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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) | 
| Author: J.k. Rowling
Creator: Jim Dale
Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)
Category: Book
List Price: $75.00
Buy New: $40.19
You Save: $34.81 (46%)
New (39) Used (21) from $37.20
Avg. Customer Rating:  3591 reviews
Sales Rank: 2877
Format: Unabridged
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 17
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 6.1 x 5.4 x 2.4
ISBN: 0307283658
EAN: 9780307283658
ASIN: 0307283658
Publication Date: July 16, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: This item is BRAND NEW and factory fresh (sealed if applicable). This item is NOT returned or refurbished. May have store or price stickers affixed.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The long-awaited, eagerly anticipated, arguably over-hyped Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has arrived, and the question on the minds of kids, adults, fans, and skeptics alike is, "Is it worth the hype?" The answer, luckily, is simple: yep. A magnificent spectacle more than worth the price of admission, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will blow you away. However, given that so much has gone into protecting the secrets of the book (including armored trucks and injunctions), don't expect any spoilers in this review. It's much more fun not knowing what's coming--and in the case of Rowling's delicious sixth book, you don't want to know. Just sit tight, despite the earth-shattering revelations that will have your head in your hands as you hope the words will rearrange themselves into a different story. But take one warning to heart: do not open Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince until you have first found a secluded spot, safe from curious eyes, where you can tuck in for a good long read. Because once you start, you won't stop until you reach the very last page. A darker book than any in the series thus far with a level of sophistication belying its genre, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince moves the series into murkier waters and marks the arrival of Rowling onto the adult literary scene. While she has long been praised for her cleverness and wit, the strength of Book 6 lies in her subtle development of key characters, as well as her carefully nuanced depiction of a community at war. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, no one and nothing is safe, including preconceived notions of good and evil and of right and wrong. With each book in her increasingly remarkable series, fans have nervously watched J.K. Rowling raise the stakes; gone are the simple delights of butterbeer and enchanted candy, and days when the worst ailment could be cured by a bite of chocolate. A series that began as a colorful lark full of magic and discovery has become a dark and deadly war zone. But this should not come as a shock to loyal readers. Rowling readied fans with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by killing off popular characters and engaging the young students in battle. Still, there is an unexpected bleakness from the start of Book 6 that casts a mean shadow over Quidditch games, silly flirtations, and mountains of homework. Ready or not, the tremendous ending of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will leave stunned fans wondering what great and terrible events await in Book 7 if this sinister darkness is meant to light the way. --Daphne Durham Visit the Harry Potter Store
 Our Harry Potter Store features all things Harry, including books (box sets and collector's editions), audio CDs and cassettes, DVDs, soundtracks, games, and more.
Begin at the Beginning
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Hardcover
Paperback | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Hardcover
Paperback | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Hardcover
Paperback | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Hardcover
Paperback | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Hardcover
Paperback |
Why We Love Harry
Favorite Moments from the Series
There are plenty of reasons to love Rowling's wildly popular series--no doubt you have several dozen of your own. Our list features favorite moments, characters, and artifacts from the first five books. Keep in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive (what we love about Harry could fill ten books!) and does not include any of the spectacular revelatory moments that would spoil the books for those (few) who have not read them. Enjoy. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
| | * Harry's first trip to the zoo with the Dursleys, when a boa constrictor winks at him.
* When the Dursleys' house is suddenly besieged by letters for Harry from Hogwarts. Readers learn how much the Dursleys have been keeping from Harry. Rowling does a wonderful job in displaying the lengths to which Uncle Vernon will go to deny that magic exists.
* Harry's first visit to Diagon Alley with Hagrid. Full of curiosities and rich with magic and marvel, Harry's first trip includes a trip to Gringotts and Ollivanders, where Harry gets his wand (holly and phoenix feather) and discovers yet another connection to He-Who-Must-No-Be-Named. This moment is the reader's first full introduction to Rowling's world of witchcraft and wizards.
* Harry's experience with the Sorting Hat. | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
| | * The de-gnoming of the Weasleys' garden. Harry discovers that even wizards have chores--gnomes must be grabbed (ignoring angry protests "Gerroff me! Gerroff me!"), swung about (to make them too dizzy to come back), and tossed out of the garden--this delightful scene highlights Rowling's clever and witty genius.
* Harry's first experience with a Howler, sent to Ron by his mother.
* The Dueling Club battle between Harry and Malfoy. Gilderoy Lockhart starts the Dueling Club to help students practice spells on each other, but he is not prepared for the intensity of the animosity between Harry and Draco. Since they are still young, their minibattle is innocent enough, including tickling and dancing charms. | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
| | * Ron's attempt to use a telephone to call Harry at the Dursleys'.
* Harry's first encounter with a Dementor on the train (and just about any other encounter with Dementors). Harry's brush with the Dementors is terrifying and prepares Potter fans for a darker, scarier book.
* Harry, Ron, and Hermione's behavior in Professor Trelawney's Divination class. Some of the best moments in Rowling's books occur when she reminds us that the wizards-in-training at Hogwarts are, after all, just children. Clearly, even at a school of witchcraft and wizardry, classes can be boring and seem pointless to children.
* The Boggart lesson in Professor Lupin's classroom.
* Harry, Ron, and Hermione's knock-down confrontation with Snape. | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
| | * Hermione's disgust at the reception for the veela (Bulgarian National Team Mascots) at the Quidditch World Cup. Rowling's fourth book addresses issues about growing up--the dynamic between the boys and girls at Hogwarts starts to change. Nowhere is this more plain than the hilarious scene in which magical cheerleaders nearly convince Harry and Ron to jump from the stands to impress them.
* Viktor Krum's crush on Hermione--and Ron's objection to it.
* Malfoy's "Potter Stinks" badge.
* Hermione's creation of S.P.E.W., the intolerant bigotry of the Death Eaters, and the danger of the Triwizard Tournament. Add in the changing dynamics between girls and boys at Hogwarts, and suddenly Rowling's fourth book has a weight and seriousness not as present in early books in the series. Candy and tickle spells are left behind as the students tackle darker, more serious issues and take on larger responsibilities, including the knowledge of illegal curses. | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
| * Harry's outburst to his friends at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. A combination of frustration over being kept in the dark and fear that he will be expelled fuels much of Harry's anger, and it all comes out at once, directly aimed at Ron and Hermione. Rowling perfectly portrays Harry's frustration at being too old to shirk responsibility, but too young to be accepted as part of the fight that he knows is coming.
* Harry's detention with Professor Umbridge. Rowling shows her darker side, leading readers to believe that Hogwarts is no longer a safe haven for young wizards. Dolores represents a bureaucratic tyrant capable of real evil, and Harry is forced to endure their private battle of wills alone.
* Harry and Cho's painfully awkward interactions. Rowling clearly remembers what it was like to be a teenager.
* Harry's Occlumency lessons with Snape.
* Dumbledore's confession to Harry. | Magic, Mystery, and Mayhem: A Conversation with J.K. Rowling
 "I am an extraordinarily lucky person, doing what I love best in the world. I'm sure that I will always be a writer. It was wonderful enough just to be published. The greatest reward is the enthusiasm of the readers." --J.K. Rowling Find out more about Harry's creator in our exclusive interview with J.K. Rowling.
Did You Know?  | The Little White Horse was J.K. Rowling's favorite book as a child. |  | Jane Austen is Rowling's favorite author. |  | Roddy Doyle is Rowling's favorite living writer. | A Few Words from Mary GrandPre
 "When I illustrate a cover or a book, I draw upon what the author tells me; that's how I see my responsibility as an illustrator. J.K. Rowling is very descriptive in her writing--she gives an illustrator a lot to work with. Each story is packed full of rich visual descriptions of the atmosphere, the mood, the setting, and all the different creatures and people. She makes it easy for me. The images just develop as I sketch and retrace until it feels right and matches her vision." Check out more Harry Potter art from illustrator Mary GrandPre.
Product Description
The war against Voldemort is not going well: even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of The Daily Prophet looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.
And yet...
As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate--and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.
So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort--and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3586 more reviews...
 A revealing look into the past... July 16, 2008
In the Sixth installment of JK Rowlings Harry Potter series, "The Half-blood Prince", she continues the thrill ride. As yet another year passes for Harry Potter, of all the changes that have come to him, the trials, difficulties, and changes, this year will bring some of the most ardent yet.
Pro. Dumbledore begins to teach Harry himself, but these private lessons held in the Master's Office are not the lessons that he is use to. The two takes a 'stroll down memory lane' as it were, reviewing key memories that Dumbledore has managed to collect concerning Voldemort's past and his rise to power. Together they learn the secret to Voldemort's seeming indestructibility, and devise plans to end the Dark Lord, once and for all.
This is the most compelling of the Harry Potter series yet, the heat begins to get cranked a little higher, and the pressure goes up on Harry and his friends. The mystery of the "Half-Blood Prince" keeps you guessing right up until the end.
****WARNING, THE REST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!!****
It was hard reading the end of this book, for somehow I had managed to avoid hearing details of those last few chapters before reading them. Reading that ending, was one of the hardest things I've read I think. Rowlings really makes you feel you know these characters, not just Harry and his close friends, but Dumbledore and the other major characters as well. Standing on the top of that tower, watching helplessly along side Harry as he watches the murder of his mentor, hero, and friend, is nearly heartbreaking.
I highly recommend this story for anyone who is a Harry Potter fan, or just a general fantasy fan(though I suggest reading the first 5 first if you haven't).
RD Williams, author of "The Lost Gate"
 Harry Potter, need I say more? July 7, 2008
More of a mystery than some of the others, as entertaining as the rest. A must read for anyone who wants to know the whole story (movies are great fun, but the books are the backbone of the tale).
Beyond the Order of the Phoenix Aftertaste June 30, 2008
This is so far in my opinion the best Harry Potter book, together with the number 3, after the rumbles that the fifth one was, it was really refreshing to see a Harry more focused and centered, the history goes with no annoying moments, and it was one of the quickest to read so far.
OK, more in detail then:
The conflicts between the characters remain, which is great, the bad characters begin to give light that there is something else in them besides the urge to be opposite of being good, an common error in children's books these days, the duality good vs evil, in this book, you see persons with no choice having to do wrong, despite their wishes, a knowledge much harder to grasp for 11-years old, a book for the fans that kept growing.
I haven't read the 7 yet, and am going to keep it at bay for some time, but must say that the ending is really forcing me to find out how the seventh one starts.
Bottom Line:
Great Book, between the 2 best of the Series, great history, great ending, prepare for something shocking, Harry much more mature, Just the title, that has some connection to the book, but to me felt more like the name of a Chapter of instead the name of the book, but go wonder. In the end it certainly made more sense, but still, not enough.
Enjoy a great read.
Another Great Book in the Series June 25, 2008
Nothing I can say more that hasn't been said alrady. Highly recommend. A must read in the series.
Snape steps into the spotlight. June 19, 2008
Finally, a book devoted to everyone's favorite bad guy.
Severus does not disappoint in this book.
Another knock out punch from J.K., The Half Blood Prince, has everything we've come to love about the Potter books.
An amazing story, action, and drama to the extreme, "Prince" doesn't let go until the last page.
Yet another brilliant page turner from Rowling and one of the finest in the series.
Highly recommended.
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