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lol I would kind of like to see what she could do with a different world. I mean, the Harry Potter books had this phenomenal world. I think she is creative enough to come out with one that is just as great. :)


Tiffany wrote: "How long must we wait? LOL."
Well, Rowling said that she was waiting until the last HP movie was done. Soooo... I'm guessing in 4 months to a year...
Well, Rowling said that she was waiting until the last HP movie was done. Soooo... I'm guessing in 4 months to a year...
I know, me too! I LOVE authors who have the ability to create a world that readers feel sucked into. I love it!

I would loved more books from her, but she also says she won't be publishing any more novels. But in earlier interviews she say she is working on writing. But if the working was all for Pottermore is hard to say. Still living in hope for more books.
‘I have no plans to write another novel,’ she revealed at the Pottermore press conference. ‘I'm pretty sure I'm done on the novel front. But it was fun while it lasted.’
‘I have no plans to write another novel,’ she revealed at the Pottermore press conference. ‘I'm pretty sure I'm done on the novel front. But it was fun while it lasted.’

Even if she did want to continue writing novels, I'd suggest doing it under a different name so they could get a fair reading. Sure, she'd sell fewer books, but they'd have an easier time finding the right market.
My understanding is that S. Meyer's The Host is very unlike Twilight, yet every third Twilight fan picked it up, and most of them didn't like it. She would have been better off publishing it under a different name.

As an aside, I attended a seminar with a librarian who was one of the lucky million beta users for Pottermore and it looks very cool. Even if she doesn't do more Potter novels this will be a good place for Potter junkies to go for a fix ;-).

I don't think she could ever compete with HP again, ya know? You went up so far and how can you ever top that?!

I agree. Wouldn't be surprised if she comes out with it again. She so rich, she doesn't have to write again.





http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02...


And Harshini, I'm sure you can read it before you turn 18! I think what they all mean here is it's not going to be kid-oriented with kid main characters. But it should be good to read for anyone of any age just like, say, the classics that feature only adults.


It's not that OOTP is a bad book, but basically about 2/3rs of it could have been cut without doing any harm to anyone's understanding of the greater plot.
Take Dumbledore's Army: okay, it's cool, and I enjoyed reading it, but the entire purpose we spend close to 100 pages on it is so Nevile, Luna, and Ginny can do a convincing job of not getting killed at the Ministry.
The Order of the Phoenix: What precisely is the point of that? At no point in the story do we see them actually do anything that requires a secret headquarters or regular meetings. Did OOTP do anything during HBP? How about during DH? If they did, we never heard about it, which means we didn't need to spend nearly as much time setting it up in this book. From what I can tell, the only reason the Order exists is to play the white hats and come to the rescue at the Ministry.
Dystopian Ministry of Magic: It's cool. I liked it. But since the Ministry does an about turn ten minutes after book five is done, and completely collapses in book seven, there's not so much need for this much detail about it.
Then there's the Ministry Fiasco. It's not a bad fight, and the whole reason this story exists is to get us to that point, but how does the fight there help the greater plot?
It doesn't. (Okay, yes, there's the prophecy thing, but if Dumbledore had the tactical skills of grass this would have been a non-issue.)
By the time I was done with OOTP I was convinced that Dumbledore was purposely using Snape to open Harry's mind wide open to Voldie so they'd go running into the Ministry, get into a big fight there, and that way the Wizarding World at large could no longer claim Voldie wasn't back. That would have been taking a step closer to getting all the players in order for the final conflict.
Then I read DH and realized that was giving Dumbledore way more credit than he was worth.
HBP came out, and we suddenly know that Dumbledore's had this whole Horcrux thing up his sleeve, and instead of using this collection of very talented Wizards and Witches that he's got at his beck and call, he's keeping the whole thing a secret. I mean think about it: wouldn't using the Order to find Horcruxes make a certain amount of sense? So, when HBP comes out we find out that OOTP existed for no real purpose. There were things they could have been doing, stuff that could have happened in the background that would have been useful and laid groundwork for DH so that we wouldn't have hundreds of pages of aimless camping.
Anyway, given what came before, OOTP is not a natural successor. Given what comes later, it does nothing to help keep the plot going and provide useful background work. Pretty much the only bit of it that made sense from the greater plot arc is that it set up the background necessary for Kick Ass Nevile to save the day in DH.
What it does is let us know that our nearest and dearest don't ever really leave us. But that's a ton of pages to give us that message, and the stuff supporting it was something of a waste.
Mostly what I'm saying is I would have liked her to have worked with a trusted story editor, someone who could have gone through her entire plot, beginning to end, and helped her create a tighter story that hung together better.

I remember in an interview, she talked about how starting with Azkaban, things start to change. Part of that was Harry growing up, but a big impact on her was that her mom died between 2 and 3 and she says that, while it didn't change the plot sketch, which she had mapped out right at the beginning, it changed how she wrote about things, making things deeper and darker. Maybe that shifted things in a way you didn't like.

I was very cool with the deeper and darker, and trust me, I love depth of character and tons of back story, I just want it to have something to do with the greater plot arc. I mean, I liked all the books, but I did feel cheated when DH came out and there was no grand plan. When it turned out that basically everything we learned in OOTP was either useless or left out, I was bummed. There are so many intriguing threads, and she did nothing with them.
In OOTP Harry learns no useful skills. He doesn't grow up in any meaningful way. All the real action in regards to Voldie happens off-screen. The things we do spend time with: the OOTP, the DA, the Ministry/Umbridge, working on Occlumency, and the relationship with Cho, all get dropped by the next book.
I would have happily spent 2000 pages on all of that if the Order had been doing something useful or if DH had split point of view so we could have followed Neville and the rest of the DA as they used what they learned. Or if Harry actually learned Occlumency in the next book and we got to see how it really worked. Or if his crush on Cho was actually useful for preparing him for loving Ginny... I can go on, but you get the idea.
I would have practically wet my pants with joy if there had been an entire extra novel on Snape and Lupin.
So, yeah, minimalist isn't precisely the right word. But I hate feeling like out of a thousand page novel, maybe 300 of them were actually tied into the story.

Yea, you make really good points. And I said minimalist in fun, but realized after it might not have come across that way. I guess I was just making the point that things can be valuable w/o furthering the plot, that plot is only part of it. But it sounds like you agree.
I have to tell you, I had issues with OOTP too. It's my least favorite I think. There was a lot of teenage emoting and huffing and puffing which got tiresome. But I think the point of the DA was Harry developing into a leader. I was ok with the way that played out. The point I think was just that - to take matters into their own hands, make a decision to be defiant, and learn to fight back. Skills they got to use at the ministry. And as for the Order of the Phoenix, I think that was just 'off stage'. Things were happening there, but we just didn't see it (maybe not great to name the book after it then! So point taken there!). I think with the DA Harry and friends sort of made their own 'order'.
I have to say though that I loved Deathly Hallows, which was my favorite. I thought the end, the face off between V and H was a masterpiece. And I guess I did experience that one as having plan and furthering plot. But definitely there was a bit too much relying on luck and last minutes to make it work. But that slog and wondering and living rough and feeling lost was powerful. I think life really is like that a lot of the time, even if it works out well in the end.
And I guess for me, again, furthering the story wasn't the only thing. Or the story had so many levels, those thousand pages fed the other levels, fleshed things out, fleshed that world out.
And yes, an extra novel on Snape and Lupin would be great! I actually thought Snape was the most interesting character in the book, at the end of the day.

Yea, you make really good points. And I said minimalist in fun, but realized after it might not have come across that way. I guess I was just making the point that things can be valuable w..."
I agree with you on Snape. Loved him on so many levels, and was so horrendously disappointed with what she did to him in Deathly Hallows.
I think Goblet of Fire was my favorite, followed up by HBP.
I loved the last scene where Harry says he's ready to die.
I loved DH when I read it, but then I sat there after and thought, Wait, was that it?
Like you pointed out, she did a smashing job with the emotions, but that was pretty much all there was in that story. She had to dismantle and remake her magical system to get the final confrontation to work the way she wanted it to. I am an author, and I can tell you that if you see plain stupid luck save the day more than once, you're looking a story where the author lost the reins on the plot.
My guess is that she never had a really solid idea for how they'd find the Horcruxes, just that they would. Likewise I don't think she had any idea of how the final battle would really work, other than Harry would sacrifice himself, and Voldie would die by his own hand.
So, yeah, I read for plot. I want all the other stuff. I want fabulous characters doing wonderful things. And I often wonder, if Snape had gotten the end I thought he deserved, if I would have forgiven the rest of what I consider wonky plot and bad story telling in DH. I probably would have.
Oh well. I still liked it. I'm glad you did, too. And I hope we'll both enjoy whatever she comes up with next.

I loved Goblet too... my second favorite, and my favorite of the movies (though I couldn't stand Michael Gambone - so, in spite of that). Maybe HBP tied for second fave.

Yeah, the coincidence factor is a pretty good indicator of an author who's written himself into a corner.
I mean, we all do it because sometimes people do just stumble onto things. I've done it, you've done it, but if it happens over and over, and your plot absolutely depends on it... Yikes!
And mysteries... Okay, so Midsommer Murders is one of my favorite TV shows. I absolutely adore Barnaby. But there was something like four or five episodes in a row where he appeared to be stumbling into clues and taking leaps of intuition that bordered on psychic to figure out the crimes. No wonder Troy (his sidekick) couldn't follow his ability to solve the crimes, they were basically magic.


I liked the books quite a bit, but, fair warning they're pretty dark.
The show is less dark, more 'likeable' but a whole lot of fun. I thought it got a bit rough 'round about season four (Incredible Psychic Barnaby to the rescue!) but there are 11 seasons, so it probably got better.
The show's on netflix streaming if you've got that. The hubby and I are working our way through watching them all.


I think they're well written. (Except for near psychic Barnaby eppys.) But the humor is fantastic and the characters are excellent. Hope you like them.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/...