Pottermore, but not enough

Great to hear that JK Rowling is bringing us a wealth of new material about the Potter universe. Her Pottermore.com website is planned as a sort of encyclopaedic interactive website. Sounds interesting. Because we know that JK has long held back details about the characters that never made it to the books...


But hang on...


"Although the author made clear that she had "no plans to write another novel", the fresh Potter material – to be unveiled later this year - already stretches to 18,000 words about the novels' characters, places and objects, with more to come. From Professor McGonagall's love for a Muggle as a young woman, to how the Dursleys met (Petunia was working in an office); from new information about Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses, to details about wand wood..."


Say that again? (I'm quoting from the Guardian) You said, "stretches to18,000 words"? You mean, just 18,000 words, don't you? Considering that the later books swelled beyond 100,000 words each, the idea of her holding back another 18,000 words.... well it doesn't sound like much. Not so much a Potterverse as the cuttings that fell on the editing room floor.


Not that I'm not grateful, JK. It will be a delight. It's just, I don't think we should get too carried away by this. Pottermore may well be a huge amount of fun, and it makes sense from a business and a creative point of view for her to create an online hub for controlling and reselling her brand through ebooks and the like. But those of us who love the books and admire JK for her storytelling are going to be left disappointed.


You know, I'm not even bothered about getting a Harry sequel or prequel. That story feels done to me. But I would like to read more JK. So come on Jo... write us another series. Surprise us (again). Bet you can...