HP7

Again; I'm not going to review it in full, but I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this weekend, and am moving on to Deadhouse Gates; the follow-up to Erikson's Gardens of the Moon which I only reluctantly finished, and which only the last third or so redeemed from being a turgid, disorganized mess. That said, even fans of the series say that Gardens is a difficult read, while Gates is supposed to be excellent. So, I guess this will be the author's second chance to try and impress me.

As to the Harry Potter finale, I liked it better than I remembered. I had felt earlier that the series ended on kinda a flat note; I think now that rather than that, it just didn't show a few things that I really would have liked to see. Rowling also does a few acrobatics with "magic as a deus ex machina plot device", but she kinda sorta makes it work. I do, however, find myself feeling better about the series as a whole, after being disappointed earlier. The ending is growing on me.

Another quick formatting note; I removed the Gentlemen of the Road image from the "what I'm listening to" thingy on the side there. I started listening to it, and my batteries died. Normally that wouldn't be a problem (I have rechargeable ones that I can sub in at any time) but I actually can't hear the audiobook very well. The earbuds just aren't that loud, and they don't filter out ambient noise at all. Until such point as I can get some good old-fashioned earphones, I'll have to put that concept on hold.