LONDON - Harry Potter fans are split between loving and loathing J.K. Rowling's seventh and last book in the series, with some "in awe of her genius" and others calling it "shambolic" in Internet forums Saturday.
Hours after "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows" went on sale at one minute past midnight (2301 GMT) in most countries worldwide, online chatrooms were buzzing with comments from readers who were up all night with the book.
"HP7", as it is known in cyberspace, got a mixed reaction from diehard fans, with some expressing anger that Rowling had brought the curtain down on the hugely popular series in the manner she did.
"A shambolic and disappointing end to a great series," wrote Cooper2085 on Mugglenet, a website devoted to all things Potter.
"Why did you lie to us JKR (Rowling) about everything?... Alot of people will be angry with this."
Publication of the 607-page book had wrecked any hope that online leaks of the book earlier this week were fake, user LGMB added on the same site.
"Now I have to face the fact that the book I read was indeed the actual book, despite how horribly disappointing it was," they added.
"I'll say no more."
Others, though, were excited by the story.
"I, like many others sat up through the night to read this after the midnight opening and I can honestly say the tiredness was completely worth it!" wrote Ms. R. Blow on the website of retailer Amazon.
"Rowling has brought her wonder series to an end in style with every loose end tied up, and leaving you in awe of her genius."
Another fan, called Sirus Black on the Chatmag site, wrote: "Needless to say, the book was INCREDIBLE."
And Princess Lauren, writing on Mugglenet around 2:30 pm (1330 GMT), added: "I'm from the UK, got it at midnight and I finished it about an hour ago.
"I sobbed about 6 times through the whole book and spent a good half hour sobbing after I'd finished it. I loved it."
Harry Potter fan site The Leaky Cauldron asked its readers what they thought of the book in a poll.
Of those who expressed clear opinions, around 80 percent said they liked it and 15 percent said that they did not.
07/21/2007 19:13 GMT