News for the Day 18/12/06

MuggleCast #68: A Dream, A Hope, A Wish

Author Terry Pratchett Comments on J.K.Rowling and Fantasy Elements

In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Discworld series author Terry Pratchett remarks on the Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling and the subject of the similarity of elements found in both series. Mr. Pratchett is asked if JKR copied off his books, and while Mr. Pratchett declines to specifically answer the question, he "attempts to be conciliatory," and notes that many of their similar elements came from previous work created by Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien. Full quotage is as follows:

It all sounds suspiciously Potter to me. Wizards, werewolves, Hogfather, Hogwarts school...did Rowling copy the lot off you?

"If my lawyer was here he'd say, 'Do not open your mouth'," laughs Pratchett, before making a visible effort to be conciliatory.

"Look, if Tolkien hadn't written The Lord of the Rings I couldn't have written the Discworld series. It's how a genre works. Everyone makes their cake from the same ingredients."

Is Rowling's cake too similar to yours? "I'm not answering that," he squeaks. I'll take that as a yes. He is not that bothered, though. Not while the cheques keep rolling in, the fans keep yacking on the internet and the movies get made."

Readers will remember that Mr. Pratchett has made similar comments on Jo several times in the past, once in 2004, and most notably recently in 2005, where he later tried to clarify his comments, and fellow author Neil Gaiman defended him citing poor journalism.

Intramural Quidditch Hits U.S. College Campuses

Today's edition of the Wall Street Journal reports that a new fad is sweeping college campuses across the U.S. -- Intramural (earthbound) Quidditch! The article is available online to paid subscribers, and TLC is happy to provide some highlights:

In Quidditch games played at Middlebury College in Vermont, one student IS the Snitch, and attempts to outrun the other players.

"Rainey Johnson, sporting a yellow shirt, yellow socks and yellow paint smeared on his face, darted across the freshman quad.
Other students, in capes, ran after him clutching brooms between their legs and grasping in vain for a tennis ball stuffed in a sock hanging out of his yellow shorts."

At Marlboro College, a toy helicopter launched from a slingshot serves as the Snitch, and must be caught before it reaches the ground. Water-soaked foam balls become Bludgers, and a volleyball is used as the Quaffle.

Middlebury's model, though (with a student Snitch, Dodgeball Bludgers and a volleyball Quaffle "aimed at gold-painted Hula Hoops mounted on chairs"), is catching on at other east coast colleges: Bucknell and Vassar students are putting Quiddtich teams together for the spring using "Middlebury rules."

Middlebury student Alexander Benepe and friends started the Quidditch craze at their school last year, and have seen it grow tremendously this fall.

"About 30 Middlebury students played pickup games almost every weekend this fall, usually two or three matches, before heading to a 'Quidditch World Cup' that drew five teams and about 60 players this month.

"'We are the first college students who grew up reading Harry Potter,' says Mr. Benepe, a sophomore from New York City. 'It's very much a book of our generation.'"

Lily and Stag Inn Yule Ball Today

Feeling festive today? Then the Leaky Lounge is the place for you as the staff of Lily and Stag book reading groups cordially invite you to attend our own Yule Ball. Taking place today between Noon and 6pm (EST) in our forums, this event is sure to help get you into the festive mood as there will be a Holiday Filk contest, a Dance floor for chatting and music, and even a Grande Buffet with some great recipes. Worried about wearing the right thing? Then be sure to check out the very fun Dress your Yule Ball Date game, with some fabulous fashions to bedeck your favorite Harry Potter characters. The Shrieking Shackarcade will be open for you to play some very cool games on your computer, along with the Corner Booth, so you can chat with other fellow Potter fans during the Ball. Plus, there will even be some Holiday crafting and avatar making to round out the activities. Hope to see you there!

New Scholastic Book Seven Placeholder Art; No Release Date Yet Available

Scholastic, the US publishers of the Harry Potter series, has now added new Book Seven placeholder art on the Amazon.com Harry Potter 7 page. You can also see this artwork in the icon with this post. Readers will remember earlier this fall, Scholastic updated the image; this is now the second image that we have. Again we stress this does NOT mean that a title or release date is imminent for certain, just that this is the artwork now on the page.

On a related note, as we told you previously pre-orders are being taken by several online retailers, including Borders. There have been rumors and various reports that a release date is being bandied about for July of 2007, however, this editor personally went to five different Borders today and none of them had a firm release date for Book Seven, nor did I see any of the pre-order signs with a specific release date on them. The reps did tell me that while they were "hopeful" for an announcement in the future, the only thing for certain now is that you can pre-order, and they will alert you when an actual date is available. So again folks while it is exciting, please remember not to jump to conclusions; it's only official when Jo and her reps say so. Hang tight everyone!