J.K. Rowling should just write another HP book

[cjspyres]

So, maybe it's just me, But at this point I think J.K. Rowling should just bite the bullet and write a new book in the universe. I only say this due to the fact that she's constantly putting out new stuff in the universe, in the form of two or three pages of exposition. Like, come on already, just admit that you want to go back to writing in the universe. It's okay, you don't have to be ashamed. Authors should feel that way about the worlds they create.

I mean, personally I don't think there NEEDS to be another series, but I also wouldn't object to seeing her revisit the world. But I seriously think that she needs to just go ahead and do what she really wants to do.

 

[Zontar]

I'm surprised she hasn't done what Rick Riordan and just have more then one series in the setting she created. Rick Riordan has at least three of his series to my knowledge set in the same world.

Hell, Asimov did the same thing himself with his having his Robots series, Foundation series and Infinity series set in the same universe (though at times his later attempts to weld the three kind of didn't end all that well, and unfortunately it's very clear that there where more ideas he was going to explore in books he never got around to writing due to his untimely death).

On the other hand I can understand her wanting to get away from the setting. It's past its peak of popularity and unless a new movie or television series is made that isn't going to be reversed even with a book or two. Plus after a while writers get tired of their own setting on a regular basis.

 

[cjspyres]

On the other hand I can understand her wanting to get away from the setting. It's past its peak of popularity and unless a new movie or television series is made that isn't going to be reversed even with a book or two. Plus after a while writers get tired of their own setting on a regular basis.

The problem with this is that she keeps constantly putting out little things relating to the world and Harry. Like, all the time, and for no reason. Like, she literally just released Harry's entire family history, just because. It's stuff like that, that makes me think she does want to keep writing in the setting, but just won't take the leap.

 

[Zontar]

The problem with this is that she keeps constantly putting out little things relating to the world and Harry. Like, all the time, and for no reason. Like, she literally just released Harry's entire family history, just because. It's stuff like that, that makes me think she does want to keep writing in the setting, but just won't take the leap.

There's a big difference between wanting to add little bits into a setting and making new full stories. Wanting to do one doesn't mean wanting to do the other, so until she starts making full on anthologies of short stories it shouldn't be read into too much.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Why? The story is done. The conflict has been wrapped up. Expanding on backstories and filling in holes isn't enough to justify another book.

 

[The Jovian]

Why? The story is done. The conflict has been wrapped up. Expanding on backstories and filling in holes isn't enough to justify another book.

Given how well she's been doing crime fiction (as evidenced by her Robert Galbraith novels), she could very easily write a Harry Potter crime thriller. It's Harry and Ron's first case as Aurors and its a case unlike any other. Building up to a revelation that an enigmatic magical crime lord with connections to Voldemort is behind it all making him the villain of a new series and the cause of all future books' plots. Until the final book were Harry and Ron go after him directly and finally gather enough evidence to bring him down.

 

[Squilookle]

First thing I thought when I finished Deathly Hallows was "there needs to be a Lily Evans series. Let us go through Hogwarts from HER point of view"

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Why? The story is done. The conflict has been wrapped up. Expanding on backstories and filling in holes isn't enough to justify another book.

Given how well she's been doing crime fiction (as evidenced by her Robert Galbraith novels), she could very easily write a Harry Potter crime thriller. It's Harry and Ron's first case as Aurors and its a case unlike any other. Building up to a revelation that an enigmatic magical crime lord with connections to Voldemort is behind it all making him the villain of a new series and the cause of all future books' plots. Until the final book were Harry and Ron go after him directly and finally gather enough evidence to bring him down.

This shit right here is an idea with some fucking legs. Continue the story, change the setting up a bit - I mean Jesus the BBC practically exists off crime drama shows, the British public would eat this shit up like it cured cancer and make you look like Yaya Han or Chris Evans/Hemsworth.

 

[Charli]

Yes.

I need to know more about how this goddamn magical world works. Plx JK.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I'd rather she re-write Deathly Hallows, but do it properly this time.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I'm going to come right out and say it. I think the Harry Potter novels are seminal young adult classics and are deserving of their lofty place in the fantasy literature pantheon, but they accomplish this in spite of the setting...not because of it. The setting, outside of Hogwarts itself, is pretty thinly sketched in and not terribly compelling. I'm not sure it would really bear up under a return visit. Like the mechanics of The Matrix, it's better off just kind of tucked away into the background where it can be easily hand-waved and the audience's focus kept on the Really Cool Things happening in the foreground. The setting doesn't have a lot of value.

If she did return to it, she'd need to write a very focused YA story (her literary gifts lie in whimsy and simple, universally applicable themes) that didn't cannibalize from any of the door-stopper HP novels, and that would be very difficult.

 

[happyninja42]

Why? The story is done. The conflict has been wrapped up. Expanding on backstories and filling in holes isn't enough to justify another book.

That's like saying there are no more tales to tell in Star Wars or Star Trek, because the original story was told. When a storyteller develops a rich and vast new world as the backdrop for their one story, it's very easy to think of other stories to tell. Maybe not by the author themselves, but other people can think "ooh! I really liked this thing she came up with about the (insert thingy), I bet an entire story about them would be cool!", and boom, another story idea is born. It doesn't have to involve the main characters at all. The EU for Star Wars was more than happy to come up with thousands of years worth of stories that had nothing to do with Luke and Han and the others.

So yeah, she could totally come up with more stories in the HP-verse, and they would be perfectly fine stories, even about other people. I think what might be stopping her though, is the idea that she would have to come up with some larger threat than Voldemort to justify a new series. The "everything must be bigger!" syndrome. When she really wouldn't. She could bring the story focus down to a very personal level and it could be great.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Sure. Not because I'm dying to know what happens next, but so she can end her mythos with a little more dignity than a fucking tweet.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

First thing I thought when I finished Deathly Hallows was "there needs to be a Lily Evans series. Let us go through Hogwarts from HER point of view"

Exactly. Everyone's always clamoring for more fiction with female protagonists; there's one worth writing about right there. A prequel series focusing on Voldemort's original rise to power seems like it would be compelling enough. Granted, that's what they said about Darth Vader too, and we know how that turned out...

 

[TakerFoxx]

Why? The story is done. The conflict has been wrapped up. Expanding on backstories and filling in holes isn't enough to justify another book.

That's like saying there are no more tales to tell in Star Wars or Star Trek, because the original story was told. When a storyteller develops a rich and vast new world as the backdrop for their one story, it's very easy to think of other stories to tell. Maybe not by the author themselves, but other people can think "ooh! I really liked this thing she came up with about the (insert thingy), I bet an entire story about them would be cool!", and boom, another story idea is born. It doesn't have to involve the main characters at all. The EU for Star Wars was more than happy to come up with thousands of years worth of stories that had nothing to do with Luke and Han and the others.

So yeah, she could totally come up with more stories in the HP-verse, and they would be perfectly fine stories, even about other people. I think what might be stopping her though, is the idea that she would have to come up with some larger threat than Voldemort to justify a new series. The "everything must be bigger!" syndrome. When she really wouldn't. She could bring the story focus down to a very personal level and it could be great.

Sure, if she wanted to start a whole new series/spin-off/expanded universe or whatever. But the way the OP made it sound is that since she's still keeping her hand in the universe and releasing information about backstories and world-building, she might as well tack on an eighth book and be done with it.

 

[Queen Michael]

I wish she'd write an eight book. It'd make me happy and earn her all the money. All of it.

 

[Something Amyss]

The problem with this is that she keeps constantly putting out little things relating to the world and Harry. Like, all the time, and for no reason. Like, she literally just released Harry's entire family history, just because. It's stuff like that, that makes me think she does want to keep writing in the setting, but just won't take the leap.

There's a pretty big difference between exposition and family histories and a whole new novel.

I'd be interested in a new series in the same setting, but I'd like to see her leave Harry alone.

 

[cjspyres]

The problem with this is that she keeps constantly putting out little things relating to the world and Harry. Like, all the time, and for no reason. Like, she literally just released Harry's entire family history, just because. It's stuff like that, that makes me think she does want to keep writing in the setting, but just won't take the leap.

There's a pretty big difference between exposition and family histories and a whole new novel.

I'd be interested in a new series in the same setting, but I'd like to see her leave Harry alone.

This is actually more along the lines that I would figure she should go. What I mean to say is that it just seems like she's obviously wanting to write something in the universe. So why not? It doesn't have to be about Harry or even his family. And in my opinion, it shouldn't be. She has an entire, expansive world to work with, so it's not like she would be forced to have to make it a Harry and Co. story.

I just guess to me, it really looks like she wants to go back to the wizarding world because she's so eager to release new material whenever she can. I mean, I'd be surprised if she wasn't already, considering how often she does release new exposition.

 

[Fox12]

No.

I'm sick to death of stories dragging on past their expiration dates. I'm glad she just let the thing fucking end. Besides, what she's doing is perfectly normal. Tolkien's estate is STILL releasing letters, manuscripts, and lore. That doesn't mean that she wants to continue the universe, and I don't think she could do it effectively even if she did want to. Let the series die with dignity.

Besides, she's releasing tons of other novels. Clearly she has other stories she wants to tell.

 

[WolfThomas]

Given how well she's been doing crime fiction (as evidenced by her Robert Galbraith novels), she could very easily write a Harry Potter crime thriller. It's Harry and Ron's first case as Aurors and its a case unlike any other. Building up to a revelation that an enigmatic magical crime lord with connections to Voldemort is behind it all making him the villain of a new series and the cause of all future books' plots. Until the final book were Harry and Ron go after him directly and finally gather enough evidence to bring him down.

I've never realised until now how much I want a police procedural about Aurors.