…from a fifteen-year-old in Houston.
Rowling’s ability to spin complex plots and lay careful clues, to keep readers guessing and elicit “Ohh!” sounds at all the right moments, is the envy of many mystery writers. While this talent has not failed her in Half-Blood Prince, it seems to be on the blink. Trails are set, to simply die out. Answers spring from nowhere. There are questions where there should be answers, answers where there should be questions, and awkward edits where there might once have been clues.
There’s more, equally interesting. I wish some people who reviewed my stuff were as clear. (Or — ahem — as familiar with the material. You wouldn’t believe some of the howlers I’ve seen in descriptions of merely factual material: you’d think the reviewer had read the alternate-universe version of a given book.)
…And no, I can’t tell you what I thought of HP6, because I haven’t read it, and won’t be doing so. A brief version of the reasons is in here, for those of you not already familiar with them.
(Thanks for the link, Jerry!)
