It is believed that more than 250 million Harry Potter books have been sold around the world, in 55 different languages. In 2004, Forbes magazine estimated that Rowling was worth 576 million pounds, making her the first person to become a billionaire from writing books!

Goblets of fire. Armed pixies. Talking lions. A ring ruled by evil. The genre of imaginative fiction has never had it so good. As J K Rowling’s sixth tome on Harry Potter is being devoured by hungry readers, Renuka Chatterjee rides the magical wave and gets swept into a fantastical atmosphere replete with dragons, deception and drama.

I have a confession to make. I’ve just read my first Harry Potter...and I think it’ll be my last. For the billion-odd Potter fans around the world, that’s the sort of statement that would immediately tar one with the same brush as Voldemort, Potter’s mortal enemy. Or merit 10 years’ RI in Azkaban, the prison island, where are banished the lowest of the low.
It’s not that I didn’t try. When the first Harry Potter edition hit the stands, I didn’t read the book; true, but I did see the movie. And I liked it enough to buy a ticket for the second, The Chamber of Secrets. That’s when I began to suspect that perhaps Potter and I weren’t on the same wavelength.

In India, where publishers still pop the bubbly if a book crosses the 10,000 mark, the last couple of Rowling titles have sold an approximate 60,000 copies in the first week of their release and each book is believed to have sold close to 100,000 copies thus far. (Thus knocking a hole in the standard publisher’s response to authors who ask why their books don’t sell more copies – that the market for books in English is so small. ‘If Harry Potter can sell 60,000 in the first week in this same market, why hasn’t my book sold even 2,000 in one year?’ I recall one author asking me. ‘Because you’re a Muggle,’ I was tempted to say, but refrained).

What’s more, in Rowling’s wake, a whole lot of others seem to be enjoying success in the genre known as fantasy fiction. There’s Irish writer, Eoin Colfer, with his 13-year-old anti-hero, Artemis Fowl. Having secured a following with his first three books – Artemis Fowl, The Arctic Incident and The Eternity Code – Colfer has just released his fourth, The Opal Deception. Then there’s Christopher Paolini with Eragon – a boy who finds a polished blue stone in the forest. The stone turns out to be a dragon hatchling – plunging Eragon into a new world of ‘magic, destiny and power’. The second Eragon adventure is now eagerly awaited. Best-selling author, Jonathan Stroud, has also created his own fan following with his widely read, The Bartimaeus Trilogy, a fast-paced fantasy series set in a modern-day London ruled by magicians. The first two books – The Amulet of Samarkand and The Golem’s Eye set the tone and now readers are looking forward to the final one.

Fantastic reads!
More volumes that unravel the intricacies of mystery and magic.

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke – A brave young dragon, Firedrake, undertakes a dangerous journey to the Rim of Heaven in the Himalayas.

Switchers Series by Kate Thompson – Two young teenagers have the ability to switch into any animal form they desire in order to embark on adventures and save the world.

The Knights of Liofwende Trilogy by Gary Kilworth –

Senior Delhi-based journalist, Renuka Chatterjee, has worked with a variety of publications before switching to publishing. Formerly with Penguin India and HarperCollins India, she is currently chief editor, Roli Books, developing a list in fiction and non-fiction. Writing and reading books is what she does in her leisure time.

For complete story, subscribe to Verve Magazine or buy the Verve issue on stands now!