<p>I normally roll my eyes at any mass craze and try to stay away from it, so I’ve never read any of the Harry Potter books.</p>
<p>However, one of my best friends (whose reading tastes I really respect) is absolutely crazy about Harry Potter and loved Book 6. She mentioned they were 16 and the conflict surrounding it was more appropriate for that age level.</p>
<p>So would I be lost if I picked up Book 6 without having read any of the Harry Potter books?</p>
<p>I looked at the summery for Book 1 on Amazon and I couldn’t even get through that. It seemed incredibly too science fiction for my tastes with wizards and stuff. So I’m in no way interested in reading Book 1. I would however like to at least understand why the craze for Harry Potter.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t. Part of the Harry Potter craze is not the actual plot (even though that’s part of it), but the world that J.K. Rowling has created. And you’ll miss A LOT of both the plot and the world by skipping to book six.</p>
<p>None of the book will really strike you in any way without having read the other books. The impact felt by what happens in all the books, and this book even moreso than the rest, is not as drastic without having read the rest of the series preceding it.</p>
<p>I only read the first book but don’t remember anything about it. It would probably be confusing to read the 6th book without having read the others first though.</p>
<p>You absolutely cannot do it. The book would become next to meaningless to you without having read the others, which I feel you must at least give a chance before turning them down just because of the summary.</p>
<p>You can’t. I was even confused by some of the references, and I’ve read all the books… There are just too many names and relationships to keep track of without having known any of their history.</p>
<p>Do they sell every book in paperback? I went to walmart and they only had sorcerer’s stone, chambers of secrets and prisoner of azcaban (I cannot spell that right obviously) in paperback. The others were those huge hardbacks. :/</p>
<p>Right now they only have books 1-5 in paperback. It usually takes awhile for the newest book to come out in paperback. A lot of times they’ll have them at Costco at a good discount.</p>
<p>I don’t think we have a Costco here. Where are you? We have something called Reader’s Corner here that is pretty cheap. They sell used books. I think I will try to buy some of the Harry Potter ones next time I go in if they have any copies.</p>
<p>I think there’s one in Connecticut (my dad lives there), but I think you’re right about the East Coast in general. Here it seems like there’s one in every suburb, and when I visited my dad we had to drive for an hour to get to it (although it was like 10 years ago). Just as well for you though… I’m addicted to Costco. There are all these “good deals” on bulk items, but then I get home and wonder where I’m going to put 52 rolls of toilet paper. </p>
<p>Try Target then – last time I was at mine, they had an entire Harry Potter section.</p>
<p>Book 6 encompasses quite a bit, alluding to events and characters from the previous books. Past books may have given a brief explanation of each thing for those who had not read prior books, but I would not say that of book 6. You’ll be lost if you haven’t read the other books, and it may spoil a lot if you then decide after finishing it to go back and read the others…Start at the beginning.</p>
<p>The series really is not like science fiction. It is, however, filled with magic and supernatural events/things/people…There’s a lot of mythology in the series, and it is also very emotional. There are plot twists everywhere. I do not like science fiction at all; this is not like that. Just try it. Read book one, and you will see that the summary could not give you an accurate feel of the novels.</p>