So, I am sure the world is waiting to know what I thought of it; actually, it's very good. Although it is long, it does not feel flabby like the last book. It is by far the darkest of the books, with familiar object and characters dying off left, right and centre — it's clear that she does not want to leave any possibility of a follow up. The plot is fast and thick. As previously, she starts fast, then slows for the middle, then speeds up again. I though that she managed to tie up all the loose ends rather well, with her rapid style mostly covering up the technobabble (or whatever the magical equivalent is).

I'm glad she's managed to pull it off. With the combination of Harry Potter and Northern Lights, we seen two epic serials released. I am sure that they will be read for many generations to come, but only we will be lucky enough to have had the anticipation of waiting for the new books as they arrive.

The Mouth of the Tyne festival was excellent as always. I didn't get to see as much of it as I wanted, but I saw some great Blues (Stax Brothers), an excellent French jazz band who were fabulous, the Blockheads who were stonking. Finally, I got to see Courtney Pine again — I've managed to miss him for the last 15 years, so it was particularly irritating that the rain made me miss some of this.