Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123075 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 640 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire CD Set tells the story of Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 18 CDs. The audio book is also available in two volumes, Part 1 and Part 2, each containing 9 CDs.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the long-awaited, heavily hyped fourth instalment of a phenomenally successful series that has captured the imagination of millions of readers, young and old, across the globe. For J K Rowling the pressure is certainly on to continue to come up with thrilling, pacey storylines that allow her hero to mature into a young man without detracting from the magical secret that has made Harry into a superstar. In this book, the teenage Harry has a certain gawky charm that fits well with his advancing adolescence. As the story moves on, Harry too moves on to a new level of maturity that leaves the reader wondering how he will learn from his experiences, and liking him all the more as a character.

Once returned to Hogwarts after his summer holiday with the dreadful Dursleys and an extraordinary outing to the Quidditch World Cup, the 14-year-old Harry and his fellow pupils are enraptured by the promise of the Triwizard Tournament: an ancient, ritualistic tournament that brings Hogwarts together with two other schools of wizardry--Durmstrang and Beauxbatons--in heated competition. But when Harry's name is pulled from the Goblet of Fire, and he is chosen to champion Hogwarts in the tournament, the trouble really begins. Still reeling from the effects of a terrifying nightmare that has left him shaken, and with the lightning-shaped scar on his head throbbing with pain (a sure sign that the evil Voldemort, Harry's sworn enemy, is close), Harry becomes at once the most popular boy in school. Yet, despite his fame, he is totally unprepared for the furore that follows.

This is a hefty volume: 636 pages, of which probably at least 200 could have been cut without detracting from the story. The weight and complexity of the book is perhaps a hint that Rowling now has her eye sharply focused on her adult audience, and the average child-reader (particularly one who is coming to Harry Potter for the first time) may well find its girth daunting. Rowling's ironic and pointed observations on tabloid journalism and the nature of media hype is just one of the references littered through the book that will tickle the grown-ups but may well fly over the heads of her young fans.

However, after a slow start, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire really starts to sparkle halfway through with Rowling's familiar magic (and yes, there is a death--sudden and tragic--and yes, Harry does start to notice girls). The crux of this story, however, is Harry's gradual coming-of-age and his handling of the increasingly determined threats to his own life.

This book is pivotal, not just for the author for whom the heat is well and truly on, but for Harry and his readers who, by the last chapter, are left in little doubt that there is much more to come. (Ages 10 to adult) --Susan Harrison

Chronique amazon.fr
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling offers up equal parts danger and delight--and any number of dragons, house-elves, and death-defying challenges. Now 14, her orphan hero has only two more weeks with his Muggle relatives before returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yet one night a vision harrowing enough to make his lightning-bolt-shaped scar burn has Harry on edge and contacting his godfather-in-hiding, Sirius Black. Happily, the prospect of attending the season's premier sporting event, the Quidditch World Cup, is enough to make Harry momentarily forget that Lord Voldemort and his sinister familiars--the Death Eaters--are out for murder. Readers, we will cast a giant invisibility cloak over any more plot and reveal only that You-Know-Who is very much after Harry and that this year there will be no Quidditch matches between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Instead, Hogwarts will vie with two other magicians' schools, the stylish Beauxbatons and the icy Durmstrang, in a Triwizard Tournament. Those chosen to compete will undergo three supreme tests. Could Harry be one of the lucky contenders? But Quidditch buffs need not go into mourning: we get our share of this great game at the World Cup. Attempting to go incognito as Muggles, 100,000 witches and wizards converge on a "nice deserted moor." As ever, Rowling magicks up the details that make her world so vivid, and so comic. Several spectators' tents, for instance, are entirely unquotidian. One is a minipalace, complete with live peacocks; another has three floors and multiple turrets. And the sports paraphernalia on offer includes rosettes "squealing the names of the players" as well as "tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves." Needless to say, the two teams are decidedly different, down to their mascots. Bulgaria is supported by the beautiful veela, who instantly enchant everyone--including Ireland's supporters--over to their side. Until, that is, thousands of tiny cheerleaders engage in some pyrotechnics of their own: "The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field." Long before her fourth installment appeared, Rowling warned that it would be darker, and it's true that every exhilaration is equaled by a moment that has us fearing for Harry's life, the book's emotions running as deep as its dangers. Along the way, though, she conjures up such new characters as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, a Dark Wizard catcher who may or may not be getting paranoid in his old age, and Rita Skeeter, who beetles around Hogwarts in search of stories. (This Daily Prophet scoop artist has a Quick-Quotes Quill that turns even the most innocent assertion into tabloid innuendo.) And at her bedazzling close, Rowling leaves several plot strands open, awaiting book 5. This fan is ready to wager that the author herself is part veela--her pen her wand, her commitment to her world complete. (Ages 9 and older) --Kerry Fried

From Publishers Weekly
Even without the unprecedented media attention and popularity her magical series has attracted, it would seem too much to hope that Rowling could sustain the brilliance and wit of her first three novels. Astonishingly, Rowling seems to have the spell-casting powers she assigns her characters: this fourth volume might be her most thrilling yet. The novel opens as a confused Muggle overhears Lord Voldemort and his henchman, Wormtail (the escapee from book three, Azkaban) discussing a murder and plotting more deaths (and invoking Harry Potter's name); clues suggest that Voldemort and Wormtail's location will prove highly significant. From here it takes a while (perhaps slightly too long a while) for Harry and his friends to get back to the Hogwarts school, where Rowling is on surest footing. Headmaster Dumbledore appalls everyone by declaring that Quidditch competition has been canceled for the year; then he makes the exciting announcement that the Triwizard Tournament is to be held after a cessation of many hundred years (it was discontinued, he explains, because the death toll mounted so high). One representative from each of the three largest wizardry schools of Europe (sinister Durmstrang, luxurious Beauxbatons and Hogwarts) are to be chosen by the Goblet of Fire; because of the mortal dangers, Dumbledore casts a spell that allows only students who are at least 17 to drop their names into the Goblet. Thus no one foresees that the Goblet will announce a fourth candidate: Harry. Who has put his name into the Goblet, and how is his participation in the tournament linked, as it surely must be, to Voldemort's newest plot? The details are as ingenious and original as ever, and somehow (for catching readers off-guard must certainly get more difficult with each successive volume) Rowling plants the red herrings, the artful clues and tricky surprises that disarm the most attentive audience. A climax even more spectacular than that of Azkaban will leave readers breathless. The muscle-building heft of this volume notwithstanding, the clamor for book five will begin as soon as readers finish installment four. All ages. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

An absolutely riveting, unparalleled success
It is quite hard to believe just how good Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is; the first three books, all of which impressed me deeply, seem almost forgettable compared to this intense fourth entry in the series. This is as rich a reading experience as you will find, no matter what your age. The storyline as it exists at the end of this mammoth epic has more of a hold on me now, as an adult, than the Star Wars saga had on me as a kid, which is saying a great deal, I assure you. One barely knows where to start one's praises of this book; yes, it does have both dark overtones and undertones to it, yet it also boasts some of the funniest moments of the series. We learn a great deal more about the major characters and turn our attention to new attractions such as the unique new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Mad-Eye Moody. Events in magical circles outside of Hogwarts increase the landscape of Rowling's magical world many times over as we are given insight into the workings of the Ministry of Magic, are treated to the best seat in the house at the Quidditch World Cup championship, and are introduced to two wholly new magical schools in foreign locations. The pattern one might have come to expect of Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts is thrown immediately out of the window; there are no school Quidditch matches this year, nor is there even an inter-house cup competition. Instead, Professor Dumbledore makes the extraordinary announcement that the Triwizard Tournament has not only been reinstituted after many years, it will take place at Hogwarts. Only sixth- and seventh-year students are eligible to compete, seeming to leave Harry Potter quite out of the mix, which is fine by him. A Goblet of Fire decides which of the volunteers from each school will compete as its Champion, but this quite impartial judge surprises everyone by selecting a certain familiar, fourth year student for the competition. What follows is a roller coaster ride of a year, with Harry enduring more trials and troubles than ever before: his friendship with Ron threatens to end forever, he faces incredibly difficult tasks that may or may not serve as a means by which someone can kill him, a thoroughly sleazy tabloid reporter makes his and his friends' lives all but unbearable on a number of occasions, and he faces perhaps his biggest challenge of all: having to ask a girl to accompany him to the Yule Ball. Oh, a certain arch enemy also rears his ugly head once again.

This is a large book, obviously; it gets off to something of a slow start, taking 171 pages just to get Harry to Hogwarts to start the new year. Have no fear, though, because the novel then sucks you in so deeply that you may be unable to get out of it, should you even want to. The length of the book quickly becomes a comfort to you, as you will not want this book to ever end. End it shall, however, with an incredibly intense final 125 pages that will leave you gasping for breath, roiling in shock, and surging with adrenaline. Anyone unable to understand why untold millions of addicted fans have been climbing the walls for three years waiting for Book 5 have simply not read this book. Events of quite drastic proportions have been set in motion now, and the end of Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts holds little resolution to it. There are dark days ahead and a significant number of plot points appear on the horizon. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are growing up, with normal teenaged issues already beginning to manifest themselves, Hogwarts is in something of a tizzy over the culminating events of the completed school year, and the whole world of magic shows every sign of being in utter disarray. The world of Harry Potter has never been more intense, exciting, and portentous as it is at the end of this unbelievably good book.

I Wish It Was Longer!
Do not be discouraged by the size of this book! By the time I finished reading it, I was hoping it were longer!

another rowlings
not much new in this the 4th book of the series, but rowlings continues with the same style as the preceding three books,meeting the readers expectations, and setting the background for the 6th book.