JK Rowling has stated many times that she is done writing Harry Potter novels. With her new novel, THE CASUAL VACANCY, hitting stores today, the question becomes whether or not Rowling has the skills to write a novel for adults. If early reviews are any indication, she may not have to revisit the world of Hogwarts.
But, Rowling restated her intentions about returning to her magical universe during press for THE CASUAL VACANCY. When asked about prequels or sequels, Rowling said “I just think it would be for the sake of milking it and that’s just not in me.” That includes a Potter prequel or sequel. “I’ve never seen it work well in either literature or film.” Nevertheless, she says that “if I did have a great idea for something else” in the universe she created then “I probably would do it.”
Another idea she is floating around is expanding on the already released novels that she felt were not quite finished when originally published: “There’s one towards the beginning and there’s one towards the end, that I definitely felt that about. I had to write on the run and there were times when it was really tough. And I read them, and I think ‘Oh God, maybe I’ll go back and do a director’s cut.’ I don’t know.”
Stephen King did a similar “director’s cut” of the first Dark Tower novel, THE GUNSLINGER, to better bring it in line with the other books in the series. I would love any new explorations into the world of Harry Potter. Maybe Rowling can take the George Lucas route and bring other authors on board to flesh out her ideas. They don’t necessarily have to do with Harry himself, but with the vast history we only heard snippets of in the novels and films, there could be dozens of novels to explore.
Are you game for extended Harry Potter novels?