Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets seven books had been published, Graeme Davis regarded "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" as the weakest of the series, and agreed that the plot structure is much the same as in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". He described Fawkes's appearance to arm Harry and then to heal him as a "deus ex machina": he said that the book does not explain how Fawkes knew where to find Harry; and Fawkes's timing had to be very precise, as arriving earlier would probably have prevented the battle with the basilisk, while arriving later would have been fatal to Harry
The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter approval from Rowling, and has since received positive reviews from critics. An updated version of "The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter" was published in 2004 by Berkley Books. "The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter" explores the references to history, legends, and literature in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" novels. David Colbert, the author of the book, told the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" that the "Harry Potter" novels "are [...] literary treasure hunts for [Rowling's] readers. What seem like funny-sounding names and places and excursions into fantasy all have a basis in either history, myth or legend." He added, however, that he thinks