So that's all folks. The last Harry Potter book has dropped and more than a few of you will have already finished the book by the time you read this. This leads to an important (or at least interesting) question: Will the Potter profits continue to role in absent new books? I think that they will: Harry Potter has been a hit of mammoth proportions. No one else has ever come close, and the books have a timeless quality. They will be read by future generations with the same vigor with which we have attacked them. New Harry Potter movies will keep the name in the news for years to come, and video games and other Potter spin-offs will emerge -- a Harry Potter Saturday morning cartoon perhaps? Hey, it couldn't be worse than Hammerman, the cartoon starring M.C. Hammer.

But the Financial Times's Peter Aspden has an even bolder prediction. Citing the returns of stars like Sherlock Holmes, Superman, and the Lord of the Rings, he sees the "eighth book in the series coming out some time in 2030s ... I'm sure J.K Rowling has it in her to write the definitive novel of mid-life crisis."

I too suspect we haven't heard the last of Mr. Potter, but it could depend on several factors. If J.K. Rowling decides to go and write other books and they're poorly-received, we could see his return sooner. As much as the notoriety of Harry-mania may be getting to her, she may prefer it to being panned for her efforts to write "grown-up" books.

Even if she does have success, she will have to get nostalgic for Harry Potter at some point, won't she? And Aspden's prediction of 2030 may not be far off the mark.

Is the last book the end of Potter mania? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.