Book 3 I'd say is the unofficial beginning of the series. Books 1 and 2 were amazing and did their job which was introduce the characters, explain their stories, and shed more light on the initial things that we needed to know. Well now, step in book 3 and here we are at the story where darkness starts creeping into Harry's world. Where your mind is wandering as to who did what and where and why. Where the cute, childrens book turns into a story where you find yourself immersed in.

Use caution reading this, book 3 of 7, for this will be the chapter in the life of Harry Potter that will lunge its hook in you and refuse to let it go. It will plant a seed that will not be satisfied until you learn what are the Deathly Hallows.

I now have all the Harry Potter books on CD as well as in print. I love listening to them. The narrator is wonderful with the different voices for the characters. I admit I am quite familiar with the stories, to the point I can use them to focus on and let myself be read to sleep. I plan to share them with my grandchildren as they get old enough to enjoy them.

Harry does have family! A "crazy" god-father that he is completely unaware of having until this book. A great mystery book in the series. It will have you wanting more!

I love Prisoner of Azkaban. I think that this was the novel that really hooked me into the series. I have a hard time writing a literary review of any of the Rowling novels mainly because I do not feel like I'm reading a novel when I read these books, I feel like I'm on vacation. I'm transported into another world and forget to look at the subtext or deeply analyze anything that the writer is trying to say because it is just to much fun to just read it. This is a book to read when you are stressed out because of your real life. Try reading it when you are in a wretched mood and see if you are not instantly a little bit happier. Harry begins to evolve in this novel and the books from here begin to feel a little bit more "grown up". To me, this book is virtually the first in the series that is now so infamous. The characters are impossible to not fall in love with. Rowling seems to have her feet firmly planted in the ground at this point in the series and I knew when I finished the final pages that the series could only get better. Which of course it does.

I really enjoyed it and would have given 5 stars except for the fact that I'm a sucker for happy endings. It was sad that Harry couldn't keep his newly found friends. I did find that the writing matured as Harry did, which probably made an easier read.

This is my favorite novel of the series so far. In his second year, Harry was able to overcome an incompetent professor to thwart Voldemort yet again. But this novel was even better. I never saw the ending coming. The relationship between Snape and Lupin caught me completely by surprise. And the incredible revelations about Harry's parents death add even more depth to Harry's third year. JK Rowling has an amazing imagination and I look forward to finishing the rest of her novels.

Summary: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third book in the Harry Potter series. The book introduces some key characters for the later books and gives the reader more backstory on Harry's parents. The writing seems as if J. K. Rowling was debating on doing more description or keeping the book length down -- I would have gone for more descriptions and more pages.

Setting:
The world of Harry Potter continues to expand into a more interesting fantasty setting with each book. Rowling does a good job of creating the setting using existing fantasty elements with a slight tweak to keep it non-cliche (for the most part). The Marauder's Map is a fantastic idea! It will be interesting to see if it is re-used in later novels. Note: There is starting to become a bit predictable in that each book has a new magic item which is central to the story.

Characters:
Sirius Black is introduced to the setting as a murderous wizard. The Sirius Black character is developed to a certain degree but when he has some actual dialog near the end of the book, he comes across as a bit out of sorts (Understandable after being in Azkaban for 12 years). I saw the movie version before reading the book which has colored my opinion of book and the book's characterization of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. I do prefer the movie adaptation a bit more; it could be the actors did a fantastic job.

Harry, Ron and Hermaine continue to develop a bit. Their character development is secondary to plot advancement.

Action:
The action is typical Harry Potter style where things get hairy but everyone comes out ok. The description of the mass dementor attack was weak and really should have been more developed as this is a critical scene showing what Harry can do magically and has some connection to his parent's spirits.

The relative danger level to the character is weak but appropriate for what is going on in the story.

Prose:
The prose is tight and to the point. The descriptions are not very detailed which is a bit frustrating as I keep wanting more hear with each book especially to see a difference in the movie set work (which is amazing) to see if there was something the set designers did not do for the movies. Generally, a book does a better job of describing a world than a movie -- kudos to the movie setting designers and craftsmen.

Overall: 4 stars
Setting: 5 stars
Characters: 2.5 - 3 stars
Action: 3 stars
Prose: 2.5 - 3 stars

My family has enjoyed listening to the Harry Potter audio books for several years. Jim Dale's readings include a host of characters with remarkably distinctive voices that carry over from the first book, the Sorcerer's Stone, to the last. He reads with fabulous energy and makes these great stories come to life like nothing I've ever heard before.
The Prisoner of Azkaban is no exception. This audiobook is a fabulous way to enjoy several afternoon in the car or in your favorite chair at home.

Like the first two Harry Potter books this book is great, it is in this book that parents should beware; it starts to have a few more moments that might scare the younger reader, it takes on a darker side as Harry ages and Voldemort begins to gain his power back, Definately makes you want to continue to read the complete set, this is my second time thru the books and I never tire of reading them. Great Reading for all ages

I liked, is in good condition,parece nuevo, a mi sobrina le encanto thank you !!!! por tener todos estos tipos de libros.

It's a great story, with much more detail and interest than the movie that was based on it. Jim Dale's performance is excellent and really brings life to the characters.

I took off one star because one of the disks was scratched & Amazon cowered behind their policy that they would not allow an exchange of an audio product that was opened.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (year 3 at Hogwarts) is regarded by some as the best book of the Harry Potter series. After recently re-reading the entire series, I think am ready to jump on the bandwagon.

For starters, this book has a very compelling plot, brilliantly crafted characters (most notably, Sirius Black) and a critically important plot twist towards the end which shapes the next several books of the series. It introduces the friends of Harry's father, all of whom have extremely important roles to play in the series. It creates a sense of danger, but still manages to be humorous and fun at the right times. And this is the last book in the series that manages to keep itself to a fairly low word count.

There are several key moments of humor (centering on the marauders and Dumbledore's offhand observations, for instance) and poignancy (Harry finding out the truth about the betrayal of his parents, conjuring of patronuses, and saving the lives of characters whose deaths would have been tragic). And this, of ALL of the books in the series, is the only one where I don't feel like the adults are improbably inept. The way in which Harry "solves" the mystery (or gets forcibly dragged to the solution!) is believable and unique to him, such that I can accept that none of the teachers would have solved it.

This story is important as it shows Harry starting to believe in his own abilities, and beginning to really take a stand for what he knows is right. He shows mercy and compassion, a sense of justice and conviction, and of course hope and love. In a way, this book has the "happiest" ending of any in the series, and certainly a meaningful one.

In short, is this the best book in the Harry Potter series? I can't say absolutely that it is, but I'm certainly having difficulty convincing myself that it's not.

This is truly a great book. It is the real starting point for Harry's adventures. The Chamber of Secrets and The Sorcerer's Stone weren't able to give me anywhere near the amount of excitement I received while reading this book. I give this book 5 stars for many different reasons

Harry Potter's skills as a sorcerer aren't very impressive until this book when he learns to use the Patonus...something...I read this a while back lol. Also, the Dementors were the first creatures throughout the whole series to really strike fear into my mind. Sure there were traps that were devastating in the first book, and sure there was the basilisk who could kill people with its glare. But the Dementors were able to make a person suffer horribly through only emotions. I mean, who wouldn't be scared of having all the happiness and good emotions sucked out of you and the environment around you. The chilled air and flickering lights (maybe they actually turned off) scared the bejesus out of me.

Here's a measurement for how good this book is and how it's a turning point for this whole series. I cannot begin to describe how fast I read this book compared to the first two. The Sorcer's Stone took me a whole year because it bored the crap out of me. The Chamber of Secrets...I got up to the 2nd paragraph and actually could not go on reading it. The Prisoner of Azkaban, by far my favorite of the whole series, took me the better part of a week or two to read. The same with The Deathly Hallows and The Half-Blood Prince. Overall, the maturity of this book compared to the first two is pumped up and it is truly a masterpiece for people of all ages.

My Favorite book is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. This book is funny. My favorite characters are Harry Potter and Ron Weasly. Harry's funny and adventurous. He's fun and likes to try new things and has lots of courage. Ron is funny also, and likes to do almost what Harry does. Ron and Harry make the Harry Potter series joyful.

The author's writing style is joyful and the genre is adventure. J.K. Rowling is best at setting up the setting I think Hogwarts is a wonderful setting.


The best part of this book is that ever character is different in each chapter. They do lots of mini adventures in the big adventure; to find the prisoner Sirius Black. Best yet, Harry tries to go to Hogsmeade but gets caught by Professor Snape. I recommend this book for people in 3rd and above.

Mr. Dale has a strange way of pronouncing accio folks, prepare yourself.

We all really enjoy listening to the Potter series on audio CD. They are well done.

We've now bought all the Harry Potter audio books. My husband's not a great reader at home (newspaper and sports mags) but he drives a lot for his job. He loves listening to all these stories. We also play them in the car for the kids when we are travelling. We are big Harry Potter fans and these books have been a wonderful purchase. Now he can join in all our conversations too! Jim Dale is amazing, you completely forget it's only one person reading the book.

This is a very good book, i thought the harry potter books would suck but they dont. they are getting better and better. This was a good book to read

Jim Dale is such a wonder narrator- he really makes all the characters come alive!! I can't recommend any of the Harry Potter books enough with him as the narrator. Perfect!!

I loved this book on cd. For any Harry Potter fan its a must have and for any one thats new to Harry Potter beware by listening to this cd you'll get hooked to Harry Potter like I did.

With the fourth book about to come out and the first three staying in the top ten on all best seller lists, I thought it was high time that I read the series to find out what makes it so popular. Besides, my wife and my ten year old son love the stories.
I discovered that J. K. Rowling has a wonderful writing style. Although the stories build upon themselves they can be read independently as she reviews aspects from the past. She creates very interesting characters. We admire Harry Potter and his friends Hermoine and Ron. We despise Malfoy and Harry's muggle relatives. The characters that start out as villians may turn out to be heroes. All the plots are intriguing and magic is brought in to help the plot.

This is the longest and best of the three. In fact I think each book is better than its predecessor. They are all great!

In this one it is Hermoine's secret that leads to the surprise ending and helps Hermoine and Harry save Sirius Black and Buckbeak but also Pettigrew. Pettigrew's escape seems to be a lead in for book 4 where I suspect he will return to Lord Voldemort.

There are seven books in the series and most nhave now come out as movies as well. Starting with the Goblet of Fire the books became a little too long and "dark" for the youth groups that it was originally intended for. Rowling has a way of attracting both the children and the adults to these books. Still I became disappointed with some of the latter ones.

As it used to be from Rowling, this is another Masterpiece. I love hp books, its story is intriguing and very addictive, a little bit dark but excellent anyway. This story in particular is one of the best becuse it ends up full fo hope for harry and his gang, ending up with a kinda of happy end, something unsual of Rowling. Buy, read it and I assure that you will enjoy it!

For me, this is where the series really starts to go from great to amazing. I highly recommend this book. It's so fantastic!

I'm finally getting around to reading the Harry Potter books. I've seen the movies that have come out thus far (well, except for Order of the Phoenix, which is on forever-wait-list at Netflix), so I have the picture of them in my head as I read. I would usually prefer the other way around (read, then watch), but I think the movies follow the books so nicely it doesn't really matter.

OK, but this is a review of the book, not the movie.

As with the first two books, Ms Rowling takes us on a wild ride of magic, odd characters, plot twists, and bending of the laws of physics. Her writing style makes you want to read one more chapter before putting the book down (indeed, I had to finish the last 200-some pages yesterday, despite the lateness of the hour). This really demonstrates her ability to tell a tale and is great for the main age group she's writing for -- if these books get kids as interested in reading as I am, they're worth their weight in galleons!

This book finds Harry preparing to start his third year at Hogwarts. As usual, he has to struggle with his non-wizard relatives, the Dursleys, as he gets ready to take the Hogwarts Express back to school. As in both of the first two books, there is a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (much to Snape's chagrin, as he wants the job). Harry is happy to be back with his friends Ron and Hermione, even if Hermione is becoming an even bigger striver than she was last year (taking several classes in the same time slot?).

The driver of this plot, as the title suggests, is a prisoner (Sirius Black) who has escaped from Azkaban, a wizard prison from which escape was thought to be impossible. Harry overhears that Sirius has killed Harry's parents and is now after him. This leads to all the usual twists and turns, action, new creatures, revelations of characters' history that made the first two books so enjoyable.

What I liked: The story moves right along. Each book is building on the last, showing us more of the back story even as we move forward in time. Things are, once more, not always as they seem.

I have some minor complaints about comma splices, characters being written as all-good or all-bad (Snape is still my favorite character, as he has at least a little ambiguity around him), and the use of "lizard" -- a reptile -- as a synonym for "salamander" -- an amphibian. OK, they were magic salamanders, but I'm pretty sure the taxonomy should hold. It's like calling a dolphin a fish. Ms Rowling also telegraphs a lot in her writing, but maybe you have to think of the primary audience. For example, if you can't figure out at least some aspects of the deeper secrets of Prof Lupin and Sirius Black, you're not really paying attention (or you're not into etymology).

But gosh -- minor complaints, really. These books are fantastic. I'm already 150 pages into the next one!

Of the first three Harry Potter books, I must say, this is the first where the nail was truly hit smack on the head, and I went "OMGSQUEE THAT WAS GOOD WHERE IS THE NEXT BOOK NOW?".

From start until finish, this is by far my favorite of the Potter books I have so far read. It's so... twisty. Spiraling back in on itself in more ways than one, and sometimes literally -- and actually changing how we see some of the characters already established. And I am such a fan of backstory -- getting a bit more knowledge of the past (especially, as here, in regard to Harry's parents) makes me quite happy indeed.

The plot's the best this far along in the series, and it's complex -- much moreso than either of the first two. It also has some of the neatest gadgets that J.K.R. has so far come up with; this one is such a page-turner.

Ms. Rowling's overall arc, as was predictable in the first few books, grows much more complex, and at many times, is so... touching. Touching and heartfelt -- you can't help but have empathy for so many of the characters.

Did I mention the nifty gadgets?

All in all, the plot and new characters make up for any other shortcomings. Don't start with this book, but definitely read it.

I only got started on the Harry Potter books at the end of '07 on the recommendation of my cousin. She told me that I would love it and so far I have. So far this is my favorite, I love the emotions and the lines that are starting to really be seen in the characters and watching them evolve is so real, I can remember feeling the same as some of the characters. Awesome book for new and old readers.

Harry is relieved to be back at Hogwarts for his third year with his friends Ron and Hermione even though he isn't completely safe. The escaped convict Sirius Black, a staunch supporter of Voldemort, is after Harry. Sequel to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. A very entertaining read.

EDIT: Some people mark audio reviews as "unhelpful", which I found strange, until I realized what Amazon does.
-- They pool audio and text reviews and place all of those reviews on each of the products' pages, regardless of form the material is taking. You wouldn't expect a book review on the DVD's page. In this case, every word is the same, but a book review tells you only about the story, not the quality of the audio product.
-- But any regular audiobook listener has experienced a great book poorly read, or hammed up, or a voice that grated on your nerves, or found a book you loved to listen to, but couldn't find the time to sit and read (Lord of the Rings for me).
-- A review of the author's work tells you NOTHING about the audio, and yet, if you try and find what you're getting into, you have to sift through MANY book reviews before finding out the quality of the voice work, as most people have reviewed the author and the book, rather than the audiobook.
-- So, here's a small review of the audiobook, if you're interested in purchasing that. If you're looking for a review of the author, I am not being unhelpful, but Amazon is. I will request that they change their policy and display the reviews separately.

... Jim Dale is one of the best voice actors I've ever listened to and he brought the books to life an a way that reading could never do. I like reading, but it's really incredible to have someone put a different voice to every character, displaying the emotions and tone of the interactions.
... They are a really phenomenal experience, and I've listened to them over again and again.

My son has listened to this excellently-read audiobook for a year now and is not sick of it! Enough said.

This book is by far the worst in the series. Not to say that it's a bad book but it's not the best. I really like Sirius and everything about Wormtail was really interesting but this book didn't reach the standards of the others by far. Again, hmmm...

With my very busy life and working three jobs I miss reading so very much. Now that I found my new faviorite kind of reading I find it hard to get out of my car LOL LOL.
I love the Audio books and the promptness of which Amazon is so very good at.
Love the books

I ordered this for my granddaughter and it arrived in great shape. I would order from this person again.
Thanks!

what else can i say that no one else has?- this is a GREAT book like all her others!!!

After finishing with the second book I stayed waiting for more, I wanted more, until I finally got this one... And was a thousand times much better, darker storyline, more excitment, for real fans or just for people who like to read I recommend this Book, like in the other books before it, you will go to a magical world filled with monsters and secrets, secrets that you will have to understand the hard way... and much more

I give it 5 stars and as soon as you read it you'll see why

I am a retired lawyer and I generally do not read fiction because I feel it is a waste of my time. I read the first Harry Potter book because I had heard so much about it. Now I am hooked on the series. The books have many layers and each one seems better and more complex than the previous one These books can be enjoyed at many levels so they are not just for the young. To really "get" the movies, it is necessary to read the book first too. I gave this book "only" four stars because I think book 4 will be even better. I do recommend reading the series in order though starting with book 1.

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" shows JK Rowling still in her prime. Harry,in his anger,practices magic in the Muggle world...instead of being punished by the Ministry of Magic,he must be sequestered in the tavern called the Leaky Cauldron. He learns that Sirius Black, a notorious serial killer and escaped fugitive from the wizarding prison of Azkaban, is after him. Harry learns about the Animagi, wizards capable of changing their form into those of animals, and of his protective spirit, the Patronus. Hermione shows she has the ability to "turn back time" with her Time Turner...thus able to take plenty of classes,and in the end,save the day.

"The Prisoner of Azkaban" is probably the most moving of the Harry Potter series as Harry learns the truth about himself and himself. He learns about prejudice from his new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,Remus Lupin,who faces discrimination because hes a werewolf. The fact that his father,James,had the ability to turn into a stag recalls the ancient legend of St.Patrick turning himself into a stag to escape murderous Druids. "Prisoner of Azkaban" has an intricate,engaging plot and brilliant characterization. Could JK Rowling hold onto her winning streak?