Product Description

Dumbledore lowered his hands and surveyed Harry through his half-moon glasses. 'It is time,' he said, 'for me to tell you what I should have told you five years ago, Harry. Please sit down. I am going to tell you everything.' Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry. He is desperate to get back to school and find out why his friends Ron and Hermione have been so secretive all summer. However, what Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his whole world upside down...But before he even gets to school, Harry has an unexpected and frightening encounter with two Dementors, has to face a court hearing at the Ministry of Magic and has been escorted on a night-time broomstick ride to the secret headquarters of a mysterious group called 'The Order of the Phoenix'. And that is just the start. A gripping and electrifying novel, full of suspense, secrets, and - of course - magic.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #622 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 768 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
As his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry approaches in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 15-year-old Harry Potter is in full-blown adolescence, complete with regular outbursts of rage, a nearly debilitating crush, and the blooming of a powerful sense of rebellion. It's been yet another infuriating and boring summer with the despicable Dursleys, this time with minimal contact from our hero's non-Muggle friends from school. Harry is feeling especially edgy at the lack of news from the magic world, wondering when the freshly revived evil Lord Voldemort will strike. Returning to Hogwarts will be a relief… or will it?

Book five in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series follows the darkest year yet for our young wizard, who finds himself knocked down a peg or three after the events of last year. Over the summer, gossip (usually traced back to the magic world's newspaper, the Daily Prophet) has turned Harry's tragic and heroic encounter with Voldemort at the Triwizard Tournament into an excuse to ridicule and discount the teenager. Even Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of the school, has come under scrutiny from the Ministry of Magic, which refuses to officially acknowledge the terrifying truth: that Voldemort is back. Enter a particularly loathsome new character: the toad-like and simpering ("hem, hem") Dolores Umbridge, senior undersecretary to the minister of Magic, who takes over the vacant position of defence against dark arts teacher--and in no time manages to become the high inquisitor of Hogwarts. Life isn't getting any easier for Harry Potter. With an overwhelming course load as the fifth years prepare for their examinations, devastating changes in the Gryffindor Quidditch team line-up, vivid dreams about long hallways and closed doors, and increasing pain in his lightning-shaped scar, Harry's resilience is sorely tested.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, more than any of the four previous novels in the series, is a coming-of-age story. Harry faces the thorny transition into adulthood, when adult heroes are revealed to be fallible, and matters that seemed black and white suddenly come out in shades of gray. Gone is the wide-eyed innocent, the whiz kid of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Here we have an adolescent who's sometimes sullen, often confused (especially about girls), and always self-questioning. Confronting death again, as well as a startling prophecy, Harry ends his year at Hogwarts exhausted and pensive. Readers, on the other hand, will be energised as they enter yet again the long waiting period for the next title in the marvellous magical series. --Emilie Coulter

Review
'I can honestly say I can't remember the last time I encountered an author who has had this effect on me. For the first time in years the book lives up to the hype perfection' Daily Express 'The most remarkable publishing sensation for a generation the story is told with such momentum, imagination and irrepressible humour that it can captivate both adults and children' Sunday Express 'Rowling deserves all the plaudits that are being heaped upon her. For once, the word phenomenon is an understatement' Scotland on Sunday 'Extraordinarily vivid and exceptionally well-imagined' Independent on Sunday

Book Information
The adult edition features different cover artwork, but has the same text as the children's edition.

Customer Reviews

A dark masterpiece...
I came late - and reluctantly - to Harry Potter, despite buying the first 4 books as a boxed set for my son. Only after observing him reading them and then re-reading them did I give in to the urge to find out what all the fuss was about. I read the first (wafer thin) book and, to be truthful, still wondered what all the fuss was about. Yes, it was amusing (a devil dog called 'fluffy'? I ask you!) but the laughter was not enough to explain what everyone was raving about. I almost gave up but curiosity kept me going. The fuss must be about something - right? By the end of book two I was hooked. What I have seen in these books is an evolution. Harry as a green, untested, frankly (with the exception of events as a baby), uninteresting individual. Then as the book ended and the story moved into book two, Harry started growing up and developing meaningful relationships. As he grows and matures, the trials he faces become harder and more sinister. The books developed to reflect this growth, from wafer thin to tome-esque, from lightweight to, frankly, dark.

I enjoyed this latest offering immensely, I think because the prose seems to straddle an undefined boundary between children/adult prose incredibly well. This time the writing was dark from the outset, picking up from where Harry Potter 4 finished, with the resurrection of the Dark Lord (he who should not be named). There were many touching moments, particularly when observing Mrs Weasley's maternal nurturing of Harry (who has never ever been nurtured by the horrible muggles he lives with). And I thought it was sweet that despite the fact that Harry has faced more trials than many an accredited wizard, when it came to love and romance, he was as unschooled and naive as the rest of us.

I have given this book the full 5 stars because I enjoyed this one more than the others. That is not to say Harry Potters 3 and 4 were not excellent - they were, but in different ways. Now JK, please hurry up and publish number 6!

A step away in style, but not in quality.
Lets get one thing out in the open before I start. I am not the normal Harry Potter reading demographic. I am 25 and an accountant. There, that's out of the way.

I have been an avid HP fan ever since I read the books back in 1999 and have eagerly awaited every new book since then. After what was one of the best books I have ever read came out (in The Goblet of Fire) I did wonder where JK Rowling was going to take the 5th book. In my mind she had exhausted the one book scenario of the others, and had to create a meaningful thread toward the ultimate ending in book 7. This in my mind is why this book wasn't as well received as the other 4.

As a reader though, you must look deeper than this, this book is a more obvious opening chapter or component part of a book than any of the other 4 but it is still an excellent novel in its own right. I have always found JK Rowling to sometimes be a little too simplistic in her definition of good vs. evil but in Phoenix she really nails it, Sirius has always been a bit bad as well as good, but could Harry's dad be somewhat less than perfect? And what of the abhorrent Professor Umbridge, is she just pure evil, or does she really believe what she is doing is correct?

Well these questions and more I will leave you to answer, suffice to say this is a long book but every one of its chapters has moments and sub-stories that make the book run like an out of control express train, only to be skilfully guided to safety at exactly the right times.

A stunning book, from an excellent author.

How much better can it get?
I am constantly amazed by the depth and strength of J.K.Rowlings writing. Even in the first book of the series `Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone`, when the writing was simpler and more geared to Harry`s then age-group, there were complexities visible to older readers. As the characters have aged so has the style and content changed and, as Rowling herself says, become darker. No longer does every book end on a more or less happy note. The violence, torture and death of an adult world are beginning to impinge on Hogwarts and to increasingly affect Harry and his friends. On an emotional level too the characters are changing although there is always the typical J.K.Rowling wit and humour! She has the gift of a quality writer for creating a vivid picture with the perfect choice of just one or two words. Obviously she`s not infallible but any mistakes she makes tend to relate to small oversights in the plot or background which in the context of the whole really don`t seem to matter.
`Order of the Phoenix` is, for me, the best book yet in every sense of the word. The others were each valuable in their own way and this one is simply the result of a natural progression - it needs the others for the development of plot and style - but Rowling is now really showing the power of her writing. Without going into detail for those who have not yet caught up with the series I can still say that there are scenes in `Goblet of Fire`and Òrder of the Phoenix` which contain so much tension and action that it could be difficult to maintain but she never lets your attention flag.
The recording of the books is done with as little disruption to the story flow as possible. The crucial thing, though , with the recorded version has to be Stephen Fry. He is absolutely brilliant! I can`t imagine anyone replacing him and I hope he`s already signed up for the rest of the series. His interpretation of the different characters is amazing. One word of warning though - once you`ve listened to him reading the books you`ll never be able to read them yourself without hearing him. The power of his interpretation just makes you appreciate Rowling`s writing more. A perfect match! Once The Half-Blood Prince`has been published the next thing I shall look forward to is Stephen Fry`s recording of it.