In a dramatic seachange in book sales, the dead have risen to smite the hitherto all-conquering boy sorceror.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has, for the past 16 weeks, looked to be the invincible champion of the bestseller lists, despite being more than three months away from publication. But the wizardy whippersnapper hadn’t reckoned on the return of an even more popular author: JRR Tolkien has come back from beyond the grave to seize the throne of Amazon’s book charts.
The Children of Hurin, based on uncompleted manuscripts by Tolkien, has been worked into a book by the author’s youngest son, Christopher: a labour of love that has taken him 30 years.
The novel, which features different characters and settings from the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy is as crowded with elves, wizards, dragons and dwarves as its celebrated predecessor, and seems to have cast a powerful spell on the book-buying public.
Article taken from;
Tolkien tips Potter from Amazon top spot by Lindesay Irvine
Guardian Unlimited, April 18, 2007