JK Rowling, Stop Writing Harry Potter Stories

Harry Potter fans grieved when they read the final page of the final book in the series, knowing that JK Rowling was determined not to write any further stories. So a devoted Potter reader like Devon Maloney should be overjoyed that Rowling yesterday released a new story set in Potter's future, right? Wrong, writes Maloney in Wired. The story, written in the style of a newspaper column, is "hilarious" at times, but all it does is "confirm things we already knew were going to happen when we devoured the original epilogue. ... It’s all just too familiar."

So familiar, in fact, that it reads like fan-fiction, as do the prior column-style posts Rowling has been writing about the wizarding world (none of the previous ones actually featured Potter). Drawing out the story Rowling promised was over "is starting to feel disingenuous," and the way Rowling is writing them "devalue[s] not only the magic that made Harry Potter so special, but also the mourning process with which fans already made peace," Maloney writes. "Giving fans what they 'want' now is like giving them unbirthday presents every day: It just cheapens the sanctity of the thing they loved so dearly. ... JK, please let it die." Click for Maloney's full column. (More JK Rowling stories.)