Archive: June 2011 (1-10 of 23)

Jun 24 2011 01:37 PM ET

First Look: Time travel, young love and loss clash in 'Tempest'

The title of this upcoming YA novel suggests Shakespeare, but this particular fantasy tale about a young couple torn apart by impossible forces is strictly from the present day.

Well, actually 2009. But, then again … it goes back to 2007. Sort of.

To be honest, it’s a little tricky because the 19-year-old hero of Tempest, Jackson Meyer, is unstuck in time. So forget the “strictly from the present day” part.

In the story, Jackson Meyer has the natural ability to flash backward in time, but he tends to go only a short chronological distance, usually a few hours. He has a playful — some might say immature — attitude about it, using the power as a plaything instead of harnessing its true potential. But, you know — he’s just a kid.

Then tragedy strikes as the love of his life, Holly, is brutally murdered before his eyes.

Of course, that becomes a chance to use his power to save her, but in rage and panic he finds this flash backward goes not a few hours, but two years. Turns out Holly’s death was not some random act of violence. They were targeted because of his abilities, and he continues to be pursued by these “enemies of time” who wish to either recruit him, or execute him too.

Here we present the a first look at the cover of the book, by debut novelist Julie Cross, as well as the short, mysterious prologue that kicks off the tale.

Click through to read …

READ FULL STORY »

Jun 23 2011 12:50 PM ET

'Pottermore' interface revealed: Just how much will this site be able to do?

Categories: Books, Harry Potter
pottermore

J.K. Rowling announced details about her much buzzed-about website, Pottermore, this morning, and fangirls and fanboys-who-lived are already raving with excitement. Now, thanks to Harry Potter fansites The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet, excitement levels are rising even more.

Those sites have released the first few images of Pottermore’s interface, and they give a good idea of what the interactive user experience might be like. The above picture comes from MuggleNet and is entitled “Christmas at Hogwarts.” Obviously, it’s an illustration of the wizarding school during the holidays, which is fun in its own right, but it’s all the buttons that surround the image which really interest me.

There is a “Read About” tab, which will presumably provide some of Rowling’s unreleased notes about Christmastime at the school, a Hufflepuff badge and “house points” counter, and a “Friends” link, which will allow users to interact with their fellow witches and wizards. Along the top bar, there are buttons for “Diagon Alley,” “Great Hall,” “Gringotts,” “Common Room,” “Spells,” “Potions,” “Trunk,” “Friends” and “Favorites.”

Where will all these buttons lead? No idea. But they do show that Pottermore is seeking to be more than just a simple platform for releasing e-books or hosting an MMORPG. It looks like it is seeking to be a comprehensive web community for Potterheads that will allow users to insert themselves within the Hogwarts experience. Plus, it’s a pretty innovative way of releasing Rowling’s new insights on characters and plot points without publishing a whole new book, which haters would inevitably deem a sellout move.

You can check out more images from MuggleNet HERE or at The Leaky Cauldron HERE.

Jun 23 2011 07:27 AM ET

J.K. Rowling unveils new 'Pottermore' website

JK-Rowling

Image Credit: Mike Marsland/WireImage.com

After a full week of wild speculation over the purpose of J.K. Rowling’s new site Pottermore, the Harry Potter author announced it to us Muggles this morning. Theories had ranged from a real-world treasure hunt to a MMORPG based on the books to the revelation that magic was actually real and that I had just been accepted to Hogwarts despite being far too old for it (wait, was that just me?), but according to the video uploaded to YouTube by Rowling (watch it below), Pottermore will actually be a comprehensive website with a number of features, including e-books and, Rowling says, “additional information I’ve been hoarding for years.” READ FULL STORY »

Jun 22 2011 04:04 PM ET

'The Hunger Games': A doubter finally dives in

hunger-games

For several years now I’ve politely ignored friends and coworkers who try to talk me into reading Suzanne CollinsThe Hunger Games. A YA book about a televised contest where kids kill each other? It sounded both unpleasant and unoriginal (I’m enough of an old fart to have read Stephen King’s The Long Walk and The Running Man when they were collected in The Bachman Books in 1985). Who wants to read about a dystopian world where some evil police state makes kids fight to the death for everyone’s amusement? Even as mutterings of the book’s greatness started to rumble through the halls of EW, I just couldn’t get excited about it. I filed The Hunger Games away in the “not for me” part of my brain with stuff like Artemis Fowl and iCarly.

That was dumb. The Hunger Games has, of course, now blown up into a major cultural phenomenon, with countless copies sold and a big-deal movie in the works. Everyone in the pop-culture universe (or at least in our office) has read the thing, loves it, talks about it constantly. I felt left out. More than that, I started to wonder if my stubborn refusal to read it was standing in the way of something I might actually like, something that was every bit as exciting and entertaining as people kept insisting. Maybe, I finally thought, I should just get over it and read the damn thing.

So I dug it out of the pile in my office and forced myself to at least try the first chapter. READ FULL STORY »

Jun 21 2011 02:51 PM ET

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and husband Mark Kelly to publish a memoir

Categories: Memoirs
giffords_kelly

Image Credit: AP Images

Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Navy Captain and astronaut Mark Kelly, will publish a joint memoir through Scribner. The “deeply personal” memoir will recount the couple’s love story, Giffords’ rise in politics, and the tragic shooting on January 8th that killed six people and severely injured Giffords and 12 others. READ FULL STORY »

Jun 20 2011 11:31 AM ET

Not even Daniel Radcliffe knows what 'Pottermore' is

Categories: J.K. Rowling
deathly-hallows-part-1-001

Image Credit: Jaap Buitendijk

It seems everyone, including Harry Potter himself, is wondering what J.K. Rowling’s recently launched Pottermore website will turn out to be. The Los Angeles Times asked Daniel Radcliffe if he could shed some lumos on the purpose of the mysterious domain name, copyrighted two years ago by Warner Bros., but he was no more in the know than anyone else. “I know nothing about that whatsoever,” he told the Times’ Hero Complex. “I’m sure that Jo will be writing a lot more in the coming years. I’m sure she has a lot more in her than we’ve read and a lot more stories to tell. As long as they don’t involve Harry, I’m quite happy to buy them.”

The final film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, hits theaters on July 15, and since the copyright is owned by Warner Bros., it is possible that Pottermore will turn out to be more movie-related than book-related. But to know for sure, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Jun 17 2011 11:34 AM ET

J.K. Rowling's Pottermore website trademarked as a 'global computer information network'

Categories: J.K. Rowling
pottermore

The Internet is all aflutter with speculation as to what the mysterious new Harry Potter-related website Pottermore, recently launched by J.K. Rowling, is all about. Other than the promise of an announcement in T-minus five days, there hasn’t been much official word, giving Potterphiles everywhere license to ponder the possibilities. So far, the idea gaining the most traction is that Pottermore stands for “Potter Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Experience,” a MMORPG set in the world of wizarding and magic we’ve grown to love. Which, I’m sure we can all agree, would be such a large amount of awesomeness it wouldn’t even fit in Hermione’s handbag.

The good news is that the language of the trademark registered by Warner Bros. doesn’t necessarily dispel the possibility of such a game. Filed nearly a full two years ago, the application outlines Pottermore as a service “providing multiple-user access to a global computer information network, [...] on-line chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among users in the field of general interest [and] on-line facilities for real-time interaction with other computer users concerning topics of general interest.” Judging from that description, I’m still tempted to say it will end up being an expansive website, with possibly some game elements, as opposed to a full-on World of Witchcraft. But I may be wrong.

In subsequent filings, Warner Bros. also trademarked anything else that could possibly ever be linked to Pottermore, including greeting cards, erasers, and swimming floats, but that’s just the general due diligence. What do you think this trademark means, Shelf-Lifers? Would you be psyched if it turned out to be a role-playing game?

Jun 16 2011 02:42 PM ET

'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' author Jeff Kinney on new book 'Cabin Fever' and the series' future

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UPDATE: Read our review of Cabin Fever.

Cabin Fever, the highly anticipated sixth installment of the Diary of the Wimpy Kid series, will get a monster first-run release of six million copies on Nov. 15, the largest of any book in the series. Series creator and author Jeff Kinney spoke to EW about the new book and Greg Heffley’s future — apparently love and death are on the horizon.

Tell me a bit more about the concept behind the sixth book.
On the surface, Cabin Fever is about the Heffley being family being snowed in for the holidays and the claustrophobia that creates, but it works as a theme as well. The idea behind the book is that as you’re growing up you’re forging your identity, and that identity becomes hard to escape later on. I find that no matter what I do in my professional life, if I go back home, the people I grew up with and the people in my family and the people who know me bring me back to my true self. Part of the book is about the claustrophobia of your identity — it’s hard to forge a new one. READ FULL STORY »

Jun 16 2011 12:26 PM ET

On the Books June 16: Denise Richards' 'love story,' 'Hunger Games' tie-in editions

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Image Credit: McMullan/Sipa Pre

++ Denise Richards says her upcoming memoir, due for release on July 27, will be more of an “inspirational” story than a tell-all about her marriage to Charlie Sheen. She calls her marriage to Sheen a “beautiful love story” before the “rotten stuff” took over.

++ Scholastic announced today that a special gift edition of The Hunger Games will be released in time for this holiday season. The Hunger Games Collector’s Edition, available November 2011, will feature a special slipcase featuring new mockingjay artwork. In February 2012, Scholastic will publish three titles — The Hunger Games: Movie Tie-In Edition, The Hunger Games: Official Illustrated Movie Companion, and The World of the Hunger Games — in anticipation of the March 2012 film release.

Jun 16 2011 12:05 PM ET

J.K. Rowling launches new site 'Pottermore' and teases an upcoming announcement

Jk-Rowling

Do you feel that? That frisson of excitement, that magical feeling of antici…pation? Almost exactly one month away from the release of the eighth and final Harry Potter film, J.K. Rowling has created a new website. Named Pottermore—it doesn’t take a linguistic genius to realize that’s an anagram for “More Potter”—it appears to be only the promising words “Coming soon” and Rowling’s signature. Although, if you click on one of the owls framing the page, it takes you to a YouTube account with a countdown clock that teases an announcement from the author which, as of this moment, is exactly 6 days, 14 hours, 11 minutes, and 23 seconds away. Wait, now it’s 22 seconds. READ FULL STORY »

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