New J.K. Rowling novel? Yes, please!

It’s been a hot minute since Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has written a novel for children. Yes, she’s written the screenplays for the two Fantastic Beasts films, but between A Casual Vacancy and the Cormoran Strike novels, it’s clear she’s found a fruitful career for adult readers. But that’s not to say she would never return to the world of children’s literature. In fact, that’s exactly what I’m here to share with you.

The author took to her official website on Tuesday morning to share some exciting news with her fans. The news was that her new novel would be called The Ickabog and what’s more — it’ll be free! Perhaps most interesting is that this is a story that Rowling didn’t think she’d actually dive into again until just a few weeks ago. 

“After some dithering,” Rowling wrote, recalling her years post-Harry Potter, “I decided I wanted to step away from children’s books for a while. At that point, the first draft of The Ickabog went up into the attic, where it’s remained for nearly a decade. Over time I came to think of it as a story that belonged to my two younger children, because I’d read it to them in the evenings when they were little, which has always been a happy family memory.

With the encouragement of her teenage kids — who she had originally written the story for a decade ago — she started the process of finishing the story.

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As far as what the story is about, here’s what Rowling had to say:

“The Ickabog is a story about truth and the abuse of power.  To forestall one obvious question: the idea came to me well over a decade ago, so it isn’t intended to be read as a response to anything that’s happening in the world right now. The themes are timeless and could apply to any era or any country.”

So, where can you find it? Well, you need only go to the official Ickabog website. Rowling currently has two chapters up and will continue to publish one to three chapters a weekday until the story is complete around July 10. 

If you are hoping for another story to fill the Harry Potter void though, you may be disappointed. This story is, as Rowling put, suitable for 7-9 year-olds to read to themselves. That’s not to say all ages won’t enjoy the book, but it recapturing that Harry Potter audience doesn’t seem to be Rowling’s goal here. Perhaps that’s why she opted to leave the novel in the attic for ten years.

Will you be reading The Ickabog? How do you feel about the new J.K. Rowling novel? Let us know down below!

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SOURCE: J.K. Rowling