Which book from the Harry Potter series is your personal favorite?

Snape...

Snape in the last one. Wowzers.

Prizoner of Azkaban easily, 2nd place being tied between Philospher's Stone and Goblet of Fire.

I feel the series really went downhill after Goblet of Fire. Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince just felt a bit too aimless and reliant on character deaths to me. As for Deathly Hallows... Camping diary anyone?

Phoenix for sure.

I'm a man so I haven't read any of em.

Goblet of Fire or Order of the Phoenix, both amazing books, I remember reading them in my early teens and finishing the books in 2-3 days, overall I probably have to say Goblet, but the margin is fairly small. I should probably read them all again, since I've only read the last book once, while the first 5 are probably in double digits - I stopped reading entirely after the last Harry Potter book.

Azkaban is the best, in my opinion. It's also the first one that gets more serious. Goblet of Fire is a pretty fun one while Half Blood Prince is probably the most interesting of the bunch. The first two are a bit childish and in the Order Phoenix nothing happens for about 2000 pages. Jesus, that book is so long and kinda pointless for almost its entirety. The last book is very different from the rest so it's kinda hard to compare it.

Chamber of Secrets, the movie didn't do it justice.

Goblet of Fire was my favorite. Nice and long and instead of just being a normal year that builds up to crazy shit, it's crazy shit all the time. Lots of new and interesting characters, exciting shit always around every corner, etc. Really good bood that one. The change after that was really weird, but I still enjoyed the longer more mature books. Still, I think it's 4, 3, 1, 5, 6, 2 for me. I don't know why but I remember 2 being my least favorite. Even with the really sudden change in tone that started with five, I still really enjoyed that book in it's own way. It gets much better near the end, I'll agree that there's a lot of shit in it that could have been condensed though.

I think I'm past rereading those books though. I know the first four so well from reading them over and over again constantly that while I could recite them from memory, I remembered every work as I read them by the end. I usually knew the sentance before I finished it.

Hahaha, you people are crazy!

Though my favorite is Deathly Hallows, I can see why people would prefer Azkaban or Half Blood Prince. But Goblet of Fire? It's entire premise is so thin and contrived!

I've never read a Harry Potter novel.

Do the Harry Potter books actually hold up at all or are they just enjoyable for children and crazy people?

I remember having liked the first 4 books as a kid and trying to read the 5th book which, after some hiatus or something, came out when I was starting high school and I thought it was garbage.

I've honestly never really thought about this before, which is weird. I for sure have a favorite movie out of all the films, but I adore all of the books. I would probably have to say Goblet of Fire or Azkaban. Deathly Hallows is amazing too, so....shit, I don't know.

Probably Goblet. Hard to remember why, though. Been a while since I read through them all thoroughly.

@creepingdeath0 said:

On top of those complaints, another issue with the books after Goblet of Fire is that Rowling seems to really expect the reader to remember all of the ancillary characters that were never very well established, and I really, really couldn't give a shit. "Oh man, surprise, Mrs. Figg saves Harry and Dudley from a Dementor. Isn't that awesome!?" No, it wasn't, it was stupid and random, and someone had to tell me that she had been briefly mentioned once back in like the first book. I think basically the more Rowling expanded the scope of the novels to include other aspects of her fictional wizarding world, the less cohesive or compelling it was. The series was best when it was focused on Harry and things happening at Hogwarts.

Goblet of Fire is basically the last time there was a memorable event going on at Hogwarts that defines the book. Philosopher's Stone didn't really need one because it has to establish the setting. Chamber of Secrets had people being petrified and the whole Slytherin's heir mystery. Prisoner of Azkaban had Sirius Black on the loose and all the Dementors and actually really well done time travel plot twists. And Goblet of Fire had the Triwizard Tournament, and introduced some non-UK characters into the Harry Potter fiction.

Then Order of the Phoenix is an entire book of nothing. Half-Blood Prince is about as boring, though I think the highlight was learning about Voldemort's weird past. And I think the Deathly Hallows just got way too far outside of what the series is about, though again I think the highlight was learning a bit about Dumbledore's weird past. Also, I really, really didn't care for all the prophecy bullshit that they kept harping on SO MUCH starting in Order of the Phoenix. It was bad in the way that most vague prophecies about the importance of the main character usually are.

Anyone voting for any of the last 3 books in this poll is a crazy person.

@bisonhero: I can see people voting for Half Blood Prince or Deathly Hallows, just because they dwell into the past of Voldemort and Dumbledore which is, by far, the most interesting stuff in that Universe. To go to the roots of Voldemort and Dumbledore is the most fascinating stuff, at least for me. But, overall, 3 and 4 are the best books. And I agree with you, Order of Phoenix is a bajjilion pages of nothingness and a hundred of actual meaningful stuff.

They hold up well enough, and are good, simple fun, I guess. Though I think the last three books get a little up their own ass, and keep bringing up this dumb prophecy regarding Harry because he is the Chosen One and it's basically nearly as bad as the Video Game All-Story.

But yeah, they're some of the best young adult fiction out there. Still, they aren't the Second Coming of Christ, though every single girl in her 20s that I know certainly seems to think so. In the grand scope of like, "The Greatest Adventure Novels Ever Written", Harry Potter isn't exactly on the same level as like The Count of Monte Cristo or anything.

If you've already read the first four books, you've already read the best four, in my opinion.

Chamber of Secrets is the worst one to me. The only reason I kept reading after that was because of the media attention Goblet of Fire was getting. Prisoner of Azkaban was were the series found its footing. Goblet of Fire is great for a lot of reasons and so are Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows. The best to me is Order of the Phoenix. There was a lot of growth by Harry in that book and Dolores Umbridge was a great character. Yea the book did the destined hero thing that was redeemed in the next book but everything else was pretty great.

29% on Goblet of Fire? Really? That plot was soo thin, probably the only plot of the series you could summarize in one sentence. My favourite is the Half Blood Prince, that was the one where I felt like the world and the characters was the most well realized, interesting plot turns as well.

the last one, because I judge how good books are by how much they make me emotional

so many emotions in that last book ;_;

I only read the first two way back when. They were decent, but not my cup of tea. Of the two of them though, the first one is better. Is it known by two names? My copy said Philospher's Stone.

The one with Helm's Deep is the best.

And the award for dumbest post of the week goes to...

I've always liked Goblet of Fire the most. I would say Order of the Phoenix but, with what happens to that one person? Yeah, I still have some irrational emotions towards that.

Goblet of Fire because that's when shit gets real.

In terms of the books, I would have to say Book one: The Sorcerer's stone.

In terms of the movies, my favorite movie was The Prisoner of Azkaban.

I don't remember.

Probably the last one.

I like payoff.

I think Goblet of Fire was probably my favorite. I always found reading about Hogwarts and how students went about their day-to-day activities really enjoyable. Then you throw in the Tri-Wizard Tournament to stir things up and introduce some new characters and all the different tasks. It was just a really fun and exciting read. I have to say though, Prisoner of Azkaban was really close, as well as Order of the Phoenix.

Order of the Phoenix - shit gets real in that book, and it was the first time she killed off someone big - I mean, Diggory was cool, but nowhere near Sirius in importance. Totally sets the scene for the final books and that whole sequence left me emotionally raw.

Goblet of Fire would be my 3rd favourite (with the last being my 2nd), and I can definitely see why people like it.

Americans had it changed to Sorcerer's stone.

My favorite was The Prisoner of Azkaban. I think it stands on its own better than any other book in the series. It doesn't involve some crazy Voldemort plan, and it's the least wish fulfillmenty of the earlier books. I also really like The Deathly Hallows, but it was such a departure in feel for me that I have trouble calling it my favorite. There were too many needless deaths to drum up emotional tension, and the epilogue was kind of cheesy. I think maybe I would have preferred a little more ambiguity for the ending.

The only one that I don't like so much is The Order of The Phoenix. Despite its considerable length I can never remember anything of note that happened in that book until the last few chapters, and the one emotional gut punch felt pretty cheap.

I voted for the first one because it's the one I can pick up and read again. It's short enough to not take forever to read and it doesn't rely on knowledge of previous entries in the series. After thinking about it some more though I realize that I like Azkaban the best. It's the one that isn't focused on Harry vs. Voldemort.

@hunter5024: The epilogue was cheesy and poorly written because it was written once she finished writing the first book. That's why it sticks out from the rest of the book. It was written well before she had developed as a writer.

@mosespippy: I like to believe that the epilogue didn't appear in it's entirely original form. There had to have been some editing right? Right?

Azkaban is definitely the best, It's the first one where things get a bit dark, but it's still fun and Harry isn't a whiney brat yet, You start to get a sense of the wider universe the books take place in, and it has some cool characters, it's basically the midpoint of the all the themes.

I also like the movie the best of all of them, although most people usually disagree on that one.

@zfubarz: The Prisoner of Azkaban film is definitely one of the best HP films.

There definitely is an appeal in the first three that is different because the simpler story oriented around Hogwarts. But later on, the epic battles and great moments/revelations are also amazing.

Major Spoilers:People mentioned Snape earlier. And by the end of the series Snape became my favorite character. In a way, the whole story is really about him and the sacrifices he made. He's like this dark undercurrent that moves behind the scenes throughout the series. I love the fact that he has this unending devotion to Dumbledore and goes undercover to help the Order even though he never even liked Harry at all. Snape even pushed it all the way to following Dumbledore's orders to kill him to save Malfoy's soul. Such a great character. I got really choked up when Harry named his son Albus Severus at the very end.

Goblet was good, and it was the last one I bought the first day it came out. The fifth one was the last I read. Goblet must have been the last one before people started to tire of HP.

I think for me it's Phoenix. That's where the series really transitions away from being for kids to being for a slightly older crowd. Azkaban is probably a close second though, love the mystery in that one.

As many others have said, Order of the Phoenix and Half-blood prince are probably the worst books of the bunch. It took me nearly a year to finish order of the phoenix as I would keep falling asleep reading it. Half-blood prince was better than Order, but still got away from what made the first 4 great. Apart from the ending, nothing really happens in Half-blood prince. Also, it had very little connection to Hogwarts. For me, the best parts of Harry Potter was the weird universe stuff. The mysteries of hogwarts and the magical world in general. The last 3 books get away from that.

But to answer the question, Prisoner of Azkaban is probably my favorite then Deathly Hallows. Prisoner of Azkaban had the weird universe building and introduces the best 2 characters in the series. Deathly hallows because its an incredibly fast-paced and worthwhile read. The best movie is probably either the Philosopher or Azkaban, because again world building. The 4th - deathly hallows part one are probably some of the most boring and confusing movies I've ever watched.

• Half-Blood Prince
• Deathly Hallows
• Goblet of Fire
• Prisoner of Azkaban
• Order of the Phoenix
• Chamber of Secrets
• Sorcerer's Stone

I go back and forth on Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows every time I read them, but it more often comes out that the 6th is my favorite. I love all the back story about Voldemort and of course the build-up to the ending was fantastic.

I think all of them are good, but her writing style got much better after the first two books, which is why they're down at the bottom.

Also Time Travel!!! That is all.

@jazzycola: I think you're selling 7-1 short, but deathly hallows part 2 has to be the best movie; they do the pensive scene so well that I cry every time I see it.

I also re-read the Harry Potter series about a year back. I finished the entire fucker in about 6 days. Then I turned them in to my local book store... for about 5 bucks (since they didn't give a shit about the first 5).

Honestly, I don't know what I like the most. What fascinates me more than the individual books is the phenomenon that is the Harry Potter series. I'm sure people will find it blasphemous if I'd compare HP to the LotR series (and extended universe), or Lewis Carrol's Lion/Witch/Wardrobe series (there's 7 books in that series, and most are way better than LWW, don't know why it got so much attention). However, I'm patiently waiting for when Harry Potter hits his 50th birthday, and we'll see how much he's influenced the generation and pop culture.

F-Yeah Goblet of Fire!

"F-Yeah Goblet of Fire!" is of course my SuperWhoLock fandom subscribing Tumblr blog.

They're all fantastic books, but I especially enjoy the last one. Why? It shows you how much of a badass Molly Weasley really is.

I agree, More Sirius makes Azkaban my favorite

@dudeglove: that's not the twist most people think of though? I mean most people thought snape wasn't as bad as harry thought at the end of book 6.

Half Blood Prince was my favorite.