I've never been so disappointed in my entire life. Not even when i learnt that a "Bombay Duck" isn't actually a duck, but a fish dish.
I started off reading the latest Potter book late one evening. I couldn't fall asleep so naturally i shuffled to the bookcase to pick out something light. After having re-read the entire Asterix and Tintin collection the last couple of weeks, I decided on something slightly more stimulating. Plus "The Half-Blood Prince" did have a sliver of enchantment to it (even for a book about wizards). Naturally I was hoping the story would play its magic on me as "The Sorcerer's Stone" once had. However, 2 chapters into the book and I was bored to tears at the redundancy of the author's descriptions. Some sentences ran on for whole paragraphs consisting of 4 lines. Most the time I would just skim through her babble and skip pages; I ended up in bed early that night. For lengthy descriptions, leave it to Tolkien (The Hobbit, LoTR) and Arthur C. Clarke (Rama, A Space Odyssey). Chapters 3 onwards proved no better. Nothing significant happened and even the Quidditch matches seemed to have lost its lustre. I found myself simply reading the words Rowling had written and not once did i feel the urge to pick up a broom and fly around chasing after golden snitches.
I totally missed the climax of the story due to the bland events that took place, and was glad (albeit very disappointed, 'cos I'm quite fond of the four-eyed fella) when it ended. If anything, the sixth book is a drawn-out sequence that only sets the stage for the coming book. Hopefully, a better book.
P/S: The Core was on tonight and it looks like a poor reproduction of Armageddon...This is me feeling a little critical >:|