Harry Potter

[Slant]

For those of you who haven't yet heard, the fifth Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) is coming out on June 21st of this year and will be 734 pages long!!  And yes, this is official!!  Place your order now, folks.

[Tage]

I just heard that earlier today. While I'm glad it's *finally* got a release date, after all the delays and crap I can't seem to get myself excited about it. And it sounds like it's going to be LONG.

[Spriggan]

well,it only took like 2 1/2 years to come out.  But i realy think how long it took this book to comeout will hurt the Harry Potter craze.  It will sell very well, but i just don't think that it will ever reach the level of popularity that it had when the fourth book was released.  Just the fact that the second movie dropped out of the top 5 in less then a month shows that it's not as popular.  But i could be wrong just have to wait and see i guess.

[Slant]

When the 4th book came out, I happened to be working at a Waldenbooks.  I got to work at 9 or so (we opened at 10) and there was a CROWD outside waiting for the store to open up.  I'm talking some 200 people, many of whom had been waiting since 7 AM.  Just to be a complete tosspot, I grabbed one of the books from out of the back and stood some ten feet away from the gate reading bits of it to myself and going "oh wow" and "now THAT is awesome!"  They kept screaming at me to read it out loud from the beginning and I told 'em "sorry, I can't; against company policy."  I am so eeeeevil.

[Tage]

Bwahaha, you just got the award for coolest thing ever done at a bookstore.

[House of Mustard]

I would have to disagree with Spriggan.  Harry Potter has only been out for 9 weeks and has made 255 million.  The only movies on the current list that have made more are Star Wars 2 - 310 mil in 11 weeks and LOTR - 283 mil in 4 weeks.  If I was in a mood to do more research, I would look up the first Harry Potter to see what it made, but I'm feeling lazy.

[Mr_Pleasington]

The only problem I see is that her target audience is aging.  Of course, her books have gotten progressively more advanced, so it's not really.  Plus, I imagine for every kid who grew into a teenager and now think HP are "stupid kid books" there are probably ten new kids who have just read them.  Not to mention the adults.  

Rumor has it that this book is 1/3 longer than the fourth, which puts it around 1000 pages if I'm not mistaken.

I'm really looking forward to this.

[Nicadymus]

I still haven't read any of these books, but from the way that you guys are talking about them I may have to break down and give them a shot.

[Mr_Pleasington]

I was the same way Nicadymus, until my sister got all four for Christmas a few years back.  I had an open night and thought I'd give the first one a read...Six hours later I had finished the first three.  

They really are entertaining.

[Nicadymus]

I suppose I will have to break down and read them, but I have to finish Robert Jordan's, The Eye of the World first.

[Fellfrosch]

No you don't, you just think you do.

[Slant]

Actually the Harry Potter books are a much more fun read than the Wheel of Time series.  The first bookk was a bit childish, but with each book she becomes more sure in her writing style and more confident in her world, and it shows.  I found myself trying to slog through the Wheel of Time.  While it is good, the main character is whiny and I just can't find myself empathising with any of the characters.  Having gone to a huge and prestigious boarding school in my youth, I feel much more a part of the world of Harry Potter.  Plus, I hear that in the last book Harry uses his magic to hook up with Britney Spears.  No, I'm tellin' ya, it's gonna happen!  What?  You don't believe me?

Hmmph!  Muggles!

[Mr_Pleasington]

I got through four of the Wheel of Time books before I gave up.  The first one is good, but it's a steady downhll slide after that.   Despite being much less mature, the Harry Potter series is certainly more entertaining in my book.

[Nicadymus]

I will agree that the main character is pretty whiny, and that I am having a hard time connecting with any of the characters, but I just thought the book was slow getting started.  If it isn't going to get any better I may just not spend my time reading a book that I am not really enjoying.

Thanks for the info.

[Entropy in Exile]

robert jordan rules.  

seriously, i like his stuff. ive got 1 - 9 of the wheel of time. hes taking his own sweet time writing them tho.

yes, the main character is whiny. later on however, he becomes an absolute bastard. hes more coldhearted than dracula, apart from women. he manages to nearly die about 3 times because he refuses to attack women.

the other characters do improve a bit, and more come in (plus some die).

as far as i can tell, it is impossible for the series to end before book 12, considering all the plot lines lying around.

the magic system is one of the best. not as good as Mage : the Ascension from white wolf (i bought it recently. good game), but better than most other fantasy series.

and harry potter is poo. the story is told well, and the author has managed to appeal to a lot of people, but i take exception to a book that uses words like "hogwarts". plus, some people act like its this most incredible and revolutionary tale. is it bo**ocks. ursula le guin did the whole wizard school thang anges ago, and hogwarts is nothing, nothing compared to the majesty of terry prattchets Unseen University (UU) - you know a university where the library has no fixed size, and the librarian can stack shelves while hanging upside down from other shelves has a lot going for it.