generation has at turning out writers, since that's what you really want. In fact, take anyone who's ever written anything creative and lock them in a bomb shelter until they swear to never pollute young minds again"

Finally, nearly two years after the 6th book was released, and three years after I'd read the first 5 of the series, I decided it was time to pick the books back up, regardless of the fact that I knew the ending, because I wanted to be ready for number 7. Conveniently, Charter Communications devestated my cable internet connection - an act that ultimately marked the end of my interest in WoW, which (not coincidentally) sent me back to books. The Half-Blood Prince is like 650 pages, and I almost read the entire book on a Sunday. Once I finished it, I decided I didn't remember enough about the previous five, so over the course of perhaps 3 weeks, though maybe less, I reread books 1-6.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was delivered to my door last Saturday, as I was moving my stuff to my new condo. It sat unopened until Tuesday, sadly, due to the craziness that surrounds moving. However, I read this one in two sessions, after work Tuesday and after work Wednesday, and I can only say one thing - it was amazing. It was the perfect way to wrap up the series. And, 3 years after I renegued on my assertation that these were crappy kids' books, I'm forced, once more, to take back anything I ever said that would possibly lead people to believe that I didn't think much of J.K. Rowling as an author, but merely someone who presented something at the right time and reaped the benefits of the mindless trend-following American Public. While part of that may be true, I cannot claim to be anything short of awed by her vision. To write over 3,000 pages, and never leave me thinking "man that was a really shitty way to do that," is remarkable. There were a couple moments throughout the series where I initially thought she should've done something differently, but when progressing deeper, it seems that everything was planned with prefect precision.

I'll leave you with one simple thought. You may not like it, you may think that I'm totally full of shit, etc . . .

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is probably the third best book I've read. Ever. But to fully appreciate it, you'll need to have read the other 6 prior. And no matter how cool or manly or tough you think you are, you're a fool if you think you're too *anything* for these books. The series on the whole falls second to the Dark Tower, but not by much, and it doesn't suffer from the inconsistancy that so flawed the latter half of the Dark Tower.

If you haven't yet read these, be glad - you can now read them all straight through and never have to wait to find out what's next.

I challenge anyone to read this series and tell me that, after reading all 7 books, they didn't dig it. Good luck.