Mmmmmm Hermione Granger!

[Finless]

For those that are interested the release date of .... just read the report ....


Sixth Harry Potter Book Tops Amazon.com U.K. Best Seller List

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc., the world's biggest Internet retailer, said the sixth Harry Potter book jumped to number one on a list of the top 100 books on its U.K. Web site, less than a day after its publication date was announced.

Pre-orders of J.K. Rowling's ``Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince,'' which is being sold at a discount, earned the No. 1 spot in Amazon.com's chart, the retailer said in an e- mailed statement today.

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and Scholastic Corp., publishers of the books, said yesterday it will be released July 16 in the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

The Harry Potter titles have sold 250 million copies worldwide, fueling revenue growth at London-based Bloomsbury and U.S. publisher Scholastic. ``Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' sold 6.78 million copies in the U.K. and U.S. on its release date in June 2003.

The fifth book, ``Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,'' was the largest ever pre-order item on Amazon.com's U.K. Web site with 420,000 pre-orders last year, the retailer said.

Bloomsbury shares rose as much as 6 pence, or 2 percent, to 302 pence in London, after closing yesterday at a record 296 pence. Scholastic shares rose $1.51, or 4.2 percent, to close at $37.44 in New York yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story:

Peter Gotting in London at pgotting@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story:

Zimri Smith at zsmith@bloomberg.net; Lars

Klemming at lklemming@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 22, 2004 06:08 EST

[Garf]

dum de dum

[NotDeadYet]

Bah! Poorly written rubbish!!!

Phillip Pullman has started work on a fourth installment of His Dark Materials. Poncey little nerd boy that in any right thinking world would have his head flushed in the toilet, dinner money nicked and shoved in hedges every day on his way to school or the saga of a well hard chick that leads a revolution against a corrupt god backed up by an armoured bear, wholesale slaughter, human experimentation, perverse priesthood and two fingers rampant to church in general? Lara would kick Harry Potter's geeky little arse. Annnnnd... it is very well written too.

Happy memories of the Subtle Knife, read it in the chamber when I was bent. Great book!

[The Purist]

<pedant>
Lyra even?
</pedant>

HDM is a better 'adult' read than potter for sure - but sounds like the proposed movie is in trouble, which is no bad thing. About time book 4 came along, as the 'trilogy' ended pretty naffly IMHO.

Shan't say where I read them, except it was mildly radioactive

[ScubaK@]

I love em both, so pah!

[NotDeadYet]

Doh! I knew it didn't sound right when I wrote it!!!

I was very sceptical when I heard they were doing a movie. The BBC R4 version was very watered down, they made Lyra (yes, got it right this time) sound about 5yrs old, Iorek had a Yorkshire accent (not good for a fierce polar bear, "ay up, Lyra") and they cut out all the scary and offensive bits. The book has a real tirade against organised religion which was very absent. Phillip Pullman did say he wanted no control over any productions of it because they way it is perceived is so personal and he didn't want to force his views on anyone. Big mistake I think.

Yeah, thought the ending was a bit obvious, like "my deadline is coming, what do I do?".

[D.D.J]

hi
i ve read all of the books so far so that s ace news me thinks

[Woz]

I just find the whole Harry Potter thing so far fetched.

I mean- how many ginger school kids do you know with friends?

[Mr T.]

New Potter book is scheduled for July
By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent
(Filed: 22/12/2004)

The next instalment of Harry Potter mania will strike on July 16 - the date announced yesterday for the release of J K Rowling's sixth fantasy novel.

Children may (or may not) be pleased to learn that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be "a bit shorter" than the last book, which weighed in at 768 pages.

Bar a few teasers, Rowling and her publishers are giving away few details of the story of the next book, when Harry, Hermione and classmates reach 16 and enter their sixth year at Hogwarts.

The author has already revealed that one character will die and that Cornelius Fudge, the ineffectual Minister of Magic, will lose his portfolio.

The new title refers to half-bloods, such as Harry's arch-enemy Voldemort, who are part-wizard and part-muggle (human).

The return of Voldemort at the end of the last book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, means that full-on battle between the two protagonists will be resumed in book six before reaching its climax in the final, seventh instalment.

Bloomsbury, the British publisher, would not say whether the prince is a new or evolved character. However, a spokesman said yesterday that the opening of Half-Blood Prince was originally the first chapter to the second book, Chamber of Secrets.

Rowling took the chapter out of Chamber of Secrets because she thought that "it gave too much away" too early in the series.

Nigel Newton, the publisher's chief executive, said: "J K Rowling has written a brilliant story that will dazzle her fans in a marvellous book that takes the series to yet greater heights."

Bloomsbury's share price jumped more than eight per cent yesterday to 295.5p, a record high.

JK Rowling

[Rick Huggins]

Originally Posted by Woz

I mean- how many ginger kids do you know with friends?

Well, Bren's got quite a following!