Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in JK Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter series.  It's the second year at Hogwarts for Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione and a dark omen foretelling the opening of the long lost Chamber of Secrets has been scrawled on the wall in blood.  Many in the school fear that Harry is responsible for the mysterious attacks on muggle born students, and even Harry is beginning to wonder if he's losing his mind.  Why can no one else hear the strange and malicious murmuring that's echoing about the school?  Why is Doby the house elf willing to see Harry gravely injured as long as it means he will leave the school?  Who is the Heir of Slytherin and what foul beast does he control?

The Chamber of Secrets storyline diverges quite a bit from the wonderful story of discovery and friendship described in the first book.  This novel begins to set the scene for the darkness that envelopes later volumes, and helps to show the reader that the wizarding world is just as dangerous as the 'real' world.  It also begins to show more clearly the prejudice that plagues the wizarding world, and it is also a wonderfully suspenseful tale.

Though the first novel is by far my favorite of the series, this second volume cannot be overlooked if you wish to fully understand the overall story of the series.  It helps to flesh out the backgrounds of several characters, as well as gives new light to what seemed rather mundane in the first novel.  If you've read the first Harry Potter book, then I definitely hope you've already picked this one up as well.  If you have yet to start, then you are definitely missing out on what I believe is this generation's Star Wars or Star Trek.