New York: Nine years after the last novel in the best-selling Harry Pooter series was released, fans will be able to read new play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in book form this summer.
Billed as the “epic 8th Harry Potter story, the new book will be launched on July 31.
Scholastic Inc. announced Wednesday that a "script book" of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" will be published July 31. The book is a based on the two-part stage collaboration of J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany and arrives just after the play premieres in London on July 30. Rowling's Potter web site www.potternore.com will release an edition.
Online fansite Pottermore also publishing the e-book edition, The Bookseller has confirmed. The play itself will open at the Palace Theatre in the West End the day before.
The decision to publish the script was a result of "massive public demand", especially from fans living overseas who wanted to share in the London-based excitement.
The storyline catches up with Harry, Ron and Hermione's 19 years after the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, ended in 2007. It's an exciting time for Potter fans, with next year marking the 20th anniversary of first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
The play chronicles Potter's adult life, depicting the hero as an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic and father of three children who struggles with his past. It will be presented in two parts, intended to be viewed over two nights or two same-day performances.
The first seven Potter books have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide, according to Scholastic, the series' U.S. publisher.
(with AP inputs)
