Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third novel in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. In this book, the saga continues as Harry is faced with dementors, the soul-sucking guards of Azkaban prison that bring icy depression into the wizarding world. The dementors are sent to guard the grounds of Hogwarts upon the escape of Sirius Black, the most wanted wizard of the age. Harry befriends a hippogriff, a huge winged lion, and learns deep secrets about his past, kept hidden from him by his closest guardians.
The novel was published on July 8, 1999, in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. Scholastic Inc. published it in the United States on September 8, 1999, two months after the release in the UK. In the UK, it sold 68,000 copies in the first three days of release and since has sold over three million copies in the country. The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, took five years to complete writing, while the second, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, took two years for Rowling. But she said this book, The Prisoner of Azkaban, was quite easy to write, taking only a year to finish. Rowling added that this book was "the best writing experience I ever had… I was in a very comfortable place writing [number] three. Immediate financial worries were over, and press attention wasn't yet by any means excessive" (Puig). It won several awards, including the 1999 Whitbread Children's Book Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the 2000 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel.
Upon the novel's release, The New York Times said that "The Prisoner of Azkaban may be the best 'Harry Potter' book yet." Others praised Rowling’s wit and charm in the story, while some detractors thought the plot was predictable and lacking in suspense. The book was eventually made into a major motion picture in 2004, ranking number one in the box office for its first two weeks in theaters. Many different editions were printed, including hardcovers, adult editions with a different cover than the original, and a Celebratory Edition, with a blue and purple border around the book.
