I suspected we’d be seeing distribution of the Tales at some point because, let’s be honest, there’s demand for more from the Harry Potter universe. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if a new series started out within that continuum, because she did such a wonderful job creating a believable world.

So, I wasn’t too surprised when I saw that Amazon announced today that the Tales of Beedle the Bard will be available on December 4th, 2008. Tales, if you remember, was a hand-crafted book written and illustrated by J.K. Rowling in her own hand, it seems. Only a handful of copies were made and sold at auction or given to friends. They look spectacular. The books contain the fairy tales described in the final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

There are two editions available for pre-order. There’s a standard edition, that contains the five fairy tales, reproductions of the illustrations in the hand-crafted originals, and commentary by Dumbledore. There’s also a collector’s edition, which comes in a fancy package and has additional illustrations and a cover very similar to the one on the original run (inlaid metal, replica gems, etc.).

I think I might have to get one for myself… (would make a nice Christmas gift, hint hint).

I’m watching Bridget Jones’s Diary right now while I’m working, and I just realized that the woman that plays Bridget’s friend Jude is the same actress that plays Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies. Shirley Henderson plays both characters even though they’re completely different ages. It’s actually pretty damn impressive that she can pass for a teenager even though she’s 40.

I just watched the trailer for the next Harry Potter movie. It just made me think of something… I’ve read and reread a lot of the books in the series, even right after I read them for the first time. I used to use them as books to read before I went to sleep, so I would reread sections of them. I haven’t done the same with the latest book. I think I may have read it once only. This last book is still hard to read because of the ending.

The next movie marks the turn in the series, by the way, where it became darker and more serious.

I finished the latest Harry Potter book this morning and have to say, wow. The book was worth waiting around B&N for, even worth the loss of sleep to finish it in about 12 hours (I slept for about 5.5 hours in there). If you’re a Harry Potter fan, I think you’ll be happy.

I won’t give away anything much about the plot, so this is safe to read if you haven’t read it yet. I will say that the ending was a shocker and I’m still running through the ramifications of it 8 hours later. Without giving away much, a central recurring character is killed at the end of this book. The way it’s set up is stunning, so I doubt you will expect it coming. I think that was it… it was so sudden that I had no preparation.

Fans of the series won’t be disappointed, though. The book moves quickly and there’s little of the brooding downtime that characterized the last two books. Those expecting any sort of conclusion, even a limited one like the second book, will be disappointed. This book is made, like the previous two, to make you want the next book. It’s not forced, but beyond the death of that character, not much progress is made in this book toward the end goal of defeating Voldemort. In fact, the entire book is about two things: Harry growing another year older (which Rowling is very good at writing), and finding out what Harry will need to do in the next book to finally defeat Voldemort. We learn the mechanism without actually learning the details of how he will actually execute it.

Rating: 8/10

I’m planning on picking up my copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at Barnes and Noble’s Midnight Magic event tonight. I figured it might be fun to check the thing out to see how crazy people get about Harry Potter.

Of course, I just stopped in to the store to pick up my numbered bracelet and was stunned at the preparations underway. The staff there informed me that they expect around a thousand people at least tonight and that during the last Potter book release, all the surrounding parking lots were full with people parking at the mall a half mile away and walking over to the store. That’s just nuts!

I’m still going to go, but I’m already concerned at what I’m going to see when I get there. I might take my camera and get some photographs for all of you.

Update: Mission accomplished. I did have to park down the road but I think they had fewer people than they expected. Something like 400 wristbands were handed out and since most people brought 2 or more people, they had something like 800 or so folks around. It was hot and loud but not very chaotic. Lot of high school children there. I’ve never been quite so aware of my age as I was surrounded by the parents and their kids… I’m likely more than twice as old as most of the kids there and perhaps 3 times as old as the kids this book is targetted at.