The movie is indefensibly bad, which shows that no amount of money or hype can protect anything. And how lucky Harry Potter fans are with their adaptations.

The first book and first half of the second are decent, if cliche and generic (though you can tell some actual effort was put into worldbuilding). In fact, the Brother's subplot in the second book is one of the best fantasy stores I've read. And the idea of the hero being so overconfident he permanently cripples himself was such a bold choice I can only remember it ever happening once before (Earthsea).

But then the second half of that book happens, he magically turns into a half elf Chad and heals all wounds, and it just goes downhill from there.

I'd still recommend it as a great read for children, as it lacks the antiquated language of most other fantasy classics. But its not a high quality work and probably worthless for anyone above middle school.