The Prisoner of Azkaban is by far my favorite book in the Harry Potter series. The third book in the 7 book series by J.K. Rowling, the Prisoner of Azkaban really builds the backstory of the characters. It also introduces some history to the world of Harry Potter that hadn’t been portrayed before.
Going along with the previous two books, the Prisoner of Azkaban takes place during Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s third year at Hogwarts. Unlike the first two books, however, this is the first book where the main villain isn’t the feared Voldemort. This is a nice touch as it breaks up the repetitiveness in the series of the ever growing battle between Voldemort and Harry. The Prisoner of Azkaban also dives deeper into Harry’s parentage as well as what the Potter universe looked like before book one.
This book was a great springboard for the magical world of Harry Potter to explode into what it is today. Without Rowling going into more detail about Harry’s parents and really building the foundation of this fictional world, the attachment to characters later in the series wouldn’t have been as strong and thus some of the events less meaningful. This is why this book had the most impact on the success of the story about the boy who lives under the stairs.
Family Book Club 