I knew I didn't like Order of the Phoenix very much when Harry turned into a whiny, insufferable guy who felt sorry for himself for the first hundred pages of that book. It felt needless. On the one hand, there was a reason for it [the events from Goblet of Fire lead to Harry's chrysalis moment] and I could kind of understand that. On the other, there was absolutely nothing subtle about how Harry came across in those first hundred pages. The editors [who gave up at that point - they seemed to decide that JK Rowling was printing money, so thicker books couldn't hurt] could have handled this better. Could have made Harry a more subtle, believable character, but no. Harry turned into a brat.

I felt more-or-less exactly the same way about Armada's titular character Zack Lightman. On the one hand, I can sort of understand his anger management problems. On the other...it just feels so forced.

And that, in a nutshell, is the problem with Armada. Read more