As many know, a new, eighth adaptation of the Harry Potter books, titled Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, came out as a book in July of 2016 and will appear on Broadway in April of 2018. To those who aren’t avid fans of the book, I have to briefly (well, kind of briefly) describe what this new book means to the world of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter is one of the best selling book series of all time. The second book, The Chamber of Secrets(and argued by many to be her best of the series), earned the honor of being the first made-for-children book to top the hardcopy bestsellers list. The author of the series, J.K. Rowling, released her first book(in the U.K.), called the Philosopher’s(Sorcerer’s) Stone in 1997. The next year, it was released in the United States.

The third and fourth books were released in 1999 and 2000, fueling the desire for fans to want the next book. After the rapid series of releases quickly ceased and fans waited for the fifth book, the first movie was released in September of 2001. This movie was the top grossing movie of 2001 worldwide. This not only made the three main actors, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint instantly famous, but would cause more older people to take interest in what was believed to be a children’s book series.

The final, and in my opinion, both the best and the worst book in the series was The Deathly Hallows. Since so many were curious to see how such a complex, popular and emotional series would end, The Deathly Hallows became the fastest selling book of all time. The book also became the second highest selling book of all time, just behind, The DaVinci Code. However, this book caused a lot of disappointment since many believed Rowling tried too hard to “tie up loose ends,” and “create an unexpected ending.”

In the desire to not spoil the book series for anyone wishing to start reading, I will only give vague details. I truly believe this series rose to such success because of Rowling’s reasons for writing the books the way she did; the loss of her mother while writing the Philosopher’s Stone is the reason she claims for Harry Potter being an orphan(they share the same birthday, she claims he’s loosely based off of her). Also, Rowling describes the Dementors, first mentioned in the third book as her own battle with Depression. She claims that they take away happiness, sanity and a feeling of warmth and safety, just as Depression does. It’s not hard to imagine that a series driven by such dark undertones would capture the attention of not only the children and young adults the books were intended for, but also people who began reading as adults.

The final book came out in 2007, and the final part of the movie came out in 2011. Many people were left wanting more; more explanation, more story, and more of everything. I personally didn’t start reading the series until I was nine, since I wasn’t sure I would like the books; but me, being the geeky book-lover that I am, instantly fell in love. Before I knew it, there was no more to read and nothing more to watch. I had to say I truly wanted to forget the entire story and read it again, but no matter how many times I read it, it was never the same as the first time.

I finished the series around 2012, so I would have to wait nearly five years to learn the best news I had in a long time; another book had been released. The book was in play format, but I still wanted to read the words, to experience it, imagining the characters as what I thought they should look like, rather than characters on a stage. I bought the book the day it came out and two hours later, I was done. I have to say I was both pleased and disappointed with the storyline.

The storyline was nothing like the way I would’ve imagined; although I was dissatisfied with the ending of the Deathly Hallows, I can’t pretend I didn’t enjoy imagining my own future for The Trio and their families.

In the spirit of not spoiling anything for those who still would like to read it, I must say that it follows Harry’s youngest son, Albus Potter throughout most of the book before the family coming together at the end. It was slightly disorienting to read the book as told from different perspectives with the dialogue, so I truly can’t judge the story before seeing it acted out as it was meant to be. After all, every book in the original series was written in the third person, so constantly switching between personal perspectives was a different way to see a story unfold.

If you would like to read the book, obviously, they are on sale in most stores that sell books(tip from Ally: they’re cheapest as far as I know at BJ’s in Auburn). If you would like to go see the play, I’d advise attempting to buy tickets sooner rather than later. Initially, there was a “Verified Fan” prerelease ticket sale, which unfortunately closed on October 18th due to selling out of available tickets.

Other tickets, for full price, however, are available, especially at www.harrypottertheplay.com. Most tickets are twenty to two hundred dollars per person, per part(there are two parts), depending on which seat you choose. This may change depending on seat availability and show popularity, but these are the current selling prices for April 22nd and the performances following that. The first release of tickets goes from March 16, 2018 to November 18, 2018.

The play runs in two parts: on most days, Part One begins at 2:00 P.M. and runs for two hours and forty minutes(including twenty minute intermission). Part Two generally begins at 7:30 P.M. and runs for two hours and thirty-five minutes(including twenty minute intermission). On the website linked in the previous paragraph, there are several pages, including answers to FAQ’s and new ticket information.