★★★★★ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Full-Cast Audiobook), by JK Rowling

** spoiler alert ** The shape of things to come

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Full-Cast Audiobook)

JK Rowling

** spoiler alert **

The shape of things to come

Of the seven Harry Potter novels, Chamber of Secrets is my favorite. I remember my surprise the first time I read the series at the change of tone from Philosopher's Stone to Chamber of Secrets. Philosopher's Stone was funny -- in fact, on this re-listen after many years, I was surprised anew at how funny it was. The first time I read it Chamber of Secrets surprised me by its darkness, especially the final major scene, in the titular Chamber of Secrets.

What I now realize, listening after many years to this full-cast audiobook version, is that many of the most critical props and characters for the rest of the series appear for the first time here, in Chamber of Secrets. It is here that we meet Tom Riddle for the first time. I wonder if, when she wrote Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling knew who Voldemort really was. Probably -- she is a meticulous plotter. By the time she wrote Chamber of Secrets, there is no doubt she knew Voldemort well. Here we learn that Harry can talk to snakes. Here we meet Moaning Myrtle. It is here that we encounter our first horcrux, although that word will not enter the series for several novels. The Sword of Gryffindor first enters the story here. And there are smaller things, too. it is in Chamber of Secrets that we first learn of polyjuice potion.

Unusually, we catch Hermione in some serious errors here, a thing that almost never happens later. She appears at first to be completely taken in by Gilderoy Lockhart. And she also messes up her polyjuice potion, turning herself into a catgirl instead of Millicent Bulstrode.

Although it is overall much grimmer than Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets does have its funny parts. These are concentrated mostly in Mr Stolen Valor himself -- the odious Gilderoy Lockhart -- voiced with enthusiasm and apparent delight in the full-cast edition by Jon Snow Kit Harington. Lockhart vanishes from the series here, except for a brief cameo in a later novel.

The grim tone of Chamber of Secrets is also a harbinger. From here on the novels become more and more grim. They also soon become heavier, literally. Novel 3 Prisoner of Azkaban is still of a reasonable length for a Young Adult novel, but novel 4, Goblet of Fire, is massive, as are most of them from that point.

I complained in my review of Philosopher's Stone that the sound effects were overdone, to the point of distracting from the story. Whether the producers dialed that back a bit or I have just become more used to them, I did not find them so obtrusive in Chamber of Secrets. There were long stretches when the narrative was unburdened by sound effects no one needed.

Putting it all together: the best of the Harry Potter novels, in full-cast with a great performance by Kit Harington -- this was a delight.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Full-Cast Audiobook) on Amazon

Goodreads review