The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennon

I bought this completely on impulse when I saw it marked down to £2 in Asda a couple of weeks ago, purely because of the price and that I'd seen a couple of positive write-ups on lj. Oh I am so glad I did because it is WONDERFUL.

It occurred to me about half-way through that she is/was maya who wrote Underwater Light. I could be completely wrong about that, though. I know this is next door to heresy, and I'll never write anything nearly as good, but I was never a fan of UL. Demon's Lexicon is a hundred million times better.

( To begin with, )

Half-Blood Prince

I'd agreed that it would be nice for P and D and I to see this as a family as part of our holiday, so I saw this in Scarborough, last Friday. It was a completely surreal experience, due not to the film, but the setting. It was like I'd gone back in time thirty years (apart from the price)to the days before multiplex cinemas, comfy seats with cup-holders, air conditioning etc. The cinema seems also to double as a theatre, with stalls and circle seating. When we got there, although it was some time until the published show time, a lot of adverts were playing, there was even the Pearl and Dean logo and music!, and then the lights came back up and an usherette appeared at the front selling ice-cream from a tray around her neck! And half-way through the film, just after the bit with Remus at the Burrow, there was an interval, with the usherette again!

Now that we're home, I'm probably going to go and see it again, in a modern setting, this afternoon. I'm a bit unsure because I've only ever been to the cinema by myself once before,when I saw OoTP, and that was during term-time. I shall be a bit self-conscious on my own in a sea of teenagers.

Anyway - the film. There was a lot that was missed out, inevitably, and quite a lot put in that I wasn't so keen on, and I felt it dragged rather, but then all the action was squashed into about five minutes at the end. On the whole, though, I enjoyed it.( On the whole, though, I enjoyed it. )

If I do go and see it again I shall probably change my mind about everything.

ETA: I've just got back from seeing it again and I feel that maybe I was a bit harsh about DR's acting. There are a couple of false notes in the early scenes (did they shoot them first?) but mostly he is pretty good, particularly when he was getting Slughorn to give him the true memory down in Hagrid's Hut.

Also, Alan Rickman is a genius. He can convey so much with a look. His expression when he takes the unbreakable vow, and again when he AK's Dumbledore, is just brilliant - all of Snape's backstory is there in a glance.

Why was Harry dressed as a vampire at Slughorn's Christmas party?