Harry Potter & the ever increasing book size

[Barendd Nobeard]

I'm betting they'll drop S.P.E.W. altogether.

We can only hope. That was the worst sub-plot, and it goes nowhere in GoF. Rowling just sort of drops it, which just made me more annoyed at all the pages wasted on it.

On other points in this thread, I have read (and seen interviews) where J.K.R. said she already has the ending done. She is definitely writing the series with her "final destination" in mind, and (at least in the first film) worked with the screenwriter & director to let them know what they could not cut/change because it was important in later books which had not yet been published.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Some page length info. Harry Potter and the...

Sorcerer's Stone: 309 p
Chamber of Secrets: 341 p
Prisoner of Azkaban: 435 p
Goblet of Fire: 734 p
Order of the Phoenix: 870 p
Half-Blood Prince: ???

(extrapolating the linear trendline would put book 6 at about 1,000 pages)

 

[Laurel]

just my $.02

As long as she keeps me interested like she has she can make the books as long as she likes with whatever print they come in ... and though I like the movies a lot I like the books more, so I would hate for an author to cut down or change thier project so it would be easier to make into a movie. That's a script not a book.

 

[ShadowX]

I hate this trend, not only in HP, but in fiction in general. She managed to keep it short for 3 books and tell a well-crafted story. Does she need 800 pages now? A good writer knows how long their book should be, for that matter so should the editor. The two most recent books have not enchanted me as much as the first three, so the extra pages have not increased the quality. Yes, if you need that many pages then use them, but I see no evidence of that in HP.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Some page length info. Harry Potter and the...

Sorcerer's Stone: 309 p
Chamber of Secrets: 341 p
Prisoner of Azkaban: 435 p
Goblet of Fire: 734 p
Order of the Phoenix: 870 p
Half-Blood Prince: ???

(extrapolating the linear trendline would put book 6 at about 1,000 pages)

I had heard in an interview with her (don't ask me to link, I have no idea where I read it) that she expected books 6 and 7 to be shorter than GoF and OotP. She said that those were "bridge" books in the series, and had to set up a lot of stuff for the last two, which were going to be more plot-filled and have less sub-plots and exposition.

 

[trancejeremy]

I stopped reading those books many years ago because I was sick to death of five year old children thinking like adults - and being smarter to boot.

Piers Anthony should be legally barred from ever attempting to write from the perspective of a child. He isn't any good at it.

IMHO, he should be barred about writing about children. IMHO, he's a very very sick man. Half his novels either are about pedophilia, or involve it. Probably the worst is "Firefly", but some of the others are pretty bad (the Tyant series, the Tarot series), too, and all seem to have undercurrents of it.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

IMHO, he should be barred about writing about children. IMHO, he's a very very sick man. Half his novels either are about pedophilia, or involve it. Probably the worst is "Firefly", but some of the others are pretty bad (the Tyant series, the Tarot series), too, and all seem to have undercurrents of it.

You ever read the last of the Incarnations of Immortality series? The one involving the 15 year old whore, a ghost, and a 50+ year old Judge? It's the God book of the series. The other books were all great reads, this one gets sick pretty quick. Not to mention the story blows. Guess who gets together in the story? Yep the 15 year old and the 50 year old...or maybe she was 13 I can't remember.

 

[Umbra]

Can anyone tell me why the title to the first book got changed for U.S. publication to Sorcerer's Stone?

 

[demiurge1138]

Because Americans, not knowing the history of alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone, would be puzzled about Socrates creating the elixer of life. Or something like that.

Demiurge out.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Because Americans, not knowing the history of alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone, would be puzzled about Socrates creating the elixer of life. Or something like that.

Demiurge out.

It surprises me that JK Rowling agreed to the name-change. She seems to be protective about her own work. -Unless of course "sorcerer's stone" is the American equivalent since decades.