It's just past 5:00am for me but I needed to see Jo make her announcement live. And what an announcement it was. A free online reading experience like no other. eBooks finally. Some additional information that Jo has been hoarding from us (more than 18,000 words). Interactivity: we'll get to have a wand choose us in Diagon Alley (one of 33,000 possible combinations) and be sorted into a Hogwarts House. Freaky cool figures coming out of books. Forgive me if I'm not thinking straight as I'm very tired. She also confirmed that she will never write another Harry Potter book (Aw! But understandable). According to Pottermore.com, a lucky few will be selected to enter the experience early starting on July 31 (Jo's and Harry's birthday). Everyone else has to wait until October 2011. The Chamber of Secrets storyline will debut 2012. I must follow the owl.
(Click to enlarge pictures)
Wow, you got up early! I'm excited about Pottermore. I'd be more excited about a new book, but I'm glad this has some original material and I think it'll be a lot of fun. Too bad we have to wait so long.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm bummed that she confirmed she will never write a sequel to the Harry Potter series but I think I'm okay with it. I think this experience will be unique and awesome in a different way!
ReplyDeleteWow, this sounds like it's going to be amazing. Too bad about no more Harry Potter books, but it would be awfully hard to live up to what's already been written, so I can't really blame her for that! Thanks for posting this Aylee, I hadn't seen her announcement:)
ReplyDeleteIt would be very hard to live up to it, you're right. Besides, I think I'm eager to read something completely new from her. A completely new set of adventures and characters. I look forward to it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this! I am sad that there will never be any more Potter books, but I am totally excited about this new site. I am going to find that owl right now! :)
ReplyDeleteHeh, I must find the owl too. I would love to be one of the beta testers for the site, starting on July 31st.
ReplyDeleteWow!!
ReplyDeleteI was meant to get up at five to check it out but sleep won in the end.
Still, this sounds AMAZING!
:D
Sounds really neat! The screenshots look awesome. Mad props to you for waking up so early! :P
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one around who doesn't have any clue what this means?
ReplyDelete*be's full of fail*
Heh. I'm not one hundred percent positive exactly what it is but from what I understand, it'll be an experience in which fans will be able to sort of reread the books in an interactive way and get bonus content from Jo to boot.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds fun! I'll have to check out the website and find out what's the deal with this friggin' owl. :) Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteI. Am. So. Excited!
ReplyDeleteI wish we didn't have to wait so long, though. I'm really curious about the additional writing though...at least we'll get something, even if she's done writing more HP books! :)
Right. Though I would love to read an Encyclopedia from her, I understand that that may never happen now. But we will receive all this additional information for free.
ReplyDeleteAn encyclopedia would have been awesome - but then again this is cool too. I'm not one for online interaction stuff/games or anything so this isn't a big deal to me... but really, anything HP-related is a big deal! Haha. And I can totally see how others would find this super exciting.
ReplyDeleteHmm, yeah I can understand why some people might be disappointed at this reveal if this sort of online game isn't their thing. Well, who knows, maybe if they try it out, they might find that it is!
ReplyDeleteI, too, will be following the owl for sure. (TRANSLATION: I'll be up at whenever's 12:01 UK time ready to sign up and be one of the million beta users. ;) I'm very excited about this, too, though I was disappointed there isn't a MMORPG. But I think this has much wider appeal beyond game nerds like me. :)
ReplyDeleteLove the screenshots-- I hadn't seen those.
It sounds a bit like a game to me. Though certainly not on the level of WOW or anything.
ReplyDeleteI really, REALLY hope I'm one of the lucky few because I'm gone in October :(
ReplyDeleteDYING for this! :)
I'm looking forward to getting my own wand and being sorted into a house. I'm pretty sure I'll end up in Ravenclaw :) What does follow the owl mean anyway?
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm dying to figure out! Hopefully we'll find out come July 31. And then I will definitely do my best to follow the owl.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm dying to figure out! Hopefully we'll find out come July 31. And then I will definitely do my best to follow the owl.
ReplyDeleteAw, I'm with Missie. I don't really understand it either. :( But I'm hopeful! Jo hasn't steered us wrong yet.
ReplyDeleteI wish we were getting an encyclopedia, or better yet, I want Hogwards, A History! Or some kind of history book of the world and the famous people in it.
She didn't make it incredibly clear in the video, I agree. But I'd like to think of it as an experience in which you'll get to reread the books, and truly experience them at the same time. They'll be fanart and added tidbits from Jo thrown in. It kind of reminds me of Popup Music Video, you know, from the 90s. It definitely won't be something for the casual fan. Only people who would really be able to appreciate the feeling of stepping into Hogwarts for the first time would get it.
ReplyDeleteI think it's cool that she's trying to take the idea of the ebook and run with it in a new direction. The interactivity is the kind of thing Potter fans will love, and it gives her the opportunity to make them available electronically (which she had been loathe to do). Win-win, I think.
ReplyDeleteWell said. And of course I believe the ebooks will be available to anyone not wanting the fun and games.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for this! I hope I'm part of the lucky few. Even so...I'm really excited for this. However, I hope it's more than computer games and quizzes. I know I read she was working on something. Not sure if it's a new book (not HP). Then again, what she was working on could have been this. I read once she was writing a mystery. Do you know if there was any truth to that rumor? She would never have to write again, of course. However, I'm sure like most writers, they want to continue writing...no matter how much or little success they've had.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, she is most definitely still writing. You should follow her on Twitter. She enjoys tweeting the same message over and over again: "pen and paper are my priority at the moment." Last I heard, she has a children's political fairytale in the works and an adult mystery. I never really got the impression that Pottermore was going to be a computer game so much.
ReplyDeleteOooooooo thanks for the screen shots!
ReplyDeleteHave I told you lately that I love your name?
Hmm? Recovering Potter Addict or Aylee? Either way, thank you :)
ReplyDelete