December 21, 2004
New Harry Potter book in July

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will hit bookstores on July 16.


"We are delighted to announce the publication date," which also will take place in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, said the joint announcement by Nigel Newton, the chief executive of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc in England, and Barbara Marcus, the president of Scholastic Children's Books in the United States.

"J.K. Rowling has written a brilliant story that will dazzle her fans in a marvelous book that takes the series to yet greater heights. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince delivers all the excitement and wonder of her best-selling Harry Potter novels," they said.

[...]

The 2005 publishing date means that fans will be spared the seemingly interminable three-year wait between Potter IV, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Potter V, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which came out in summer 2003.

The publishers' statement and Rowling's Web site did not say whether the new book's length would top the industrial-sized 870 pages of Order of the Phoenix.


There's a minor spoiler for HP:HBP towards the end of this AP report, so click carefully if you're one of those people who wants to know nothing about it before you begin reading. Loads more information about all things Harry Potter can be found on The Leaky Cauldron (thanks to Lis Riba for the pointer).

Posted by Charles Kuffner on December 21, 2004 to Books | TrackBack
Comments

HBP is supposed to be shorter than OotP, at least according to what Rowling has said in the past. At the very least, it's not supposed to be longer. Last year, I said I was going to go out at midnight and buy it, but didn't. Maybe this time I will.

The fourth movie is due out in November '05.

Posted by: Sue on December 21, 2004 1:49 PM