Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)
by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)
List Price: $75.00
Our Price: $35.84
You Save: $39.16 (52%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $14.48 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: J.K. Rowling
Brand: Books
Narrator: Jim Dale
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Unabridged
Published: 2005-07-16
ISBN: 0307283658
Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780307283658
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)

Book Review: J.K. If you are writing for adults treat them as adults.
Summary: 5 Stars

J.K. Rowlings has obviously written for a mature audience and no longer for that child that the Philosopher's Stone was written for.

She has pettered this sixth volume: THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE, with more clues towards the final solution then Santa has in his toys in his toybag or the or the Easter Bunny has eggs in his basket.

Believe me when I say that DUMBLEDORE is alive and well. If you did not understand that by the end of the book something is wrong with your reasoning abilities.

Harry has become the altimate psychological bait that will entice Voltimort out of hiding. Now that Voltimort believes that Dumbledore is dead and Snape is his fairhaired wonder boy he has nothing to fear. Snape had to be the ultimate villain in Harry eyes because of the mental contact Harry has with his arch foe. If Harry believes it Vortimort would and Snape would have a free hand in his spying mission.

But Dumbledore will obviously be ever watchful over Harry, most likely in a disguised as a new found friend, now that he is 17 and is no longer protected by his mother's sister's blood.

Yes, this next volume will be interesting to say the least. But it will not be until the end of that volume before my analysis is proved correct by Dumbledore or a letter left by him.

J.K. your clues could have been a bit more difficult.

It just seems to me to be a bit of a leap to believe that by happenstance Harry is allowed to taken Potions classes when he normally would not have been allowed to do so and which he brought no books on for. Then to find the one book "planted by Snape for Harry to find" that would teach him dark arts he would not have learn otherwise is a bit of a stretch. Anyone that owns books does not allow them to be just left for anyone to pick up and take off with. J.K. your slip is showing. So Snape left it deliberately.

The moment Snape cures Draco of his mortal injury the reader is blatantly informed that Snape is the Half Blood Prince. Actually as soon as Harry read the name the Half Blood Prince as the ower of the obscured book Snape was the most likely candidate because it was his classroom after all. Who else would know what was in that classroom but the Potions teacher and especially one who was a Dark Arts Teacher.

Throughout the book Harry is being led around by the proverbial nose - because he is the bait. Voltimort has to be informed "via mental contact with Harry" that his history is being found out and that Harry knows about it. It is something that Voltimort is ashame of. The images from Harry's mind would be images from his own past. Just as Snape saw images when he was suppose to teach Harry the art". It would infuriate Voltimort to endure this humiliation. An enemy enraged is an easier enemy to defeat.

Dumbledore would have reason that since (in Book Five) Voltimor got Harry to the Ministry of Magic by stealth why not take a page out of Voltimort book and make Voltimort a believer in false facts pettered with true accounts of his own history? There is no more convicing lie then one lodged deeply in a bed of truth.

If you think that Snape killed Dumbledore consider this. Dumbledore has Harry in a mental grip-lock where Harry can not move. Why not drop that grip on Harry and put it around Malfoy? You see where the clue are. Why does Snape lift Dumbledore and toss him off balcony? Actually after killing him it would have been pure idiocy to multilate the body or dead shell of the person. Was it so that the other 'death eaters' would not spicefully attack the body after Snape left the room. And/or is it because Dumbledore had to do something that no one else should know about?? Was it to hide the origin chain found in the cave? Or is the new chain that Harry found on the body of Dumbledore a Horcrox that hold the spirit of Dumbledore? One does not have to kill someone to obtain immortality or create a horcrox.

Summary of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)

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.
The deluxe edition includes a 32-page insert featuring near scale reproductions of Mary GrandPré's interior art, as well as never-before-seen full-color frontispiece art on special paper. The custom-designed slipcase is foil-stamped and inside is a full cloth case book, blind-stamped on front and back cover, foil stamped on spine. The book includes full-color endpapers with jacket art from the Trade edition and a wraparound jacket featuring exclusive, suitable-for-framing art from Mary GrandPré.

Potter News You Can Use

J.K. Rowling has revealed three chapter titles from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to be:

  • Chapter Two: "Spinners End"
  • Chapter Six: "Draco's Detour"
  • Chapter Fourteen: "Felix Felicis"

A Few Words from 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.


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 all five books. Keep in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive (what we love about Harry could fill five 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-Not-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.

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

If You Like J.K. Rowling, You'll Love These Authors?

  • Cornelia Funke
  • Eoin Colfer
  • Garth Nix

New Novels to Keep You Busy


Cry of the Icemark

The Dark Hills Divide

Singer of All Songs

The Game of Sunken Places

Children of the Lamp

Dragon Rider

Authors Younger Potter Fans Should Try?

  • Geronimo Stilton
  • Andy Griffiths
  • Dav Pilkey

While You Wait
Hot New Series for Potter Fans


Charlie Bone

Guardians of Ga'hoole

Keys to the Kingdom

Underland Chronicles

Dragons of Deltora

A Few Words from Mary GrandPré
"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 GrandPré.

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.

School Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in School Books
Sleepover Club at Laura's (The Sleepover Club) ImageSleepover Club at Laura's (The Sleepover Club)
by Rose Impey
Collins; Published: 2002-07-01; Paperback; Book
Gay Lambert at the Chalet School ImageGay Lambert at the Chalet School
by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
Armada; Published: 1989-02-09; Paperback; Book
Exploits of the Chalet Girls (The Chalet School) ImageExploits of the Chalet Girls (The Chalet School)
by Elinor Brent-Dyer
HarperCollins UK; Published: 1985-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $137.88
School ImageSchool
by Colin Hawkins
Collins Audio; Published: 1999-12-06; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $146.51
First Term at Malory Towers ImageFirst Term at Malory Towers
by Enid Blyton
Collins Audio; Published: 1993-12-09; Audio Cassette; Book
Thumbuddy to Love: Ballerina Sue Thumb Puppet and Adorable Story Book - Award Winning product to break thumb sucking habit ImageThumbuddy to Love: Ballerina Sue Thumb Puppet and Adorable Story Book - Award Winning product to break thumb sucking habit
by Andrea Wulfing Van Ness
Thumbuddy To Love; Published: 2008-12-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.95
Price in other shops: $24.95
Little Men (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Puffin Classics) ImageLittle Men (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Puffin Classics)
by Louisa May Alcott
Rebound By Sagebrush; Published: 1995-05-01; Library Binding; Book
Best price: $12.54
Price in other shops: $14.75
The Gawgon and the Boy ImageThe Gawgon and the Boy
by Lloyd Alexander
Puffin; Published: 2003-01-13; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops: $5.99
The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet ImageThe Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet
by Erin Dionne
Puffin; Published: 2011-01-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.40
Price in other shops: $6.99
Love That Dog CD ImageLove That Dog CD
by Sharon Creech
HarperFestival; Published: 2006-03-14; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops: $13.95
Similar Books and other products
The Hobbit ImageThe Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Rob Inglis
Recorded Books; Published: 2001-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $24.95
Price in other shops: $39.99
Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows [AUDIOBOOK/AUDIO CD] [UNABRIDGED] ImageHarry Potter and the Deadly Hallows [AUDIOBOOK/ AUDIO CD] [UNABRIDGED]
by J. K. Rowling
Listening Library (Audio); Unabridged edition; Published: 2007; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $58.27
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD] ImageHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]
by J.K. Rowling (Author) Jim Dale (Narrator)
Published: 2000; Unknown Binding; Book
Best price: $52.15
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows ImageHarry Potter and the Deathly Hollows
by J. K. Rowling
Listening Library (Audio); Unabridged edition; Published: 2007; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $54.57
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) ImageHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)
by J.K. Rowling
Books; Listening Library (Audio); Published: 1999-12-01; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $27.00
Price in other shops: $50.00
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) ImageHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2)
by J.K. Rowling
Listening Library (Audio); Listening Library (Audio); Published: 1999-12-01; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $25.42
Price in other shops: $49.95
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) ImageHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3)
by J.K. Rowling
Listening Library (Audio); Listening Library (Audio); Published: 2000-02-01; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $27.26
Price in other shops: $54.95
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) ImageHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)
by J.K. Rowling
Listening Library (Audio); Listening Library (Audio); Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.98
Price in other shops: $69.95
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ImageHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
by J.K. Rowling
Listening Library (Audio); Listening Library (Audio); Published: 2007-07-21; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $38.99
Price in other shops: $79.95
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) ImageHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)
by J.K. Rowling
Listening Library (Audio); Listening Library (Audio); Published: 2003-06; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $37.00
Price in other shops: $75.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories