Harry Potter Books

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Author: JK Rowling
Illustrators: Mary GrandPre (US), Thomas Taylor (UK)
UK Edition Statistics: 17 chapters, 223 pages, 78,000 words
US Edition Statistics: 17 chapters, 309 pages, 78,000 words
Initial Print Runs: 500 copies (UK); 50,000 copies (US)

Hailed by critics as one of the best childrens’ books of all time, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is also one of the most popular. A simple idea conceived on a train ride in 1990 has now blossomed into a complex, seven-part tale that has entertained audiences around the world and become an icon of our popular culture.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Author: JK Rowling
Illustrators: Mary GrandPre (US), Cliff Wright (UK)
UK Edition Statistics: 18 chapters, 256 pages, 86,000 words
US Edition Statistics: 18 chapters, 341 pages, 86,000 words
Initial Print Runs: 10,150 copies (UK); 250,000 copies (US)

The second book of seven in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets tells of twelve year-old Harry Potter’s second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Author JK Rowling began writing Chamber of Secrets before her first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, gained widespread popularity. In fact, she started writing the second book the very same afternoon that she finished the first.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Author: JK Rowling
Illustrators: Mary GrandPre (US), Cliff Wright (UK)
UK Edition Statistics: 22 chapters, 317 pages, 107,253 words
US Edition Statistics: 22 chapters, 435 pages, 107,253 words
Initial Print Runs: 10,000 copies (UK); 500,000 copies (US)

The third book in the saga of seven, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is commonly regarded as the fan favorite. JK Rowling began writing it the day after she completed the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by which point the first had gained quite a large fan base. By August of 1999, soon after the third book’s release in the UK and a month before its release in the US, five million copies of the books were already in print.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Author: JK Rowling
Illustrators: Mary GrandPre (US), Thomas Taylor (UK)
UK Edition Statistics: 37 chapters, 755 pages
US Edition Statistics: 37 chapters, 755 pages

It’s the pivotal fourth novel in the seven-part tale of Harry Potter’s training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). He wants to find out about the mysterious event that’s supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn’t happened for a hundred years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. Unfortunately for Harry Potter, he’s not normal even by wizarding standards.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Author: JK Rowling
Illustrators: Mary GrandPre (US), Thomas Taylor (UK)
UK Edition Statistics: 38 chapters, 870 pages
US Edition Statistics: 38 chapters, 870 pages
Initial Print Runs:

“I say to you all, once again in the light of Lord Voldemort’s return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort’s gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust.” So spoke Albus Dumbledore at the end of Harry Potter’s fourth year at Hogwarts. But as Harry enters his fifth year at wizard school, it seems those bonds have never been more sorely tested. Lord Voldemort’s rise has opened a rift in the wizarding world between those who believe the truth about his return, and those who prefer to believe it’s all madness and lies just more trouble from Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Author: JK Rowling
Illustrators: Mary GrandPre (US), Thomas Taylor (UK)
UK Edition Statistics: 39 chapters, 608 pages
US Edition Statistics: 39 chapters, 652 pages
Initial Print Runs: 10.8 million copies (U.S.)

Just over a year after its predecessor, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was released, JK Rowling announced the title of the sixth Harry Potter book: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (also referred to as HBP). The announcement was made on June 29, 2004 on the author’s official website, www.jkrowling.com.

Rumored titles of the book hit the Internet many months prior to June 2004, which was also the month in which the third Harry Potter movie was released in theatres. These included “Harry Potter and the Mudblood Revolt,” “Harry Potter and the Fortress of Shadows,” “Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch,” and “Harry Potter and the Pillar of Storgé.” The “Pillar of Storgé” rumor began several days before the actual announcement was made and duped a majority of fans, most of whom now refuse to admit it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Author: JK Rowling
Illustrators: Mary GrandPre (US), Thomas Taylor (UK)
UK Edition Statistics: 36 chapters, 752 pages
US Edition Statistics: 36 chapters, 752 pages
Initial Print Runs:

For those of us in the Harry Potter fandom, the standard one to two (or even three, in the case of Order of the Phoenix) year waiting period between installments is typically marked by an increasing hunger for everything Harry Potter, and a never-ending search for any and all information related to the next book. This is especially true now as we await the final installment in the series. While there are many questions to be answered, and even more loose ends to be tied up, there are some details we actually do know, and others that we can infer.