First things first, I felt the plot was a bit contrived. At its basic, it's a story about a first year magic student with a mysterious past being taught for the first time in his life about magic. Though the story, and especially the climatic ending felt very much like a James Bond movie to me, in that bizarre elements early in the story are neatly used to resolve plot issues later on. Not as bad a Q dishing out his fancy gadgets, but really close.

That aside, it is not an adults book, so I suppose one shouldn't expect a literary masterpiece. Actually, that's another issue: I've been told this book was written for adults, not teenagers or younger. That did not appear to be the case to me. The book, while good, seemed to have more in it designed for younger people to relate to.

I suppose it's a sign that I liked the book that I plan on reading the rest of the series to see what happens to Harry Potter, but all in all, I really fail to see why this became such a huge sensation. Perhaps it's because, assuming you don't have problems with witchcraft and such, parents and children alike can enjoy this. I haven't read enough fantasy books to really be a good judge, but this is probably a rarity.