“Beedle The Bard”

Even though FITSNews is one of the few remaining places without Harry Potter-philia, we “lovelovelove” us some J.K. Rowling, the series’ author.

Rowling brought sexy back to reading, fighting against the current of flaunted anti-intellectualism with a 4,200-page tome of bejeweled allegory woven with majesty, morality, and mortality. She’s the kind of author that makes us want to say “they just don’t make ‘em like that anymore”…except that they fortunately do, at least in the case of Ms. Rowling.

“Harry Potter” represents old-guard fiction – the kind where storytelling is served in measured helpings, a nibble at a time, spoon-fed and savory.

Fortunately the end of the “Potter” series isn’t the end of the storied story. Today Rowling releases “The Tales of Beedle the Bard,” a collection of five fairy tales.

“Bard” stands alone, but it also borrows from and lends to the Potter series. The final “Potter” book alludes to “Bard” as containing clues vital to Harry’s destruction of Lord Voldemort. Writes Rowling:

“’The Tales of Beedle the Bard’ is really a distillation of the themes found in the Harry Potter books, and writing it has been the most wonderful way to say goodbye to a world I loved and lived in for 17 years.”

Best of all, having made a gaggle of money already, Rowling is donating the proceeds of her new book to a children’s charity she founded.

We’re sure some of y’all are “Harry Potter” fans, so let us know what you think of Rowling’s latest creation – since you’ve probably finished it already anyway.

In exchange, we’ll tell about our favorite gem of a story. Diane Setterfield’s “The Thirteenth Tale” is Potter-esque in its encrusted majesty and layered revelations, the splendor of which any “Potter” fan will just eat up.