Product Description

The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and there are spells to be learnt and (unluckily) Potions and Divination lessons to be attended. But Harry can't know that the atmosphere is darkening around him, and his worst enemy is preparing a fate that it seems will be inescapable ...With characteristic wit, fast-paced humour and marvellous emotional depth, J.K. Rowling has proved herself yet again to be a master story-teller.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14887 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07-08
• Released on: 2000-07-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 640 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire CD Set, Part 1 tells the first half of Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in nine CDs. Part 2, also containing nine CDs, tells the second half, or you can get the complete story on 18 CDs.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the long-awaited, heavily hyped fourth instalment of a phenomenally successful series that has captured the imagination of millions of readers, young and old, across the globe. For J K Rowling the pressure is certainly on to continue to come up with thrilling, pacey storylines that allow her hero to mature into a young man without detracting from the magical secret that has made Harry into a superstar. In this book, the teenage Harry has a certain gawky charm that fits well with his advancing adolescence. As the story moves on, Harry too moves on to a new level of maturity that leaves the reader wondering how he will learn from his experiences, and liking him all the more as a character.

Once returned to Hogwarts after his summer holiday with the dreadful Dursleys and an extraordinary outing to the Quidditch World Cup, the 14-year-old Harry and his fellow pupils are enraptured by the promise of the Triwizard Tournament: an ancient, ritualistic tournament that brings Hogwarts together with two other schools of wizardry--Durmstrang and Beauxbatons--in heated competition. But when Harry's name is pulled from the Goblet of Fire, and he is chosen to champion Hogwarts in the tournament, the trouble really begins. Still reeling from the effects of a terrifying nightmare that has left him shaken, and with the lightning-shaped scar on his head throbbing with pain (a sure sign that the evil Voldemort, Harry's sworn enemy, is close), Harry becomes at once the most popular boy in school. Yet, despite his fame, he is totally unprepared for the furore that follows.

This is a hefty volume: 636 pages, of which probably at least 200 could have been cut without detracting from the story. The weight and complexity of the book is perhaps a hint that Rowling now has her eye sharply focused on her adult audience, and the average child-reader (particularly one who is coming to Harry Potter for the first time) may well find its girth daunting. Rowling's ironic and pointed observations on tabloid journalism and the nature of media hype is just one of the references littered through the book that will tickle the grown-ups but may well fly over the heads of her young fans.

However, after a slow start, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire really starts to sparkle halfway through with Rowling's familiar magic (and yes, there is a death--sudden and tragic--and yes, Harry does start to notice girls). The crux of this story, however, is Harry's gradual coming-of-age and his handling of the increasingly determined threats to his own life.

This book is pivotal, not just for the author for whom the heat is well and truly on, but for Harry and his readers who, by the last chapter, are left in little doubt that there is much more to come. (Ages 10 to adult) --Susan Harrison

From the Publisher
comments of the Harry Potter Cassettes and CDs
This release is complete and unabridged with not a word added nor a word taken out.

As with

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

this long-awaited fourth instalment of the Harry Potter adventures is available on both cassette and CD with Stephen Fry as the narrator.

A review from The Times said that "Stephen Fry is your Potter-perfect narrator" and The Guardian considers that "Fry's reading is sublime".

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone made history when it was broadcast in its entirety on Boxing Day 2000 on Radio 4.

About the Author
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was J.K. Rowling's first novel, and published in 1997. This was followed by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 1998, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 1999, all of which have won the Smarites Gold Award category. This triple win, three years running, is unprecedented. JK Rowling plans to write seven novels in all featuring Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling is also the winner of the 1998 Bookseller's Author of the Year Award, the first time a children's author has ever won this award, for which she is also short-listed for 1999. In 1999 she was also nominated as one of only 17 British people out of a total listing of 100 by an American survey as having the 'It' Factor. This year she won the coveted.1999 British Book Awards Author of the Year Award. Her books are multi-award winning and dominate the best-seller lists. Sales of the Harry Potter books in the Uk alone total over five million copies. Film rights have now been optioned by Warner for the first two Harry Potter books.

Customer Reviews

a must for long car journeys
We took this on holiday with us. We travelled from Aberdeen to Norfolk with hardly any complaints from either children or adults. Stephen fry kept us all rapt by his superb story telling. It is wonderful hearing the voices he has for all the different characters. We now have all four of these books on audio and they have been worth every penny.

A change from the previous three
When I saw how long this book was compared to the previous three I was a bit doubtful. How could JK Rowling possibly fill all those pages with one school year at Hogwarts? But she did. We're thrown into Harry's life in the middle of the summer holidays when he goes to stay with the Weasleys to go to the Quidditch World Cup and then we're in for an extremely eventful year at Hogwarts.

It seemed to me (before reading the book) that this fourth one in the series is more "adult" than the previous ones. I based that opinion purely on the length of the book. Having read it I feel that this has been confirmed. Harry, Ron and Hermione are growing up. They're no longer kids, but proper teenagers, which might be why I enjoyed this book more than the previous ones. I don't think this will affect children's enjoyment of this book though as the main ingredients (learning magic, coping with school and schoolfriends, and the dark powers that seem to follow Harry wherever he goes) are still present.

I also enjoyed the fact that we're getting to know the other Weasleys better as they're gradually taking on more importance as Harry's substitute family. Getting closer acquainted with Dobby, the house-elf is thoroughly enjoyable since he adds a lot of the comedy value to this story.

I think it's important to read these books in the right order as there are a lot of references to Harry's past. If you have not enjoyed the first three as much as you thought you would I'd still stick with it as this book really does mark a bit of a change from children's book to book for all ages.

Harry returns in a story much darker than its predecessors
Having been told many times of J K Rowling's fourth installment of the Harry Potter series being considerably darker than the first three, I was simultaneously skeptical as to whether or not the effect would be successful, and at the same time eager to experience the change in her storytelling technique. I wasn't disappointed. Yes, it's a long book, and although that seems to put some people off, let me assure you that the effect has the author drawing the reader in to an enchanting and many-layered plot like never before. The level of detail is far more enhanced than the previous books containing Harry's adventures: The author seems aware that the original Harry Potter fans have now matured along with the young wizard, and are now capable not only of understanding the changes Harry is experiencing, but also able to take on board a more complex storyline than is usual within the set of books.

The first hundred or so pages see Harry suffering at the hands of his wretched relatives - the Dursleys - before finally being released for long enough to enjoy the exciting atmosphere of the Quidditch World Cup. Upon returning to Hogwarts, Harry and his fellow witched and wizards learn of a once-annual tradition known as the Triwizard Tournament. It is at this point that J K Rowling unleashes information about magic schools in other countries: Durmstrang and Beaxbatons are the names of the other two schools that compete against Hogwarts for the Triwizard Cup. Times are stressful for Harry during the competition, and it is then that we glimpse changes in his personality and angry outbursts caused by his awkward adolescant phase.

There are, of course, plenty of new characters introduced to the reader: The new Defence Agsinst the Dark Arts teacher - the eccentric and - some believe - dangerous 'Mad-Eye' Moody. We also come across some familiar faces, such as the amusing house-elf Dobby, formerly seen in book two - The Chamber of Secrets. Not only this, but surprising facts are uncovered about characters such as Neville Longbottom, and sinister pasts of thoses working for the Ministry of Magic. There is plenty of excitement within the Goblet of Fire, and suspense during difficulties Harry must overcome during tests of friendship between himself, Ron and Hermione. There are lots of surprises in store, plenty of twists and several weepy moments. It is my personal favourite in the series, and I urge you to give it a read.