Nineteen years later . . .

Even as a new generation embraces the Harry Potter novels for the first time, J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world continues to expand. Rowling herself has created a five-film spinoff, a two-part stage play, and an immersive online universe. The fictional sport of Quidditch now has a real-world counterpart, complete with an international governing body and a major league. Fans have adapted the series into role-playing games, crossover parodies, musicals, films, dances, art, and real, published fiction. There are new mobile games, toys, theme parks—even a complete line of Harry Potter–inspired home décor from Pottery Barn.
 
More than ten years have passed since the end of the series, and Potterheads still can’t get enough. In this addition to Intellect’s Fan Phenomena series, enthusiasts and scholars explore the culture of the fandom, its evolution, and how it managed to turn a boy wizard into the international icon we see splashed across lunchboxes, printed on t-shirts, and enshrined in tattoos. Harry Potter: Fan Phenomena is a journey—yes, a magical one—through one of the largest fanbases of all time and their efforts to ensure that The Boy Who Lived would live forever.

Valerie Estelle Frankel is the author of more than fifty books on popular culture, including History, Homages and the Highlands: An Outlander Guide and Superheroines and the Epic Journey: Mythic Themes in Comics, Film and Television. She is the recipient of a Dream Realm Award, an Indie Excellence Award, and a USA Book News National Best Book Award for her Henry Potty parody series. She teaches at Mission College, Santa Clara, and San Jose City College.

— Networking Knowledge