★★★★★ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Full-Cast Audiobook), by JK Rowling
** spoiler alert ** Half the volume, twice the intensity
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Full-Cast Audiobook)
JK Rowling
** spoiler alert **
Half the volume, twice the intensity
So, we have finally reached the end. All the flying balls need to be kept flying until almost the very end, then caught and put away neatly in their boxes. It's a trick that J.K. Rowling is very good at. We enter Deathly Hallows with battle fairly joined between the Death-Eaters (the Bad Guys) and Harry's supporters (the Good Guys). Harry and friends have one job laid out for them: find and destroy all of Voldemort's horcruxes.
In my memory, Deathly Hallows was the book of the horcruxes. However, on listening to this new Full-Cast audiobook I realized that Rowling here puts into the air and juggles two other sets of balls: the Deathly Hallows and Voldemort and Harry's wands. In fact, I had the impression that Rowling got tired of horcruxes before the end. Near the end two (Hufflepuff's cup and the diadem of Ravenclaw) are dealt with in a perfunctory way.
The other thing that surprised me a little was how much larger a part Voldemort plays in Deathly Hallows than any of the preceding books. It's an easy thing to miss, because Voldemort is of course central to the story from the beginning. However, in the previous books he himself was not a major presence. In this one he is. Matthew MacFadyen, who voices him, has far more lines than he did in any previous book.
And he is absolutely chilling. In the video about the making of these audiobooks MacFadyen's director mentions a saying in audio: "Half the volume, twice the intensity." MacFadyen as Voldemort is quietly intense. (In this he contrasts with Harry's voice, Jaxon Knopf, who is often distractingly shouty.)
I have now experienced the Harry Potter series in four forms: the written word, the films, the Jim Dale audio books, and these new full-cast audiobooks. (I have not yet listened to the Stephen Fry audiobooks. Maybe someday.) I'm not going to tell you which is best -- they're all good. I'm glad these full-cast audio productions exist.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Full-Cast Edition) on Amazon
Great review! 💯
And as someone who’s read all of the books except for this one (though I did see the movies of this one) it’s interesting to learn how many more lines than usual Voldemort has in this book. ⚖️
Definitely something I’ll notice if I ever get around to either reading it or listening to it in an audiobook!
Thank you for sharing this review with us! 🙏