I just received an email from Borders.com with links to the cover art for the last book in the Harry Potter series, “The Deathly Hallows.” Here first is the link to the new book cover:

http://www.bordersmedia.com/harrypotter/cover.asp

Here is the link to the full picture:

http://www.bordersmedia.com/harrypotter/spread.asp

As you can see in the full picture, Harry and Voldemort are facing off; perhaps engaged in their final battle? The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the full image was that Voldemort was telling Harry something like “I’m gonna get you sucka!” Harry’s reply was something along the lines of, “well, throw down reptile dude!”

A good friend of mine at work saw the image and said, “look, Harry and Voldemort are together in an episode of ‘Dancing With The Stars!” I thought this reply was much more clever than my own.

Regardless, the appearance of this new cover art brings the reality of the final book that much closer AND I find myself now finally starting to get excited about the book. Normally I buy the audiobook version because Jim Dale has the ability to bring these books to life in a way no one else can, but the price tag on the audiobook is now just a tad shy of $80! Ouch!

I might have to use the old Mark I eyeballs for the final book. We’ll see.