book 7 is easily the worst; wtf pd, lrn2read
if i had to arbitrarily order a series of poorly-concieved, torturously overplotted children's novels with half-assed worldbuilding, i'd go with the largely indisputable 5 >= 6 > 4 > 3 > 2 > 1 > 7
I think you are being overly hard on the series. If anything, I think it's about plotted as adequately as a series of children's books could be. The series takes a dive in the latter half, but it never gets really bad in the plotting department. Rowling's writing quality never improves though, and that is irritating.
3 > 5 > 6 > 4 > 7 > 1 > 2
Three, while not the biggest in terms of arc story, is the best self-contained "mystery" and by default the best in the series. Either five or six is the best in terms of arc (I think they may be about even, but I thought the series was aging by the time I finished six), although they fail as individual stories. Four is kind of half-and-half, and meandering in general. It reminded me of leisurely paced Victorian novels, not in style, but in structure and pacing (not afraid to wander about and the like. It is a good trait). Seven is a mess, only better than the first two books by virtue of it being written later, and thus of a higher quality. One is a good intro to the series, but that's about it. Two is the worst by a fair margin; the movie is a significant improvement over the book.
Actually, watching the first movie now, I think the movie is for the most part an improvement on the book, too. IIRC, though, the last act is a snorer (but isn't it in the book, too?).
