As Harry Potter prepares for his sixth year at Hogwarts, things in the Wizarding world have taken a turn for the worse. The Death Eaters pose an increasingly dangerous and united front. Powerful witches and wizards have been killed or simply disappear as the Dark Lord's followers become more brazen. The Dark Mark appears in the sky only too often.

Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore protects his school as best he can, ensuring life maintains some semblance of normalcy for his students and their teachers. This year, Hogwarts enlists not only a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but also a new Potions master. Having completed their O.W.L.S., the sixth years are out from under the stress of exams and resume their classes. With Snape no longer Potions master, Harry no longer dreads Potions class, and in fact, excels at it.

Unbeknownst to the new Potions master, who thinks Harry quite brilliant, Harry has more than a little help with potions in the form of an old text book he lucks into. The book, once the property of the self-proclaimed Half-Blood Prince, is at least 50 years old and obviously had been the property of a gifted wizard...or witch. Although every attempt to learn the Prince's identity fails, Harry is unconcerned. He feels that whoever the Prince is (or was), he (or she) is a teacher and ally.

Dumbledore takes Harry more firmly under his wing this year and tries to prepare him for the fight ahead. Once again, they use the Pensieve to delve more deeply into the riddle of Lord Voldemort. Together they search Voldemort's past for information that will give them more insight into the mind of the enigmatic boy who became the most powerful dark wizard of his generation. As always, Harry bravely faces his future and proves himself worthy of the title "The Chosen One." But as time goes by, Harry begins to realize that even surrounded by friends, he's never been so alone.

This may be the best book of the series. The themes are becoming more serious and complex as the series moves forward. Rowling gives us lots of back story about Tom Riddle in this novel. Again there's a major character's death for the students, teachers and readers to deal with. Not to say everything is doom and gloom! There's still a lot of fun to be had at Hogwarts and with the Weasleys. Fred and George own a successful shop in Diagon Alley. Filtch still enjoys threatening the students with cruel and unusual punishments. Harry, Ron and Hermione are all 16 going on 17, and there's a lot of falling in love and flirting going on. Quidditch is as much on the minds of the students as the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. Some old friends are back -- Kreacher, the treacherous house elf, has a small but memorable role, as does Dobby. I felt like a kid at Christmas when I picked up my copy of the new Harry Potter. Even though I hate the thought that with one more book the series will end, I'm already anticipating the conclusion to this magical, powerful series that appeals to so many readers of all ages and nationalities.