For the last week or so, there’s been a lot of fuss over JK Rowling’s Pottermore, a mysterious website where all we knew was that it had something to do with the Harry Potter world. There have been rumours it was a social networking site, and yesterday it seemed the cat had been let out of the bag, when a PR gaffe suggested it would be an online treasure hunt leasing to ‘wands’ hidden in the real world. Well, now JK Rowling has announced what it actually is – which is slightly different to the rumours, but more in line with what common sense suggested it would be – and it’s likely that it’ll please some, while underwhelming others.
You can see her Youtube announcement below, where she reveals it will be an interactive reading experience, set in the Potter world, allowing users to get involved with the Harry Potter world and will feature imput from Rowling herself, who’ll be revealing info about the world of Hogwarts, which she’s known but never featured in the books. There’s plenty of info we don’t know – from exactly what happened during the first rise of Voldemort, to the battle with Grindelwald that made Dumbledore’s name – so it could prove to be very interesting.
However, with the site not launching properly until October, the jury is still out on what this ‘unique reading experience’ will really offer and whether it’ll be more than an interesting distraction. Some will be able to see it early though, as from July 31st you can go to the site and ‘follow the owl’, and hopefully work out how to get into the site early (which to be honest, basically sounds like beta testing turned into something that appears to be a lot grander).
While most of it will be free to use, there’ll also be a commercial angle, keeping the Potter machine going beyond the movies, and offering digital audio books and Harry Potter e-book for sale.
Many are already expressing their disappointment that Pottermore isn’t something more spectacular, but to be honest, after all the fuss, it would be difficult for anything to live up to people’s hopes (especially with something Potter related), and without actually having the site to view, it’s tough to say how good it will be.
To be honest, they’d have probably been better off just bringing out the site and announcing it then, as the secrecy and fanfare seems unnecessar, for what is essentially an adjunct to the Potter world. However, I presume JK an co are so used to everything Potter related being met with fevered anticipation and near hysteria, they thought that would be true here. And hey, perhaps when it goes online properly in October, they will get that reaction.