Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: NO SPOILERS

I smoked the latest Potter book, starting last night, late, and reading it on breaks while cleaning house today. (I'm quick, yeah?) And finished about a half hour ago.

What can I say but wow? This is the Empire Strikes Back of the Harry Potter series.

Some huge twists, others you've seen coming for awhile. Either way, it's the best book yet. Darkest yet. Smartest yet. Most revelatory as yet.

I don't know why some people claim Rowling's not that amazing of a writer. I don't know why the disrespect follows her having sold more books than any other children's writer ever.

Fact is, the sheer vastness of the Potter world, the minutae of detail, the creativity behind all the various aspects of that world... it's unparalleled. The only children's author to have come close to drinking from the same vast well of creativity, IMHO, is Roald Dahl.

Whether it's the Pensieve, Mrs. Weasley's wonderful clock, the method for disposing of garden gnomes (the spin'n'hurl trick) or Bertie Bott's every-flavour beans... page after page has yet another weirdly wondrous invention.

And the people who think it's just reinventing other ideas have CLEARLY not read the series.

If you're still sitting around and dismissively avoiding the books because it's a "fad," then get off your pedestal and pick up a book. You're only cheating yourself out of one of the most delicious experiences as a reader you might ever have.

It's sad the movies came out so soon, it's sad that they were rushed into production, because they could've been things of wonder. As it is, they're entertaining, but they're a world away from the quality of the book.

And the sixth book... well. If you're reading it now, whew, realize the big finale makes up almost 90+ pages. Enjoy!

And if you, like me, have finished it, then surely you understand how incredibly painful it is to know the seventh book is likely two or three years away. Jesus. I thought I wanted to read this one badly after Order of Phoenix, but no, now I really, really want to know how this series ends.

(Unlike the rest of the series, for the first time, you get an idea of where the next one is going, so the suspense is uncontrollable. And now, I say nothing more. Well done, Rowling.)