JK Rowling is releasing a new book on the internet, entirely for free.
The Ickabog will be released chapter by chapter over the next seven weeks. The book is being hosted on The Ickabog website, and will see weekly drops of “a chapter (or two, or three)” says the author.
The first two chapters are available to read now, and while there’s no description of the book it appears that The Ickabog is more of a traditional fairy tale than a tale of witches and wizards.
According to the author, she came up with the idea of The Ickabog while writing the Harry Potter series.
“It isn’t Harry Potter and it doesn’t include magic,” Rowling wrote. “This is an entirely different story.”
According to Rowling, the idea for The Ickabog was thought up “a long time ago, and read it to my two younger children chapter by chapter each night while I was working on it” When it came time to release the book proper, Rowling thought it would be a good idea to put it out online for free, and in chapters so parents could read it along with their children.
“The Ickabog is a story about truth and the abuse of power,” Rowling wrote on her personal website.
“To forestall one obvious question: the idea came to me well over a decade ago, so it isn’t intended to be read as a response to anything that’s happening in the world right now. The themes are timeless and could apply to any era or any country.”
Rowling is also asking kids to contribute artwork for her story – with winners seeing their imags appear in the printed version of the book, which is due out later this year.
“I’ll be giving suggestions as to what to draw as we go along, but you should let your imagination run wild.”
The Ickabog will be released chapter by chapter online; the book will be available as a printed book, ebook and audiobook later this year.
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