Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The final book in the Harry Potter series was the best of all. Mystery, magic, twists and turns - they were all there but with much more intensity. By the time I got my pre-ordered copy this morning at Strand Book stall, I had already finished reading the complete book. (There were people of all age buying their copies there, and some girls were sitting on the steps that greet you on entering the book house and were trying to start with the book there. I could chuckle and boast to the friend who accompanied me that I knew how it all ends). Saturday seemed far far away when copies were floating around on the Internet several days back and it seemed unfair to keep waiting until the pre-ordered book shipped, to find out what happened next! The book took away an evening's work and a night's sleep as I had no time otherwise to read it. But this one was quite worth it as J K Rowling recreates in it the magical world that she's made us familiar, narrates it in a simple way, streams your imagination and keeps you guessing all the way through to the end of the book. The story is well crafted and well thought of. The plot keeps thickening and it races your mind through right to the end of the story. A gripping read as ever. As for the story, there were some surprises, there were some predictable twists. But on the whole the story (I must say yet again) seemed very well crafted. Spoilers below Snape comes out clean at the end of the story and most of those who've read the previous book several times wouldn't say they did not expect it. What surprised me the most though was the last Chapter ("Nineteen years Later") which somehow did not seem to put a *real* end to the story, but sounded like a clear hint to (possible) future stories on either Harry Potter or his family (or descendants). The Elder Wand is supposed to be placed back in its place, and that is a potential candidate for another thread for new stories and so are many others. If the series of books really ended, the story would've closed without bothering about the details like names of the Harry Potter's kids(!). Why should it really end with "The scar hadn't pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well"? Probably all won't be well soon and there would be more adventures after these nineteen years in which probably even his kids would take part or only just them. But whatever is going to happen - whether new books are coming out or not from her pen, I'm going to hope that I won't fall into the addiction again as J K Rowling has this fabulous, incredible craftsmanship that keeps you stuck with the novel once you start reading it. That talent of hers is truly magical. Footnotes (kind of): * (It is sad that bookshops in India aren't selling the ones with the black cover page picturing the locket) * Also read: J.K. Rowling - Life without Harry * This one propped up on Google News and was particularly funny: [:http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/5568]