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Favorite Harry Potter Books in Order? (1-7) No Spoilers

Cutty Flam

Banned
Please use spoilers tags if you'd like to explain things or discuss the series as some may not have read them all. I know I haven't, although I am currently close to having read all. About to finish The Half-Blood Prince, and then I'll only have the final book, The Deathly Hollows to read

Here is my ranking of the books, from least favorite to favorite, although they are all amazing:

7) ???
6) ??? Until I finish The Half-Blood Prince
5) Order Of The Phoenix
4) The Sorcerer's Stone
3) Prisoner of Azkaban
2) Chamber of Secrets
1) The Goblet of Fire

That's my order so far, I thought The Goblet of Fire and The Chamber of Secrets were absolutely phenomenal. Honestly they all are at the very least excellent. I need to watch the movies
 

alife

Member
1) The Goblet of Fire
2) The Half-Blood Prince
3) The Deathly Hallows
4) The Prisoner of Azkaban
5) The Sorcerer's Stone
6) The Order of the Phoenix
7) The Chamber of Secrets

I wouldn't mind having my memories of these books erased and reading them fresh all over again.
86WJtrn.gif
 

Dark Star

Member
I haven't read the books since like 2009, but I remember enjoying them, because I was really young. I was also in elementary school when the movies started coming out, like 2001, so my perception of Harry Potter is still heavily skewed and biased towards the films, which I've seen dozens of times each. If I had to rank the books from most favorite to least favorite, I think Order of the Phoenix would be last, simply because it was too long. JK Rowling bit off a bit more than she could chew with Order of the Phoenix IMO.

1. Goblet of Fire
2. Prisoner of Azkaban
3. Chamber of Secrets
4. Sorcerers Stone
5. Half Blood Prince
6. Deathly Hallows
7. Order of the Phoenix

I'd rank the films almost opposite, but it's hard not to favor what is nostalgic. It would be easy for me to rank Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets way higher, but they're so juvenile and childish and cheesy. This is more of a technical-cinematography kind of list. But even then, the good-looking Goblet of Fire will always be dead-last for being such a poor adaption.

1. Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Deathly Hallows P2
3. Deathly Hallows P1
4. Half Blood Prince
5. Order of the Phoenix
6. Sorcerers Stone
7. Chamber of Secrets
8. Goblet of Fire
 
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AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Jesus, it's been a while, but from what I remember...

1. Prisoner
2. Goblet
3. Chamber
4. Stone
5. Phoenix
6. Prince

Didn't even finish 7, I'd outgrown it by age 16. Books 5-7 lost most of the HP charm for me but 5 was still pretty good if too long.
 
1) The Goblet of Fire
2) The Half-Blood Prince
3) The Deathly Hallows
4) The Prisoner of Azkaban
5) The Sorcerer's Stone
6) The Order of the Phoenix
7) The Chamber of Secrets


Wow, the same as I was going to write, although I was unsure about the order of the bottom three. Goblet of Fire reigns supreme!
 

Dark Star

Member
Same.

Goblet is the best book, and worst movie. It’s very sad. Fucking incompetent director.

Absolutely. Mike Newell barely skimmed through the book, and even stated that he wanted to make Goblet of Fire like a "Bollywood" film, while also completely avoiding the dark and creepy tone of Prisoner of Azkaban. It's the worst creative and directorial choices, really. Butchering the book to squeeze more action and romance than was originally intended.
 
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Doom85

Member
Haven't read them again since they finished so I can't rank the others, but I definitely know 3 was my favorite and 2 was my "least" favorite (decent, just I wasn't as into it as the others).
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Hm, it's hard to remember. I think I liked the Half Blood Prince and The Prisoner of Azkaban the best as both books and movies.
 
This is going deep into my memories here

1. Book 4
2. Book 3
3. Book 2
4. Book 1
5. Book 5
6. Book 6
7. Book 7

The preferences mostly align to the degree of my interest and anticipation for the books when they came out, as those things kind of determined how much i bought in to them. Also, Stephen Fry's audiobooks had a Lot to do with how much i loved the books. For me there absolutely was a marked shift in appeal after book 4, the 3 remaining books were all sort of struggling to live up to it and surpass it, which proved to be hard to achieve without rendering a novel dry and/or uninspiring.
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
I'm about to finish Half-Blood Prince likely by tmrw, I'll update my list soon

Can't wait to watch the films and see how they stand next to the novels; how they compare and contrast. But I agree, Goblet of Fire was one hell of a book, it played out so vividly and excitingly in my mind. I almost don't want to watch the film because I don't want to have to see anything other than what J.K. Rowling had given us through her vision, through her thought
 

GAMETA

Banned
Goblet of Fire was special, even the cover of the book was magical. That's also when shit got real, so yeah, one of the best.

Still a beautiful cover:

images
 
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Handel

Member
1. Goblet
2. Prisoner
3. Prince
4. Phoenix
5. Chamber
6. Hallows
7. Stone
This would be about my order, I could switch around Chamber and Hallows, and Prisoner and Prince but both are very slim margins where just particular love of one scene/character weighs things towards one or the other. As a big fan of Snape, that gives Prince and Hallow the slight edge in those matchups.
 

SpartanN92

Banned
I want to be clear, I love all the books. It’s like picking my favorite child but here goes:

1: Half Blood Prince
2: Goblet of Fire
3: Deathly Hallows
4: Order of the Phoenix
5: Prisoner of Azkaban
6: Sorcerer’s Stone
7: Chamber of Secrets


The movies on the other hand are a different story. They range from amazing to dreadful.

1: Prisoner of Azkaban
2: Goblet of Fire
3: Order of the Phoenix
4: Hallows pt 1
5: Hallows pt 2
6: Chamber of Secrets
7: Sorcerer’s stone
8: Half Blood Prince

Half Blood Prince is a terrible movie. Absolutely awful.
 
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SpartanN92

Banned
I'm about to finish Half-Blood Prince likely by tmrw, I'll update my list soon

Can't wait to watch the films and see how they stand next to the novels; how they compare and contrast. But I agree, Goblet of Fire was one hell of a book, it played out so vividly and excitingly in my mind. I almost don't want to watch the film because I don't want to have to see anything other than what J.K. Rowling had given us through her vision, through her thought

Goblet is a very different movie but it’s still excellent in its own way. For the interest of time though they really cut down on how elaborate the Barty Crouch Jr scheme was and they omit a few characters entirely (Ludo Bagman for example.)

But man that graveyard scene in incredible. It’s the best 20 minutes of the entire film franchise.
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
I want to be clear, I love all the books. It’s like picking my favorite child but here goes:

1: Half Blood Prince
2: Goblet of Fire
3: Deathly Hallows
4: Order of the Phoenix
5: Prisoner of Azkaban
6: Sorcerer’s Stone
7: Chamber of Secrets


The movies on the other hand are a different story. They range from amazing to dreadful.

1: Prisoner of Azkaban
2: Goblet of Fire
3: Order of the Phoenix
4: Hallows pt 1
5: Hallows pt 2
6: Chamber of Secrets
7: Sorcerer’s stone
8: Half Blood Prince

Half Blood Prince is a terrible movie. Absolutely awful.

How in the hell can you put Goblet as the #2 movie?!?! My lord that hurts my soul. Book yes, movie no.
 

Dark Star

Member
The movies on the other hand are a different story. They range from amazing to dreadful.

1: Prisoner of Azkaban
2: Goblet of Fire
3: Order of the Phoenix
4: Hallows pt 1
5: Hallows pt 2
6: Chamber of Secrets
7: Sorcerer’s stone
8: Half Blood Prince

Half Blood Prince is a terrible movie. Absolutely awful.

Interesting list. I disliked Half Blood Prince for a long time, too. Not into the love-triangle/teenage-hormone stuff. But from a technical film-making aspect, it's one of the best IMO. It's grown on me. Likewise, Goblet of Fire is an enjoyable popcorn-flick with cool special effects, but it's definitely the worst adaption IMO. I used to like it a lot, but it's ranked "bottom of the barrel" for me now.
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Interesting list. I disliked Half Blood Prince for a long time, too. Not into the love-triangle/teenage-hormone stuff. But from a technical film-making aspect, it's one of the best IMO. It's grown on me. Likewise, Goblet of Fire is an enjoyable popcorn-flick with cool special effects, but it's definitely the worst adaption IMO. I used to like it a lot, but it's ranked "bottom of the barrel" for me now.
The Half Blood Prince Movie had incredible cinematography and lighting. Excellent all around. They really had to condense the plot down to fit a movie runtime though, which didn't help the overall story.
 

SpartanN92

Banned
Interesting list. I disliked Half Blood Prince for a long time, too. Not into the love-triangle/teenage-hormone stuff. But from a technical film-making aspect, it's one of the best IMO. It's grown on me. Likewise, Goblet of Fire is an enjoyable popcorn-flick with cool special effects, but it's definitely the worst adaption IMO. I used to like it a lot, but it's ranked "bottom of the barrel" for me now.

Goblet gets such a high ranking from me because of the Graveyard scene and Brendon Gleeson’s Mad Eye Moody performance.
 

Spaceman292

Banned
I think Goblet was the best book. It's really long, but interesting shit happens all the way through unlike 5 and 6.
 

Dural

Member
1 - Prisoner of Azkaban
2 - Goblet of Fire
3 - Sorcerer's Stone
4 - Deathly Hallows
5 - Order of Phoenix
6 - Half Blood Prince
7 - Chamber of Secrets

I love all the books, but Azkaban is far and away my favorite. I love sports and quidditch plays such a huge part of the book.
 

Ellery

Member
Lots of good lists. My favorite is definitely Goblet of Fire aswell. It has been a few years since I last read them so it is hard for me to make a full list.
My second one would probably be sorcerer's stone, because it introduced me into this magical world and even if it lacks some in depth of things I would have loved exploring it still has a certain nostalgia for me and it is very important for the first in any series to have that certain draw.
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
Lots of good lists. My favorite is definitely Goblet of Fire aswell. It has been a few years since I last read them so it is hard for me to make a full list.
My second one would probably be sorcerer's stone, because it introduced me into this magical world and even if it lacks some in depth of things I would have loved exploring it still has a certain nostalgia for me and it is very important for the first in any series to have that certain draw.
I especially love the way Harry, Ron, and Hemione all became friends. The way it happened is nostalgic and I love the way J.K. Rowling worded the ending of that chapter, stating that they had become friends. Just beautiful, splendid work
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
I think Goblet was the best book. It's really long, but interesting shit happens all the way through unlike 5 and 6.
Yeah, Order of the Phoenix took forever for the true action to start. It introduced so much more to the series, but it was somewhat lacking in mystery until the end portion of the book

I want to talk at length about that book, there's so much to discuss but I would hate to spoil it for anyone who hasn't gotten into the series yet. It's way too good to spoil, for anyone, even if they might think they don't want to read any of it. Because you never know down the line. I started reading these books in the early 2000s and stopped about 1/4 through the Goblet of Fire because I was too young and couldn't even pay attention at the time, despite loving the first three books. As a kid, I was so enthralled by the events at the end of the Prisoner of Azkaban that I read late into the night alone, somewhat scared because I had windows with no blinds and the scene taking place was making me paranoid lol

But I recently started the series over around July I want to say, from the Sorcerer's Stone, and now I'm finally on the Deathly Hollows at last....
 

Son Tofu

Banned
I read the first two. I liked that second book a bit more than the first. Those books came out just after I turned 14 an they were 'kids' books to me by that time.
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
6) Half-Blood Prince
5) Order Of The Phoenix
4) The Sorcerer's Stone
3) Prisoner of Azkaban
2) Chamber of Secrets
1) The Goblet of Fire

Finished the Half-Blood Prince the other day
I think the last book, the Deathly Hallows will be much better. Has to be, I'd be surprised if it end up being my least favorite out of the bundle
 

GymWolf

Gold Member
I have no idea if this is best to worst or worst to best. Either way it's wrong.
most of people don't like 2 that much, but it contains giant spider and a giant snake and i'm a sucker for monsters and creatures...
6 has a good final part and some cool flashbacks but everything else with the love stories and stuff was meh.
maybe 7 and 3 deserve a better place, i'll give you that but i'm like the worst man in the planet with classification, to this day i can't even make a top 10 favourite vg because i'm too indecise...
 
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