By Jennifer Platt for the Sunday Times
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Having read the eighth story – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – for the third time, I seem to have an insatiable need for more Potter. It’s my comfort reading: surrounding myself in a familiar story that gives me hope as an adult that things will be okay; that even if I’m now old and world weary, there is hope that, dammit, we will live in a better place.
I’m thankfully not alone in my love of all things Harry. The Cursed Child sold more than 22 000 copies in print in its first week in SA. Worldwide it had sold – at the beginning of August – two million copies. The world, it seems, wants more and more and JK Rowling gives and gives. She has announced that all the bits and bobs of her short stories and other features will be collected into Pottermore Presents: three bite-sized ebooks which will feature some new stories – yay! They will be released on September 6 and for sale on the Pottermore website and on Amazon.
Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists is said to give a “glimpse of the darker roots of the wizarding world”. Heroism, Hardship And Dangerous Hobbies tells a bit of the backstory of Professor Lupin, and Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide tells the history of the school.
If you want an immersive experience and are in London in May 2017, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be playing John William’s iconic score from The Philosopher’s Stone while the movie is shown on a big screen. And at the end of November this year, the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them will be released worldwide.
If that’s too far down the line, there are other options that show promise.
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Smoke by Dan Vyleta is, according to Stylist on the back cover, “filling that gaping hole left by both Harry Potter and Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights”. It features three teenagers fighting the establishment. It’s very Dickensian and is more slanted towards Pullman’s series about dust. Smoke is as complicated as dust to understand.
Paul Crilley’s Poison City is a new crime series set in Durban. Gideon Tau, its main character, fights demons and has a wand. But no one should call him Harry Potter. He also has a talking dog. I’m not a fan of anthropomorphism but Crilley’s story is irreverent, paints a dark and fantastical KZN and is an easy read.
A new edition of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere has been released with illustrations by Chris Riddell. It’s a beautiful hardback copy to add to your collection, and Gaiman’s story about an underworld in London has word-play elements that have made Rowling’s books such a pleasure. There’s the dangerous Night Bridge (get it? Knightsbridge); Earl’s Court that is actually the court of an Earl, and The Old Bailey, all feathered and elderly, who sits on top of the old buildings, watching everything.
And if Gaiman can’t fill that Harry hole, there’s always chocolate. Its mood-enhancing qualities are said to help if there are Dementors around sucking out your happiness. Best to stock up.
Follow Jennifer Platt on Twitter @Jenniferdplatt
Book details
- Smoke by Dan Vyleta
EAN: 9780297609933
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- Poison City by Paul Crilley
EAN: 9781473631588
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- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
EAN: 9781472228413
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- Harry Potter And The Cursed Child by JK Rowling
EAN: 9780751565355
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