Pottermania!

Okay, let's get this out of the way… The final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be out on 21 July. Not this month then, but already the hype is growing. Both versions of the book ('adult', and the far superior 'children's' version, though the only difference is the covers) have been on top of Amazon.com's hot 100 chart since the release date was announced, entirely due to their being more pre-orders for Potter 7 than for any other book ever written. Because this is the concluding book, the one where everything will finally be wrapped up – and, we're told, one (or more!) of the major characters will die. Which serves them right for going anywhere near the 'Deathly Hallows', really.

One of the early ways in which a Harry Potter book is hyped is the 'unveiling of the title'. Before this is the inevitable bizarre speculation, such as 'Harry Potter and the Pyramids of Furmat'; or 'and the Pillar of Storge'; or 'and the Fortress of Shadows', which is actually less ridiculous than the real title. Then comes plot speculation, centring on who will die – so addictive is this that at a joint reading, Stephen King and John Irving apparently asked Rowling not to kill Harry off. She'll only say that Harry is a candidate. Every year since 2001 the books have had the added publicity of a film version appearing. It all keeps Pottermania on the boil.

The popularity of the films created some negative publicity too, notably from the usual 'minor yet vocal' extremist Christian elements who claim Potter promotes Satanism. Extreme maybe, but then it may be a simple matter of choice of medium: since these gripes only really became public after the films came out, it's logical to assume that promoting Satanism in print is their preferred method – celluloid is a no-no. There have also been accusations of plagiarism, none of which resulted in Rowling coming close to paying anyone anything. Tellingly, Neil Gaiman did not sue despite having written a comic called 'The Books of Magic' about a bespectacled young boy who is potentially the world's greatest magician. Gaiman reasoned that both characters made use of a common archetypal character which he could hardly claim ownership over. Calm heads have tended to prevail in these matters which have, perhaps not incidentally, all been marvellous free publicity.

The question now is, can JK Rowling deliver on the promise of all of this hype? And the answer is, 'Yes, don't be daft'. It's a common game amongst snobs to criticise JK Rowling's writing abilities. Her prose style doesn't forge phenomenally memorable sentences, but she's writing entertaining children's books here, not trying for the next War and Peace. The Harry Potter books are, at base, formulaic genre novels. Don't write in - I mean that in a good way. Rowling's formula is useful and the blend of genres is clever. Mixing public school fiction with magical tales - and best of all, setting it in the present day – is Rowling's masterful recipe for a subgenre all her own. The formula is increasingly less innovative – in every book Harry is having a bad time at home, goes to school and has magical training, then uncovers and defeats magical conspiracy just as the term ends. But Rowling is very good at plotting around this basic framework so that it hasn't become tired – instead we're only vaguely aware that the story is driving towards a conclusion, and now a final conclusion - very probably a showdown between Harry and the wonderfully named, fantastically nasty Lord Voldemort. And then The End. Or not, because Rowling has said she may write an Encyclopedia of Harry's world, using her notes from the books. And then The End, or not, because the films are still coming out, until they reach The End, and then there's always the possibility of the grown-up adventures of Harry... face it, this may continue forever.
The End.