Amph After Harry Potter . . . what now?

Hmm... after Harry Potter... I'm inclined to agree with Fel_Freak228. I don't know if anything will be as big as Harry Potter for a while. It was... a unique experience for the literary world.

A few months ago I read Inkheart and really loved it. I've yet to read Inkspell and Inkdeath comes out later this year (I think). They're wonderful books, brilliant children's literature and quite original. I love the way that Mo and Meggie can read people out of books, even though it's caused so many problems!

I'm not sure if Inkheart will surpass the popularity of HP, even though they're really good books. I don't think it can. HP was, frankly, too big.

 

They're actually making a movie of the first, due out in a few months. The book could gain popularity after that. And it looks very interesting; I'll have to get a copy.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Rowling's next book became 'the next Harry Potter'. At the moment, she's the most well-known writer on the planet. She's got a massive following, and whatever she writes next will probably be a huge hit, whether or not it involves Harry Potter.

 

But will she write something else? And could a different series by her have that kind of publicity all the way through, especially since the whole time it'll be compared to HP?

 

A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin, brilliantly written, just takes too long to come out, and is too risque for kids.

However, I think JK had better come back and write HP next-generation considering the shocker of an Epilogue that she wrote.

 

The epilogue was kind of sappy. Plus, I don't know how their adventures could compare to Harry's. If she goes back to that world, she should do it before Harry's time -- James, Dumbledore, or waaaaaaaay back.

 

I have to agree. Her next book won't be as large as Harry Potter but it will still sell more copies in a shorter amount of time than anything by any other writer out there.

ASOIAF will finally receive the attention it deserves with the HBO series. It may not be the next Harry Potter, but perhaps the next Sopranos?

 

I remember a few months ago there was some talk about Tunnels by Roderick Gordon, apparently signed by the same guy who signed JK Rowling. I haven't read it, or seen reviews of it, so I don't know if it's good, or if it's selling well yet.

One series I do like, and that I'm anticipating further installments of as much I looked forward to more Harry Potter adventures, is the Ranger's Apprentice series, starting with The Ruins of Gorlan. They seem to have been reviewed well, and sold well so far, but I'm hoping they become more popular as to encourage the American publisher to publish them faster; they originate in Australia, and the US publications are several books behind.

 

I just purchased Tunnels over the weekend so I'll let you know how the book is. Which possible same guy are we talking about here? The lit agent, Little? The American publisher, Levine?

 

I still say that Martin's stuff will never gain the popularity of HP because it's not young-teenager-to-kid friendly. Unlike something like WoT, which could technically be read by about middle-schoolers-on-up, Martin's series is for adults and almost-adults only.

 

It's Barry Cunningham, who according to this article was the editor at Bloomsbury who came across Rowling's manuscript.

 

I was shopping in Borders last weekend, and I noticed a sign that said "From Twilight to Dawn . . . We're having a Stephanie Meyer party" or something, in reference to her Twilight series. The next book, Breaking Dawn, is coming out in August, and they're doing a HP-esque all-night thing on the release date.

I don't think that Stephanie Meyer will hit JKR's height, but I think she could certainly be the next big thing. The series is aimed at young adults, but HP started out as a series for kids. What do you guys think?

 

Meyer is definitely going places. I haven't read it yet but The Host looks fantastic. There's a table at the local BN with a huge pile of her books on it. She's absolutely prolific.

 

I hated Twilight. The genre- vampire/paranormal romance/urban fantasy is usually a genre I just adore. But I forced myself to finish Twilight, hoping beyond all hope that it would get better at the end- and it didn't. I wanted to strangle Bella halfway through the book. The first couple of chapters held my interest, and then she got into Edward and turned into a simpering annoyance.

Stephanie Meyers isn't that great of an author. Then again, neither is JK Rowling, so maybe it will become "the next HP".

I hope not. *winces*


As for Cassandra Clare... I read the first book. It was okay. I found that it did slightly resemble her former Draco trilogy, Draco Dormiens to be precise. Maybe as someone who was into the fandom when she was popular and remembers reading the fics as she wrote them, I'm a bit biased. But I honestly feel like her new series reads like a fan fic, and really resembles Harry Potter.


His Dark Materials I loved. I read it when Amber Spyglass was released for the first time in German, and fell in love with the series. Movie was decent, the books are classics. Sort of the opposite of Narnia, imo.


I want to read the Dresden Files, but I haven't yet. I borrowed the first one from the library, but the print was tiny and I think I'm even going to try the eBook or get the large print edition from the library. Or heck, turn on JAWS to read it to me and save myself the effort.


Cornelia Funke is a great author, but I don't think she's well known enough in the states. I read Tintenherz (Ink Heart) and after my brother finishes Harry Potter, I'm going to suggest he reads it as well. I still haven't read the other two, though.


As others have said, I don't think the next Harry Potter exists yet. I think it will be another book series that comes out of nowhere and takes us all by surprise. And it's probably years away. Though I'm sure that every author is praying that their next YA book turns out to be it...

 

The second book is a lot better. Now that she's established her characters, she's more confident to develop them, the world and the story better and she does. Also, she's a very visual story-teller. I'm looking forward to the movie.

 

Do you get Septimus Heap in the States ?

 

I agree; I think it will be extremely difficult for anything to ever best HP in that regard, but the Twilight series is awesome, and Stephenie Meyer is certainly a talent who's in the running to be the latest craze (personally, I think she's 3/4 there already).

But as she's shown with The Host, she isn't just able to write books for young adults... and boy, can she pump the mega-novels out fast!! I mean, Twilight was published in 2005 , and a few years later, Meyer's got (almost) 5 published novels. That's certainly a feat!

 

Yes we do. It is ok, but i dont consider it great. Definitely not the next Harry Potter. I dont know if that exists yet.

 

Any chance of JK releasing Harry Potter in a SW-like Extended Universe to other writers, that could be awesome.

 

I don't think she wants that kind of thing.

 

How about this for some more in the Harry Potter universe

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

 

That'll probably be big, but not as big. It doesn't interest me personally, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

 

Well, lets see now, Harry Potter fans are all kids/started out as kids when they started. They need a good intro into the rest of the world of Fantasy. LOTR is great, but this is a classic, nearly too complex for the every day mind of your Harry fan.

I agree with the people pointing to His Dark Materials. This leads towards darker writings and gets kids set up for the vast scale of darkness they will find in the fantasy world, but if they want to read something lighter I would probably point towards Eragon or something close to that.

For those of you who mentioned manga, that is like telling a kid who just read a 700 page novel to go read a comic book. They are good on their own stand. But they are by no means a BOOK. They are art with a story, like a movie. I find that myself (and other people who were fans of the early manga rise) had to take alot of effort to get back into reading novels over graphic novels again. It was almost like stepping backwards in the maturity of the reading level.

Most of the novels I read I would not let a child read, like the Kushiel books or the Sara Douglass books.

 

I will never ever read Cassandra Claire's books, after finding out she plagiarized a whole crapload of stuff in her fanfics, and not to mention she profited off her fans while writing her fanfic leaves a very nasty taste in my mouth. How she got published, I have no idea.

For a summary, read this:

http://www.fanhistory.com/index.php?title=Cassandra_Claire

Of course if you want the whole in-depth details about her plagiarizing, then go to this link.

http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/10481.html#cutid1

 

His Dark Materials is 'darker' in some ways, but I don't think it's as interesting as the Potter books. They're not really 'fun' books. The characters are all pretty bland and too much alike, but it's a decent series for someone wanting something more serious to read than Harry Potter.
I don't see anything wrong with suggesting comics/manga. A good story is a good story. There's nothing wrong with someone reading more comics than big literature novels. And yes, a comic book is a kind of BOOK.