Customer Reviews
THE BEST OF THE SERIES - By: Easily Me, 14 Aug 2008 
As with the film, the best of the series. An engaging tale from beginning to end.
Rowling exceeds expectations again. - By: Mr. D. A. F. Weaver, 17 Jun 2008 
The third installment of the Harry Potter series sees magic, mystery & adventure return to Hogwarts & the lives of the interesting characters consideredin this novel. Gently, Rowling develops the plot to a level more complex & appropriate for readers of all ages. This is a book to read again & again.
In my opinion the best in the series - By: L. K. Taylor, 19 May 2008 Brief Plot Overview:
Times are dark as famous mass murderer, Sirius Black, is on the loose. This notorious muggle killer is not only barking mad, but he was He-who-must-not-be-nameds' most loyal follower (or so we're lead to believe) & is seeking revenge for the fall of his master,in the form of murdering our hero, Harry Potter.
Review:
This book is probably one of the best children's books I have ever read, not only does it bring together the plot so farin the exciting & dramatic way we've come to expect from Rowling, but it does soin an informative way & allows the reader to gain insight into the future instalments to come, which only engorges the thirst for more from this talented writer.
Rowlings' style is well balanced & these books reek of careful planning from the start, there are no inconsistenciesin story (and trust me I've tried to find them by re-reading) & everything works together like a well-oiled machine.
The Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite out of the seven because it adds a human touch instead of a whizz-bang finale, by that I mean there is little magic involvedin deciding the outcome of the book & it is based around argument, conversation, good old fashioned sneaking about & human decisions rather than an all out brawl with spells & incantations.
Followers of the series will not be disappointed with the third instalment & (for those few who haven't swallowed the hype) are definitely recommended to fantasy readers who also enjoy a bit of good-old-English reality. The fact that the base-audience is children but adults all over the world read these books shows their versatility & ability to appeal to a wide range of audiences.
I am not the first to say this & I definitely won't be the last, but Kudos to J.K.Rowling!
I'd rather be a prisoner in Azkhaban than read another Potter book - By: Mutantbrain, 03 Apr 2008 
Having watched the films & enjoyed them, I spoke to my fiancée with regards to reading the books. She has read them all & suffers from what can only be described as 'pottermania'. Knowing me as well as she does, she recommended that if I was to get into the storyin the book, I would be better reading "prisoner" to start with as it was probably the best written of the early books.
Armed with a lazy saturday afternoon & the phone off the hook, I sat back & read what JKR had to offer. I hasten to add, I am an avid SF/Fantasy reader & own several hundred books of the ilk, so I felt that I could seriously give it a go & get myself immersedin potterdom.
Ok, on to the book.
That evening, I finished what can possibly be described as the worst waste of timein my life. Now, I understand that the story is for kids, I'm not knocking that fact & the way that JKR writes, it is as if a kid had written it. I found I couldn't get to grips with her storytelling style. The language used was basic & how adults could be drawn into such a world, defies belief. It just goes to show that even if you aren't a good writer, you could still become a millionaire on the back of media promotion & the hype that surrounds a new book.
If I were you, I would stick to the films, they at least are enjoyable to watch, contain the interesting bits of the books & thankfully are only 2 hours out of your life wasted!
A good read - By: vic, 15 Mar 2008 I got to say I enjoyed the film more than the book but you should still read them all.
