I remember way back when I was a student at McGill, I took a course on 20th century American Literature. Being Canadian, I was never required to read The Great Gatsby in High School so Fitzgerald was new to me. I took the course because I was interested in Hemmingway by I left a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

When I was doing an essay on Gatsby, I came across a series of anecdotes about Fitzgerald's relationship with Charles Scribner. It turns out that in the early drafts of the novel, Gatsby's entire background was revealed toward the end of the story. My guess is that it was probably during the hotel scene. Scribner told Fitzgerald that it was boring, too much explanation for a final chapter where the story should be building to its climax. At the advice of his publisher, Fitzgerald changed this part of the novel around, placing more of Gatsby's past earlier in the novel. The result, of course, is tightly woven, fast paced and exciting story worthy of its reputation as an American Classic.

Too bad JK Rowling's publisher wasn't Charles Scribner.

Don't get me wrong. In my opinion, this woman's epic tale of young Harry Potter, the only person to ever survive the Avada Kedavra curse of the evil Lord Voldemort and the subject of the secret prophecy that foresees only Harry or Voldemort's survival is a classic in its own right. I've thoroughly enjoyed every installment to the series and the Half-Blood Prince is no exception. But, at the same time, I have to admit that The Half-Blood Prince is the weakest of the series.

Thanks to the great wizard Dumbledore, Harry takes us on a series of flashbacks into the life of his nemesis Lord Voldemorte, aka Tom Riddle. We see how Riddle started out in life and how he his desire for power eventually consumed him, despite the best efforts of Obi-Wan…err Dumbledore to keep him from turning to the Dark Side. We finally see what his evil plan actually is and, thankfully, learn what the ending to the second book, The Chamber of Secrets, actually has to do with the series' overall arc.

Unfortunately, it is just so much flashback, so much last-minute explanation that the main story of the novel, the penultimate of the series, gets short-changed.

The main story revolves around three points: the new Professor Slughorn, Draco Malfoy, and of course, the Half-Blood Prince.

Harry is finally getting good grades in Potions class thanks to the notes written in his used textbook, notes written by the mysterious Half-Blood Prince. One can't help but feel that if more time were devoted to this part of the novel that Rowling could have come up with a more satisfying explanation as to why Harry failed to see that the notes were ultimately dangerous.

Near the beginning of the story, Harry and Draco Malfoy have a violent confrontation that sets the stage for Harry to mistrust Malfoy more than he normally does. Despite warnings from his friends and teachers Harry finds himself stalking Malfoy, trying to catch his nemesis read handed.

And the new Professor Slughorn, gives Rowling the opportunity to take a few shots at British society. Previous volumes have dealt with Soccer Hooligans, critiques on the state of Education, and the British Government. This time she deals with British class snobbery. Only a few elite students are invited to Slughorn's tea parties. Ralph wants to be invited but never is, whereas Harry hates the occasions but always receives an invitation. Harry does his best to avoid Slughorn throughout the novel, until Dumbledore asks him several times to use his influence with the teacher to obtain a very important piece of information, something vital to winning the upcoming war with Lord Voldemort.

Rowling also uses this story to tie up loose character ends, presumably so the final installment can be devoted to Harry's final showdown with Voldemort. The characters now being sixteen, Rowling decides that she can finally delve into more romantic interests than in the previous volumes. Harry, having been disillusioned with the beautiful but shallow Cho in the previous volume, The Order of the Phoenix, now finds himself realizing that the girl for him has been right by his side for the past six years. The romance between Ralph and Hermione that had been hinted at since The Goblet of Fire, is finally resolved for better or for worse. The wizarding world at last believes Harry's story about his encounter with the Dark Lord a year earlier. Harry has a potions teacher that takes an interest in him. Hagrid is busy educating his half-brother.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, Harry flies off with Dumbledore on the quest that leads to the stories climax. A climax that even though, it comes out of nowhere, leads to some exciting twists and turns.

If you're one of the few people on the planet who has not heard about the novel's ending, then I'm not going to spoil it here. It does, however, raise some intriguing questions. Is Severus Snape evil or is there still some hope that he is not on the side of Voldemort? There seems to be a brief moment where Draco Malfoy is not as evil as he has been portrayed up until now and may have simply been a product of bad parenting, but is that moment gone forever? Are Harry's days at Hogwarts indeed over?

Without going into details, I couldn't help but be reminded of the final scene of the Spider-Man movie in the final pages of the book, to the point where the final lines could have been right there on the page.

Even with the scattered nature of this installment's story, the characters that Rowling has created are indeed heartwarming and lovable. We want to see them succeed. We want to see them happy. But with the increasingly foreboding nature of each volume in the Potter series, I'm forced to admit that the characters might not be as triumphant as we want them to be, nor will the series end with everyone truly happy.