Worldwide frenzy greets latest `Harry'

By SCOTT MacLEOD and AGENCIES

In Britain, it was selling at a rate of eight copies a second.

Web retailer Amazon recorded a sales record with 1.3 million orders.

In Hong Kong, it was expected to sell 10 times more than any other bestseller in its first week.

It, as almost everybody on the planet knows by now, is the latest book about a boy wizard and his adventures.

Welcome to Harry Potter and Pottermania.

"It is the fastest-selling book we have ever had," said a spokeswoman for WH Smith, Britain's largest bookseller, after Saturday's release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was billed as the world's largest book launch.

"They were going through the tills at more than eight copies a second. Pre-orders were 10 times bigger than those for the last Harry Potter book."

At London's King's Cross Station, the store recreated the gateway to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, where Harry takes the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

And the Pottermania was not just confined to the boy wizard's homeland. Around the globe, children starved of a Potter book for almost three years eagerly devoured the weighty new tome and gave many parents a peaceful weekend.

The wizard's creator, multimillionaire author J.K. Rowling, joined in the Pottermania by visiting an Edinburgh bookshop to see the excitement firsthand.

She was thrilled that none of the plot's big secrets - one of the main characters dies - had leaked out.

"Most kids are going to find out what happens because they have read the book - and that is what's important to me."

Children were certainly given a hefty treat - Phoenix runs to 255,000 words and is the size of a brick.

But that did not deter 15-year-old British schoolgirl Jennifer Gosling, who claimed to have speed-read the 766-page saga in 1 1/2 hours as part of a bookstore challenge.

Critics complained that the book, which they dubbed Harry Potter and the Crock of Hype, was a masterpiece of cynical marketing.

But the figures are staggering. Thirteen million copies were printed and from Sydney to Johannesburg, from Frankfurt to Kuala Lumpur, youngsters just could not wait to get their hands on the book.

"Harry Potter is a religion," said Connecticut teenager Caitlin Messina, clutching her broomstick.

In Auckland, the first Potter book was unpacked and carried, under security guard and police escort, from Borders bookshop to the Aotea Centre for a marathon reading.

At St Lukes mall, hundreds of children watched actors dressed as the main characters throw sweets and hand out prizes to children dressed in the best Potter costume.

"Are they real wizards?" one 5-year-old asked her father. Trying to wiggle out of the question, he replied: "They are in a book - they must be."

In Wellington, 17-year-old Abbi Harper was one of 250 Harry Potter fans lining up to snare a copy of the book when it went on sale at 11:01am, a minute past midnight in London.

"We've been waiting three years. What's another hour?" she said outside Whitcoulls, which had orders for about 1100 copies of the book.

Abbi planned to spend the weekend reading so she could finish it "in time to talk about it at school on Monday".

In parts of Asia, the book was too expensive for many customers. In Indonesia it cost the equivalent of US$27 ($47), but most people earn just US$2 a day, and in the Philippines, the US$25 price tag is a week's wages for an industrial worker.

What the kids say about Harry

Each book is showing us a different place, and it shows us lots of new people, and new things all the time. It's never boring.

I haven't got to any scary stuff yet, but there's always a bad part to Harry Potter. You have to be ready for it.

I was reading it when you rang. I should get back to it now.

- Josh Tucker, Age 7, Is up to chapter six/page 92

* * *

Harry is definitely growing up and in the puberty stage. He is having problems controlling his emotions. Also, there is a bit of romance in this one, and consideration given to future careers.

There are a lot of questions raised throughout the book that make you want to keep reading.

It is also a lot darker than the earlier ones, a bit more grown up.

- Veromika Franslay, Age 25, 3/4 of the way through the book.

* * *

I had an 8.30pm bedtime, but got up early to get back into it. I haven't really wanted to do anything else since I got it.

In all the other books, Harry always seemed safe. They've tried to kill him about five times so far in this one. It's so much more freaky and creepy than the last one. At one stage he goes through a roomful of brains.

It's very topsy-turvy and things keep changing.

I'll probably be finished by bedtime.

- Daniel Jackson, Age 9, 49 pages to go

* * *

I usually read one chapter a night with my dad. I think he likes it more than me sometimes.

When he finishes, I can hardly wait until the next night.

- Grace Walker, Age 7

* * *

I started reading it in the bookshop queue and finished it later that night.

It is bringing in some quite adult themes now - romance, future job prospects, death. They are well dealt with, but still I definitely did not feel like I was reading a kids' book.

- Peter Coles, Age 34

* * *

I'm trying not to finish it, to be honest. It is really hard not to just soak it all up but I don't want to be finished, either.

There's a lot to deal with for some of the main characters, and it's good because they're around my age now. It's almost like they're friends of mine. I wish!

I found this one much scarier than the last books. Harry is in much more danger. I didn't want to read it under a blanket with my torch like I usually would.

- Katie Black, Age 13, about 100 pages to go