Larry reviews what is already a literary classic, the first of the Harry Potter series, The Philosophers/Sorcerers Stone was published on 26 June 1997 by Bloomsbury in London. In 1998 Scholastic Corporation published an edition for the United States market under the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Harry Potter, a series not even old enough to drink is a classic to be loved for many generations. ~TheFoundingFields.com

I did not read Harry Potter until later in life, though I wish I would have discovered it when I was younger, hell I was 18 and just graduating from high school when the books where first released in the UK. I remember it was May of 2004 when I first decided to give the books a try, I had just went on active duty in the United States Army and was staying at my moms house, which happened to be pretty close by, bored out of my mind.  I went to the local store and they had all of the Harry Potter books that where out at the time on their shelves. I picked up the first book and headed back to the house to read it.  By the next day I went back and picked up the next two in the series, I was officially hooked, and what the fans call a Potterhead.

J.K. Rowling does what so many authors try to do, she captures you and throws you into the story. You begin to truly bond with the people in the story and feel their pains and want to help them deal with the struggles as they live their lives. When I started reading I wanted to reach into the pages and smack the Dursley family for being ignorant, intolerable gits.  At times you dislike some of the main characters, much as you would dislike a sibling, but in time you get over it and begin to love them again. In the books you get to meet some truly wonderful and evil people both, you get to know them, love them or hate them. She easily rivals King and Martin in character creation.

Overall I would recommend this book and the rest of the series to anyone who can read. My oldest son Xavier, who is 10 has already finished, and now owns his own set of Harry Potter books, he, like myself was captured by them and finished them up pretty quickly, which is saying something since he has severe ADHD. The books where able to engage him to keep him on track and focused.

The only real complaint I have with this book, and the following two was the length. Since she was an unknown at the time the publishers would not allow her over a certain page count.  I wish that the book could be rewritten where they do not feel so clipped.

Score: 10/10