So if any of you are fans of the Harry Potter series, it’s possible you are fans of the series’ author J. K. Rowling. I’m a big fan of her work and her personal story. After her last book came out I worried there was no way she could top Potter. I mean Potter was and still is huge. How can she top that? After reading about her latest work, I don’t think she’s trying to.
I have eagerly been awaiting Rowling’s new literature release, and it seems that come September 27, 2012 the world’s waiting will be over. The Casual Vacancy (feel free to preorder now) is the newest novel from Rowling and the first since the Potter series ended. This time her novel is aimed at adults. I was so excited to read more work was coming from her, but in reading the short blurb about her upcoming novel it has me wondering how good it will be.
While the Potter books were very much British specific, the world could relate to the stories because it took us into a world that didn’t really exist, the world of magic. It didn’t matter that the characters all talked with accents or that they spoke words specific to Britain. The world that Rowling created was her own and though she shared it with us we all saw it in our own way so it really didn’t change how one read the books. However in her new novel I’m not really getting that it’s a fantasy book but more contemporary. I could be wrong, but the blurb to me read as contemporary, and this makes me wonder how the rest of the world will relate to it. Here’s the book description from the Amazon website.
When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…. Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the town’s council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.
Now don’t get me wrong, I so plan on reading this book. I mean come on, it’s J. K. Freaking Rowling, so of course I am going to read it. I hope the name alone will make people want to read it because I want her to be a continued success. But I have seen in the past where YA authors tried to write for adults and it just didn’t translate well. Since her book is for adults I don’t imagine kids getting their hands on it easily if at all so the market has narrowed down for her. I just wish it would say if the book is fantasy or not. I think if it was fantasy it would have a better chance than contemporary. I don’t know if there is a big draw for adult readers for stories heavily based in certain countries. Not too many Anglophiles out there like myself…but if there are drop me a note and let me know so we can dream about England together. 
But perhaps I am wrong and this book will be the new craze and we’ll be hearing about the movie The Casual Vacancy in a year or two. I’m thinking in 480 pages there has got to be something gripping and exciting, and I can’t wait to get my paws on it. 
So what do you think? Think the new book from Rowling will be just as awesome as Potter? Don’t think it can live up to Potter? Or do you plan to wait and read before you make your mind up? Though I have some lingering doubts on how it will do, I plan to wait until I read it from cover to cover before I make my finally decision on it. For once in my life I can’t wait until September to come. LOL!
On that note I will close. I am working on Script Frenzy, yes I know I barely mentioned it, but I am chipping away at it…kind of. This month has been a hectic one and so I am still cleaning up last year’s work so I can continue with this year’s. Hey, I have 8 days and a few hours left to knock out 100 pages…piece of 
Wondering how many pages she can knock out tonight,
M.
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