JK Rowling has written a prequel to the Harry Potter series, apparently.
I knew this was going to happen. I told my friends it would happen. They swore to me she wouldn’t do it because she promised not to. I reserve the right to say “I told you so” to quite a few people. Charities aside, considering the money she made on the rest of the franchise, is it really that suprising that she’s still going to make books about this series? I mean hell, does this woman even HAVE any other series she’s done/is working on? I probably won’t read the books, but I’ll go watch/ then buy the movies. oh well…
MT
Yes, a mystery novel.
It’s 800 words. That’s under 4 pages of double-spaced typing. Cute, but hardly “making books.”
If I were her I would leave a good peice of work alone and start working on a new series. Unless of course I were going to get some cash. Cash is one my favorite things to have. Beyond cash, I have principles.
Do you think this wizard world will become another aging whore like Xanth?
Don’t know, but I’m saving my pennies for the Hermione’s Hooters issue of Playboy.
We’ll see. This hardly represents a full-fledged return to writing novels in this series, and she is offering it up for charity. It could presage a return to Harry Potter novels, but it doesn’t have to, and for the moment I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.
[Bender] Forget it, you can’t tempt me
[Robot Devil] Really? There’s nothing you want?
[Bender] Hmm, I forgot you could tempt me with things I want . . .
What the hell would a prequel to Harry Potter even be? All he did was live with the Dursleys, and they barely even let him out to eat, let alone have any novel-worthy adventures. Does the world really need “Harry Potter and the Douche-Bag Dudders”?
Maybe it focuses on his mother and father’s final hours and how she saved him.
So what House will Jar-Jar be in?
Messa think he a Hufflepuff.
It’s only 800 words? Eight hundred words? That’s about half the length of the shortest feature article I’ve ever written! That’s too short to submit as a “short story,” and it would have to be almost 10 times that long to be a “novella.” Your typical novel these days is 100 times that long. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was over 1/4 million words.
Heck, Scylla’s famous SDMB blimp post was over 1,200 words.
This thing could be published on a single side of a single sheet of paper without even making it uncomfortably small print.
I wouldn’t consider it a return to the world of Harry Potter novels.
Perhaps it’s 800 words on Harry’s jealousy re Dudley’s tricycle or Aunt Marge’s dogs treeing Harry…
Having just reread the series, I can see JKR giving out dribs and drabs like this for decades more. The thought does not give me pleasure. I likes me some Harry Potter, but IMO she needs to either write another book about him or not. Not this kind of stuff. ( I am finding her writing somewhat pedantic these days).
But it’s good the proceeds went to charity, so there is that.
Here are her own words on it. It clarifies its origins somewhat. It’s about James Potter and Sirius Black a few years before Harry was born.
800 words of slashfic on Dumbledore’s youth. (He’s gay, you know.)
I was so completely disapointed by the last book (killing one of the twins?? Hedwig?? Leaving Ron Hermione and Hagrid completely out of the action???) that not only will I NOT read this, I don’t even think I’ll re-read the series again.
From the OP:
It’s not like it’s in book form. And any real prequel would likely be about Harry’s parents, not toddler Harry drooling on his lincoln logs.
You can read the card. Go to http://www.waterstoneswys.com/ and click on “Read our authors’ stories.” Click on J K Rowling. There are some other authors you might enjoy as well.
She hand-wrote 800 words purely to raise money for charity.
As others have said, it’s not even a short story.
How long before it turns out that the ability to use magic is dependent on microscopic organisms?