Oh, but she did write it for the first 6 books. That's the problem. She did set up these expectations *in the text itself*, and then she simply dropped them. She also failed to foreshadow the Deathly Hallows in the first 6 books. There was *nothing* special about Harry's cloak, for example; in GOF, Barty Crouch could see right through it. Yes, it was rare and expensive, like all invisibility cloaks, but there was nothing unique about it. That's just one example of her failure to set up her story and to follow through.
Of course, I didn't like the story she ultimately told, either. And yes, that is my problem. But the story she ended up telling in DH is *not* the story she led us to expect in the first five - maybe even the first six - books. That is not my problem as a reader. It's Rowling's failure as a writer. She is quite gifted, and could and should have done better than this at setting up the story she ultimately wanted to tell. Had she done so, as Sionna Raven has said, I would have known what to expect and wouldn't have wasted my time on these books. As it is, I feel as though I've been subjected to a bait and switch, and I'm not alone.
no subject
Of course, I didn't like the story she ultimately told, either. And yes, that is my problem. But the story she ended up telling in DH is *not* the story she led us to expect in the first five - maybe even the first six - books. That is not my problem as a reader. It's Rowling's failure as a writer. She is quite gifted, and could and should have done better than this at setting up the story she ultimately wanted to tell. Had she done so, as Sionna Raven has said, I would have known what to expect and wouldn't have wasted my time on these books. As it is, I feel as though I've been subjected to a bait and switch, and I'm not alone.