Finally, Book 8 joins the Harry Potter canon

Word that J.K. Rowling's play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, will soon be released in book form has created something of a buzz around my office.


Personally, I am delighted with this development since there really was almost no chance that I would be able to see the play performed live, until and unless it were brought to Canada and, even then, I probably wouldn't be able to obtain/afford a ticket.


And I think it's interesting how many Harry Potter fans all over the world had somewhat under-reacted to the release of this, the eighth canonical tale in the Harry Potter collection when it first arrived on the London stage. Remember, since The Deathly Hallows was released in 2007, we've been left to make do with rather poor film adaptations of the books and an ongoing trickle of special releases from Rowling herself to satiate our hunger for new Harry Potter material.


When The Cursed Child first arrived, I would have thought that Potter fans the world over would have gone into a massive series of celebrations.


But the limitations of the medium -- a play, staged in one city, with a limited number of tickets selling at a fairly high price -- seemed to have dampened that enthusiasm.


I'm not saying Rowling was wrong to try her hand at play writing. In fact, I'm excited to see her remarkable writing skills tested in this new medium. But the limitations inherent in a stage play, from the stand point of universal access, have certainly impacted how the fandom reacted to the release of the play.


It will be very interesting to see if the script's release (scheduled for midnight on Harry's birthday [July 31, if you didn't know]) will prompt the same kind of excitement that the release of the original novels did around the world.


I think it will. I think The Cursed Child has sort of developed into a well-kept secret about which everyone knew. I plan to keep myself as much in the dark as possible about the plot and characterizations in this new story until I hold the new book in my hot little hands.


I plan to buy the script, then spend every second of reading it in pure, ecstatic enjoyment.


Then I will read it again, I think.