Potter No 6 'most wanted'
2004-12-23 11:30
London - The latest instalment in the Harry Potter series won't hit stores for more than six months but it has already topped at least one bookseller's most wanted list and is racking up thousands of advance orders, retailers said Wednesday.
Less than 24 hours after publishers announced a July 16 release date for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - British author JK Rowling's sixth novel set in the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - had shot to No 1 on online bookseller amazon.co.uk's Hot 100 book list.
The list, calculated from all orders placed by customers on the retailer's internet site, put the latest chapter in the boy wizard fantasy series ahead of best sellers such as Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.
Amazon could not say exactly how many pre-orders it received, but the company said its website had been deluged after it began taking orders for the novel late on Tuesday.
"The fact that the book has already hit No 1 in our Hot 100 books chart shows how incredibly excited customers are about the sixth Harry Potter," Amazon.co.uk managing director Robin Terrell said.
Amazon said it took 420 000 pre-orders for the fifth in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, released in the summer of 2003, making it the largest pre-order item. The company was expecting a similar response for the latest instalment.
Publishers have said the new book takes up the story of Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts when the powers of the villain Voldemort and his followers are increasing day by day.
A seventh and final novel will follow at a date yet to be announced.
- AP