Agreed on Harry Potter, though I personally like to read things through again for the continuity, so I have probably read the first two books four or five times now. (which will be an extra factor in why I am bored of them) Similarly with the films I quite like watching them in sequence (I have the box-set of the first 6 anyway) which unfortunately means I struggle through the first two which even without reading the books must register as terrible excuses for films.

I added to my post on His Dark Materials (I didn't mean to press post when I did)... the second and third book are where the back-story really start to unfold, I don't really want to spoil it if you are planning on continuing it, but I can at least say Lord Asriel ultimately wages war on The Authority (God).

See, i always favored the first two books, Chamber of Secrets being tied for my personal favorite with Goblet of Fire. It was numbers 3 and 6 that were the weakest links, with 1, 5, and 7 all serving necessary roles

It could very well be my general distaste for angst, which i've seen reflected in the other direction by some film critics who felt the later films were better *because* they were angstier and more darkly toned.

On the whole, one of the greatest series ever written.... Disliked the ending though. I, in my humble opinion, that Harry should have died also. The only problem being obviously it would have rendered the prophecy moot....

Off topic, should probably put spoiler alert.. Just in case there are those that haven't seen the final movie at the least.

Normally, if something has loads of angst in it, I'm going to HATE IT. I absolutely despise non-action, angsty characters. They're actually my most hated film/tv/literature trope. I mean, I REALLY hate it.

But in the case of Harry Potter, it was well-balanced and completely made sense. Harry would be an angsty character. In that situation, who wouldn't? He's a teenage boy with dead parents and half the world against him. On the other hand, Rowling never lets it get out of hand and never lets Harry lull in 200 pages of moping (though she comes close in Order of the Phoenix). Any introspection Rowling put into the character was done in small enough doses where I found it not only tolerable, but actually a more realistic and well-rounded take on how a teenager would deal with such a horrific situation.

Really?
Don't get me wrong, I still think the first two books are good, but your preferences almost seem opposite to mine (and I wouldn't say I like the whole teenage angst thing myself, the start of the 5th book was annoying for that reason).
I think my favoured book is probably the 7th, followed by 5th and 3rd, then 6th, then 4th, 1st and 2nd.

i love harry potter too, though i didnt like the last part of the 7th book, sirius shouldn't have died :(.but overall is a great series.

i'd recomend you read Mistborn series, the first few pages start slow. but then it's like abang! the first book is so good that it feels like a standalone book and not part of a series.

about His dark materials, the first book start too slow imo. but the ending made it worth it to read the series. I,being an atheist found it really good and interesting. If you can get yourself to read the first one, you''ll be amazed by the last two.

also if you like epic fantasy you should read A song of ice and fire. Best series ever for me.amazing characters and story , and unexpected events. it's quite different to the ones above. but if you are into epic fantasy you'll probably love it.

One thing is for sure HP Books >>>>>> Movies (and I don´t like reading much)

As for the ending, IDK, it just felt less "magical". When you are reading the books, the hype about the Final encounter is growing by the book. You start getting crazy with how it will be and all this stuff, and in the end is almost all about what wands are owned by who.

You are like, has Potter grown as a magician to the point where he can defeat Voldemort and the end you go like, really? The path to the end is clearly better then the end itself, IMO.

Still great

Potter was no where near as powerful as Voldemort... Not by a long shot.

yeah I am sorry, this is what I ment.

You are like, has Potter grown as a magician to the point where he can defeat Voldemort??? Doesn´t look like it, but someone has to go...... with magic

Potter is groing as an individual and a wizard during the books, and at the end it is like he doesn´t "Win"(or lose) because of how good (or bad) he was as a wizard compared to the weaken Vold

I really enjoy Song of Ice and Fire but Martin has massive flaws with his writing.

First, he needs an editor. In a BIG BAD way. His plots have gone kudzu in a way that would make the Lost writers cheer in excitement. Some characters are useless for several books and he continues devoting hundreds of pages to their stories. Arya spends two books doing nothing more than wander around aimlessly. Sansa is nothing more than a vessel for other characters. Brienne, the Onion Knight, and others draw the reader in but then disappear for ages.

And he continues to add more to the story without taking anything away. It's creating a cumbersome world where I have the feeling that everything is going to continue to go to hell and fragment until the last 100 pages of the seventh book, where everything magically comes together for a super-duper finale that pisses me off because it could have happened 2,000 pages earlier without all the "intrigue" of having characters near-miss one another, wander around for books on end, or just do flat-out STUPID things.

Third, this isn't Mississippi Burning. It's fantasy. Killing your characters and having bad things happen just for the sake of bad things happening doesn't make for an interesting read. It creates a boring, frustrating, and irritating environment for the reader. Readers make an emotional commitment to characters and the writer should respect that. If characters are going to die in droves, make it count. Don't do it just to show that you can. It's a lazy, confrontational style of writing that just isn't very good.

Fourth, the FIRST BOOK'S PROLOGUE deals with the Others killing members of the Night's Watch. Four THOUSAND pages later, we still haven't seen the invasion. He's on course to pack way too much into the last two books by leading his characters around aimlessly for too many pages and too many books.

Don't get me wrong, the world he created in books 1-3 was wonderful. The writing is engaging, the world is massively complex, and many of the characters are great. But then he killed almost every character worth reading about. And then he wrote books 4-5 and tied up virtually nothing since book three. On top of that, he added 3-4 more divergent storylines to the series. He's on the verge of writing himself into a corner because at this point, it feels like he's masturbating onto the page instead of focusing on telling a tightly-knit, finely honed story.