Harry Potter Movies

For several decades, the alluring world of Fantasy novels was dominated by such stalwart offerings such as the classic Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. In recent years, huge hordes of readers surged towards the imaginative magical world of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling. In both cases, the genre of fantasy novels was redefined and extended to include new visions of fantastic locales, amazing characters and new styles of storytelling for this popular genre.

Now, thanks to a newly published effort by American author R. Leigh, called The Winds of Asharra, the Fantasy fiction genre has been radically redefined once again, this time for grownups seeking fantasy characters with some sizzle and sex appeal. In short, The Winds of Asharra is genre bending, a combination of Fantasy and Romance novels, with equal parts adventure and sizzle. It’s enough to fog Harry Potter’s glasses or make Tolkien’s hobbits blush.

The Winds of Asharra is 600+ pages long, set in the sensual world of Asharra, a place with twin suns and a purple sky. Unlike traditional fantasy fiction, there’s not a wizard, witch or troll in sight. Instead, the reader is treated to such unique and diverse characters as evolved feline-like creatures, intelligent telepathic trees, musical dragons and dream inducing mystical crystal beings. The main characters, two 18 year old Earth teenagers, Victor and Zoe, unexpectedly arrive on the surreal and sensual land of Asharra and embark on a journey of self discovery in a world where adventure, love, sex and home all have new meanings. When Ionera, a troubled Asharran girl with a mystical secret enters Victor’s life, his priorities turn upside down and new challenges present themselves including the beginning of an epic quest which will benefit all of Asharra if successful.

While these elements, although unique, sound appealing, there are two reasons why The Winds of Asharra represents a distinct change in popular Fantasy Fiction. Apart from the adventure elements, WOA (as its fans refer to it) adds great romance and humor to its story, elements which are often lacking in modern fantasy fiction. In fact, we found it difficult to categorize the Winds of Asharra. Was it Romantic Fantasy, Fantasy Romance or something else? In any case, it’s Fantasy fiction for adults, definitely not for the pre-teen set.

The final reason why WOA should be regarded as decidedly different is the successful effort to develop and insert a complex fantasy philosophy into the book. Much like L Ron Hubbard had done in years ago with Dianetics, Author R. Leigh introduces a plausible philosophy of the Asharrans into WOA, a creative, positive, life affirming worldview that is refreshingly optimistic in these troubled times.

Even the author of WOA is decidedly different and uniquely mysterious as the back cover of the book suggests: “Author R. Leigh is a mystery to local neighbors, appearing enigmatic and ageless, and wearing an ever present red crystal pendant. Some have guessed this author’s secret other-worldly origin, speculating that the tales of Asharra might somehow be true. Outskirts Press does not confirm this and will not comment on rumors that the manuscript for this novel appeared in our offices out of nowhere. We urge you to read this book and decide for yourself.” True or not, this made us smile and secretly hope that there are elements of the fantastic in our world, waiting to be discovered.

In conclusion, The Winds of Asharra is unabashedly different, worthy of examination by any graduate from the Harry Potter books who is eager to take the next step into a new fantasy universe, the world of Asharra.

Potential readers can visit their official website at http://www.thewindsofasharra.com.

The Winds of Asharra is published by Outskirts Press and available in Paperback and Hardcover from selected retailers and online booksellers around the world. US wholesale distribution is through Ingram and Baker & Taylor

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released in 2005. Directed by Mike Newell, the film revolves around the events of Harry Potter’s fourth year at Hogwarts. The school was selected to host the recently revived competition called the Triwizard Tournament. Though Harry does not apply to join and represent the school, the Goblet of Fire mysteriously selects him to join the tournament. Three days after its US release, The Goblet of Fire grossed over $102 million at the American box office, the highest tally for a Harry Potter flick. It earned a over $896 million worldwide and became the highest grossing film of 2005.

Audio books are here to stay, say the experts. Judging by their steady year-on-year growth, this is not a marketing statement, but a fact. Now these same experts are predicting a dramatic upsurge in the sale of audio book downloads over the next two years.

The prediction makes sense in view of the following:

* The market penetration of MP3 and iPod devices is significant. This penetration is set to increase as some publishers are giving away MP3 players free of charge with purchases in order to encourage future downloads.

* Such downloads are quite a bit cheaper than printed books.

* Current generation readers enjoy the convenience of books which they can download from the comfort of their homes – even at 2 o’clock in the morning!

Purchasing an audio book online doesn’t mean that you will only be offered older books or that you will have to make do with a limited variety. On the contrary, all the latest and greatest print releases are freely available as downloads nowadays. The same applies to all-time favorite novels, such as Harry Potter and all-time favorite authors such as Stephen King.

Harry Potter audio books

In spite of the controversies surrounding the six Harry Potter books, it became an overnight success: All these books have been translated into 47 languages with millions of copies sold worldwide; the seventh book is due for release; the fifth Harry Potter movie is in production; and all these titles are available in download format.

The readability of the Harry Potter series precludes children under the age of ten from comfortably reading it in print. This makes purchasing these books in digital format a worthwhile consideration. The popularity of Harry Potter’s books has resulted in the series becoming available in most digital formats.

Jim Dale, the narrator, has won a Grammy Award, two Grammy nominations, and two AudioFile Earphone Awards for his work on the Harry Potter series.

A further plus-factor for purchasing the Harry Potter books in digital form is the price. You could save as much as 25% per book! The seventh book in the series, The Deathly Hallows, can now be pre-ordered. It may be a good time to order this pending release when you purchase the other Harry Potter books in the series.

Stephen King audio books

Stephen King is a firm favorite. Since his first book “Carrie” was published in 1973, Stephen King has written more than 60 novels, short stories, plays etc; twenty of his stories were made into films; and all his best selling books are available in digital format.

Of significance to the Stephen King fans, is the fact that he is about to retire, so in view of this imminent retirement, it could be worth considering purchasing one of the ‘Stephen King Live’ audio downloads available on the internet.

It is a live recording made in 1998 of a reading he made at London’s Festival Hall, with Stephen King himself as the narrator. The recording is available on CDs or as an online download, but interestingly enough, not in printed format at all.

The unavailability of Stephen King Live in the printed media is an interesting phenomenon. What if emerging authors had to decide not to publish in print? Offering book downloads instead, could mean a wider reach, better sales and improved margins.

Audio books to download

There are literally thousands and thousands of these, and the numbers are increasing exponentially every day. So Who knows? Only the future can tell whether book downloads will one day rule. In other words, is the tyranny of the printed word coming to an end in a future near you? Bye-bye Gutenberg?

Swine flu takes no prisoners, not even the wizard students of Hogwarts can escape the pig virus as witnessed by the recent swine flu contraction of Rupert Grint who plays Harry Potters best friend side-kick, Ron Weasley.

Fortunately for the young wizard it was a mild infection and he didn’t need to call on his buddy for any hokus-pokus magic potions, indeed he recovered in time to attend the Premiere of  Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince.

Rupert’s case was a classic example of getting a quick diagnosis and early treatment which enabled him to return to the film-set with minimum disruption.

The UK is in fact experiencing a surge in diagnosed cases of swine flu, the last count was approaching 8000 cases – and worse, if not kept in check by the UK authorities escalation has been estimated at more than 100,000 cases by August end.

“Wizard Weasley” was extremely lucky, reports of him suffering some nausea and a mild sore throat bodes well for early detection. Some people however are not so fortunate with an already rising death toll.

In actual fact, according to the Guardian, Britain’s worst case scenario is a death toll of 65,000. Further, according to Britain’s Chief Medical Officer an expected fatality of 3,100 due to contracting swine flu is real. 

The message for everyone then is crystal clear. At the first moment of suspected symptoms get your butt to the doctor as experience as shown, early detection increase dramatically the possibility of survival with no ill effects.  

With all of the success of the Harry Potter series of books by J.K. Rowling, it’s no wonder why so many people want to dress up in Harry Potter costumes for Halloween and other events. After all, when someone really enjoys a character or a whole cast of characters, whether it is from a book, television show, or movie, they often want to emulate them. This can be done relatively easily with a Harry Potter costume.

There are two main categories of Harry Potter Halloween costumes. You can either dress up as Harry Potter himself, or as one of the many children who attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Either way, you are sure to have a lot of fun with the occasion. The great thing about this is that these costumes can be for both adults and children. The adult Harry Potter costume is essentially the exact same as the child Harry Potter costume since the styles are so universal.

When you are going for the look of a regular student at Hogwarts, there are some things that you definitely need. First of all, a robe is a necessity. Your robe should be black and made of heavy cloth, such as wool. It should also have a hood, although you probably won’t end up using it. Next, you should have a colored button down shirt with a tie on underneath. Think about it. This is a costume for a school uniform. It will be a bit stricter than other costumes might be.

If you want to dress up your Harry Potter Costume a bit, you can also get a scarf. In the movies and books, the children wear a scarf that has the colors of whatever house they live in at the school. The main one is for Gryffindor, which is maroon and gold. The scarf will have wide stripes of these colors.

Now, if you want an authentic Harry Potter costume where you are dressed as the actual character, you will need two additional things. First, a big thing that makes Harry Potter special is his scar. It is a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt that is right on his forehead. You’ll also need glasses. The rounder the frames, the better.

For added authenticity to your Harry Potter costume, you should consider making a wand. You could also even carry around an old fashioned style broom that you could pretend to ride. With this costume, you will be able to represent your favorite literary character.

Years back during the summer of 2000 and in between semesters of college I worked at a summer camp in New Hampshire. When the mailman showed up on our campgrounds with a different vehicle, I knew that something was up. Instead of the familiar white truck where the steering wheel is on the right side for easy access to mailboxes, he showed up in a cargo van like the kind a plumber uses. Just as soon as he stopped, our camp director greeted him and so began helping him carry several armloads of packages. Since I wasn’t busy at the moment, I walked over to see if I could help.

“Wow,” I said. “There sure is a lot of mail today. What’s the occasion?”

“It’s the release of the new Harry Potter book,” the director said. “Just about every camper asked their parents to send them a copy.”

There must have been at least fifty hardbound copies of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” that day. A little while later, just about every camper in each age group had their noses in their books desperately trying to absorb as much as they could. I was amazed by the popularity of the books then, but didn’t begin reading the book that was at the time, taking the literary world by storm.

It wasn’t until the following year that I began reading the Harry Potter books–a girl I was seeing in college was heavily into to them and was constantly harassing me to try reading them. Safe to say, I gave it a shot and got instantly hooked. Here’s why:

The characters are so unique from one to the next and Harry, as you will learn, is just like every other boy out there–an “everyman” if you will.

The magic in the story is incredible. One example is the sport of Quidditch in which students of Hogwarts play a mix of hockey and soccer aboard broomsticks. There are also potions in which can make its user change into a different person and the “Mirror of Erised” (which is ‘Desire’ spelled backwards) that shows you exactly what your heart desires among other things.

There are many themes prevalent in the story; such as irony, a battle between good and evil throughout, the ability to cope with death, the power of love and friendship which in reality, Harry’s greatest strength rather than his knowledge and talents as a wizard.

Watching Harry Potter as he grows up and change from a child to a young adult is to me at least amazingly accurate. The psychology behind his thoughts is believable to the reader as he struggles between his desire to live as a normal boy, yet is “marked” for death by his arch nemesis, the Lord Voldemort.

Aside from this, the most prevalent of theme in all the Harry Potter series is that it’s pure fun for the reader. It is an absolute treat to read, even if you’ve seen the movies with or without your children. I highly recommend the books to everyone, young or old. There are indeed themes within the series that parallel Greek Mythology as well. For instance, Professor Minerva McGonnagall in all fairness is really Athena, just as her name implies. But don’t let me spoil all of it for you. After having read J.K. Rowling’s books, you certainly won’t regret it.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released in 2004, two years after the previous Harry Potter film. This movie was directed by Alfonso Cuaron and stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, and co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively. New cast members include Gary Oldman as Sirius Black and David Thewlis as Remus Lupin. The role of Albus Dumbledore was taken over by Michael Gambon when Richard Harris died from Hodgkin’s disease. The Prisoner of Azkaban was nominated for the Academy Award for Visual Effects and the Academy for Original Music Score.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second installment of the Harry Potter movie adaptations and is based on the novel of the same title by JK Rowling. The movie was released in November 2002 and directed by the same director as the first film, Chris Columbus. Most of the cast members from the Philosopher’s Stone returned in the Chamber of Secrets. However, this would be Richard Harris’ last appearance as Dumbledore (as well as his last film) and the last Harry Potter movie directed by Chris Columbus. New major actors include Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy and Kenneth Branagh as Lockhart. The film was well received by critics and fans and made $897 million worldwide.

Daniel Radcliffe is the boy who plays Harry Potter in the big-screen adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s series of the same title. Contrary to popular belief, Harry Potter is not his first movie role. When he was ten years old, he played a young David Copperfield in a 1999 TV movie david Copperfield. Several years later he go the role of Mark Pendel in the 2001 film Tailor of Panama. Not long after he landed the role that would seal his acting career and earn him worldwide recognition and fame – Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.

Besides the Harry Potter series, Daniel Radcliffe also starred in a stage play called Equus and received great reviews from both fans and critics. He also finished filming a TV movie called My Boy Jack very recently.

According to newly released figures covering up to August of last year, the 18-year-old made the massive sum thanks to his movie roles and some shrewd investments. Accounts for his company Gilmore Jacobs show he banked £4 million in cash, totaled up investments of £7 million, as well as being owed £2 million in payments, according to The Sun.