Final Harry Potter release date announced (SPOILER ALERT, THANKS TO TAK :P)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/01/new.potter.date.ap/index.html
Now I know I have to live at least until July 22nd.
Also, I found the bolded quotes particularly amusing.
LONDON, England (AP) -- Harry Potter fans, the end is near.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the last of seven installments of J.K. Rowling's mega-selling international phenomenon, will be published July 21 -- at midnight, of course, a time to be marked by celebrations and more than a few tears, as Rowling wraps up the magical adventures of the boy wizard, his friends and his enemies.
The author posted a brief announcement on her Web site Thursday, followed soon by releases from her British publisher, Bloomsbury, and U.S. publisher, Scholastic Inc.
Readers immediately rejoiced, with dozens of ecstatic messages posted on the Potter fan site, www.theleakycauldron.com, within minutes of the announcement.
"OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!!!!" read one typical message.
"WAH!!! I think I'm going crazy!!!! We finally have a date!!!" added another fan.
Other comments were sadder, noting the series' conclusion.
"I can't wait to read the book, but at the same time, I'm afraid to read it," read a message from a fan named Christine, who identified herself as a "30-something" mom. "I can't stand the thought of anything happening to the characters that I've grown to love! What an odd feeling." (Are you excited? Disappointed? Chime in on CNN.com's Marquee blog.)
Potter readers have a lot to look forward to, and to fear. Rowling's stories have darkened considerably over the years and the author has said two characters will be killed off in Book 7.
"I don't always enjoy killing my characters. I didn't enjoy killing the character who died at the end of Book 6," Rowling said during a reading last summer at Radio City Music Hall, declining to name that person in case someone had yet to finish the book. "I really didn't enjoy doing that but I had been planning that for years so it wasn't quite as poignant as you might imagine. I'd already done my grieving when I actually came to write it."
The print run and number of pages have yet to be revealed, but judging from the suggested cover price, a meaty $34.99, $5 more than Potter 6, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the last book will likely match or exceed the 600-plus page length of previous releases.
"We have held the price for the past four years," Scholastic publicist Kyle Good told The Associated Press. "In that time, costs of production, paper, trucking, gas and security -- to be sure all readers can enjoy the book at the release time -- have all increased."
Many fans will pay much less for "Deathly Hallows," with Amazon.com quickly announcing the book would be sold for $18.89, a 46 percent discount. Price competition has been so intense over the years that many retailers have acknowledged they don't make money on the fantasy series, depending instead on customers buying other books along with Potter.
Since Rowling first introduced Harry and his fellow students at Hogwarts to the world 10 years ago, with a now comically modest promotional campaign, the books have sold more than 325 million copies in 64 languages and inspired four hit movies.
The fifth film, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," is scheduled to come out July 13, just eight days before the final book's release.
Now I know I have to live at least until July 22nd.
Also, I found the bolded quotes particularly amusing.
Comments
Also, book 6 was depressing, like the whole way through. Maybe this one will be a little brighter, despite Rowling's mad killing spree.
They're good books though.
And it's been happening increasingly now a days, like I get pining sensations when I remember back to my N64 days.
I'm only 16, why the hell is this happening already
Just be glad you are getting your ending! I've read 11 books, most over 600 pages to get where I am in my story and have been confronted with the possibility that the story may not get finished. I can only be happy to see that nothing like this has come up in a story as popular as the Potter books.
I predict that the final book is only going to be five pages. Harry is going to buckle from the pressure of it all. Crying, he will slowly put his wand in his mouth and cast Avada Kedavra.
I want to see it in theatres.
What, that's supposed to be a spoiler? It's about as much a spoiler as who gets killed in FF7: everyone knows, regardless of whether or not they know anything else about the story. ... But yet here I am, still respecting the "spoilers" anyway. Bizzare.
Now that sounds like a book worth reading!
I ALSO AM RESPECTING SPOILERS....I BEING GENERAL SALT, OF COURSE
Anyway, while we're on the subject of series and the like, Lord of the Rings was just the three books, right?
unless jack bauer kill hary and like 50 other guys I will porbably not read it.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy itself was just three books, but there are other materials that take place within the same world. The Hobbit, a direct prequel, is the most widely known, but there is also a Bible-like book called "The Silmarillion" which is kinda like the creation story for Middle-Earth. And I think there's also some smaller things, but I'm not certain.
But just in case, when I said prequel what I was thinking was that The Hobbit comes chronologically before LOTR. I guess prequel and sequel have some connotations that I didn't intend.
Just gotta read the 6th book. And maybe re-read book 4 and 5. Its a shame. After the 3rd book, when I was like 9, I was really hyped up about the series. I went to a little fan site that had news about any new releases, BEFORE she had a website, before there were any movies, and I went to buy the 4th book at the midnight sale they had at the barnes n noble I live near... and then she had a kid. And then the next book was delayed. And after a while, I lost some interest. The interest came back breifly for book 5, but yeah. I think I just got tired of waiting. Plus, it's weird, reading a book about a kid thats about the same age as you. It started off when I was about 7 or 8 years old when I read the first book, but now I'll be 17 for book 7. And JK Rowling makes Harry seem like a whiny bitch. I'm not saying teenagers aren't whiny bitches all the time... it's just that I don't wanna read about a whiny bitch.
Plus, getting older has also changed my standards, haha. I used to think Harry Potter was the most amazing series EVER!!! And now, while I still think they're good books, they're not the bestest yet.
I think most people agree that Goblet of Fire was the best book. It was such a good book that its release seems to have been a big part of Harry Potter gaining so much more popularity. It may have just been a coincidence, but the movies started after the release of 4, and of course, that brought the series to everyone's attention, whether they'd read it or not. I thought the first book was good, 2 and 3 were ok, 4 was great, and 5 was pretty good, but not as good as 4. 6 would have been great if she left half of the angsty teen stuff out of it*. But I still like the series over-all, and I'm gonna pre-order the last book.
*book 6 rant (probably not a spoiler): If you've just gone through five years of near-death experiences and your only hope of survival (and the only skill you'll need for a successful career) is magic, wouldn't you devote a little bit of time to studying. I can understand being an irresponsible teen who wants to blow off schoolwork to do awkward teen socializing, but when magic even plays a role in gaining the respect of your peers, ya think you'd try a little harder to become proficient. It's not like he's learning about accounting and thinking, "when will I need this?", he's learning the very skills that will enable him to accomplish his own desire for revenge. I just think his character starts to become unrealistic with his whining and general stupidity. Neville should be the star of the books.
I liked that plot setup myself....WHEN IT WAS DRAGON WARRIOR IV FOR THE NES
That game sounds pretty sweet.