Harry Potter and the Deus ex Machina

Yeah, yeah, yeah... Harry Potter's been out and complete for years and everyone and his brother has already reviewed it, I know. Still, I spent a lot of time reading these books to my wife, so I've earned the right to give my two cents. In a word: disappointed. Granted, nothing could possibly live up to the hype surrounding the Potter series, but I was hoping for something that at least resembled good, creative fiction. Not even close. Everything was a cliche or a plot device. I would say that I saw the ending coming, but JK likes to cheat her readers by changing the rules, witholding key information, or (her favorite) introducing some previously-unheard-of means of bringing about the desired result. I will give JK credit for creating a world with a rich history - her detailed understanding of the world in her head reminded me of the best of Frank Hurbert and JRR Tolkein. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the talent to share that world like these legends did. What surprises me the most, though, is the critical acclaim JK garnered for her work. I can understand how the vast majority of people didn't know that this was hackneyed. After all, unless you read a lot (and let's face it, the average American is not much of a reader) you don't know that all of this has already been done before. But critics should know better. And that, for me, was the biggest disappointment of all: the underserved critical praise. The books are tired, clumsy, bloated, and boring. There is no character development and JK fails to deliver on the implied promises of the plots she develops (or, more accurately, failed to develop). Overall, reading these books was a waste of my time.