Book review: harry potter and the philosopher’s stone by j. K. Rowling

BEYOND HARRY POTTER
Of course, the Harry Potter books are not the first British fantasy-adventure series to excite young readers in the U.S. Such British authors as Brian Jacques (“Redwall” series, Philomel/Berkley) and Philip Pullman (“His Dark Materials” series, Knopf) have a large and loyal fan base in this country. But neither Penguin Putnam nor Random House report any significant infringement on their territorial rights, mainly due to each house's publishing schedule. “When we published The Golden Compass [Pullman's first “His Dark Materials” book] in 1996, online book-sellers did not really exist,” said Simon Boughton, publishing director at Knopf. “In 1997 we published The Subtle Knife simultaneously with Scholastic U.K. and will do the same with the third book in October 1999. We're conscious of it [U.S. sales of British editions] and would prefer not to be in that situation.”
Boughton also cited some recent pre-U.S.-publication buzz about another British import: Skellig by David Almond, published in Britain last October and to be released by Delacorte in April. “At ALA Midwinter, librarians were telling us that kids already knew about the book,” said Boughton. “That's a noticeable change, I think, that kids and librarians already know what's hot in England.”
Craig Virden, president and publisher of Random House Children's Books, doesn't foresee any problems with U.S. sales of the British edition of Skellig. “The question was raised early on as to whether we should be worried about it’ he said, “but this is the first time it has really come up for us and there's been no instance where anyone has bought it in any quantity that we know of. Down the road this may become an issue. And if it does, we will decide how to deal with it.”
At Penguin Putnam, Doug Whiteman, president of the Books for Young Readers division, agrees. “It has not really been a problem for us,” he said. “We wouldn't change our publishing plan based on a few copies of the British edition being sold here. We do try to publish Brian's [Jacques] books when he is available for touring and promotions in the U.S. because it dramatically helps the books. By coincidence, our edition usually follows only a month behind the U.K. publication.” The most recent “Redwall” book, Marlfax, was released in the U.K. in late November and shipped in the U.S. in late December.
When British-edition copies of Jacques's The Long Patrol (published here in February 1998) were being purchased through the Internet at a substantially higher price, Whiteman said it infuriated the author. “Brian did not want to be seen as approving of his book being positioned at that price,” Whiteman explained. “But we talked him through it, because we also wanted him to see the potential for legitimate online book sales in the future.”
But only time will reveal the true impact of this trend. Boughton speaks for many when he refers to territorial rights potentially becoming more of a hot issue for U.S. publishers. “I have seen more discussion about the future of territorial rights in the U.K. trades,” he noted. “You have to think about it a little differently now.
Harry Potter is the biggest-selling book series of all time. The books have gone on to produce one of the biggest movie series of all time. If you haven’t heard of Harry Potter, you’ve surely been living under a rock? But is the first book The Philosopher’s Stone actually any good?
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