Minnesota booksellers are thrilled about the title bringing ‘Harry Potter’ readers back

Brie Taralson is 40 but she felt like a “Harry Potter”-loving kid again when she waited for the clock to strike midnight and “Onyx Storm” to go on sale.

The Rebecca Yarros fantasy/romance, which sold 2.7 million copies in its first week and which the New York Times declared the best-selling novel for adults in decades, officially went on sale Jan. 21. But two dozen folks showed up at Taralson’s Lykke Books in New Ulm late on Jan. 20, waiting for copies of the deluxe edition of “Onyx Storm,” which has special typography and dragons painted on the edges of the pages. It felt familiar to Taralson.

“The two of us who worked the event both grew up in the Harry Potter era,” said Taralson, recalling the wildly popular books that also sold millions on opening night events in bookstores (in the central time zone, they can start passing out books at 11 p.m., since that’s midnight in New York City). “It was definitely nostalgic. We were kind of reliving our childhoods.”

Lots of people are, said Annie Metcalf, marketing and events coordinator for Magers & Quinn, which sold 1,700 copies of the deluxe (and signed) edition last week at an author event at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul.

“It has a very similar energy to the young adult and independent reader fantasy books that have taken off over the past 20 years or so: ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Hunger Games,’ ‘Twilight,’ the difference being this is an adult title,” said Metcalf. “The readers probably are the same. I’m 35, I grew up with ‘Potter,’ I would say I’m pretty similar in age to a lot of women who were at that event.”

Magers & Quinn in Minneapolis currently has no copies of “Onyx Storm,” deluxe or regular, but is expecting more soon. Lykke Books also currently is out of stock. But readers who do a little digging can find copies.

Bluebird Books in Detroit Lakes still had a few of both the regular and deluxe editions (which is generally a couple dollars more expensive) as of Monday morning, although owner Amy Erickson said they won’t last long. Subtext, in St. Paul, had 9 deluxe copies and 6 regular ones.

At Subtext, manager Patrick Nathan, who’s also a novelist, said he’s pleased to see that people who come in to grab “Onyx Storm” also take home other books by, for instance, Grady Hendrix, who’s fortunate to be shelved near the Yarros titles.

“It’s bringing people into the store. I‘ve heard from multiple people that basically Amazon failed them on this title, which makes me happy,” said Nathan. “There were a few people who said they pre-ordered this on Amazon and it didn’t show up.”

“Onyx Storm” is the third volume in Yarros' planned Empyrean series. Because it was released in January, after the Christmas rush, Nathan and other booksellers said its timing is fortuitous.

“This is coming at what’s usually our most difficult time of year,” said Nathan.

Erickson thinks the event nature of a new Yarros book is bringing folks into bookstores who hadn’t been there for some time.

“A lot of it is this whole sprayed-edges [deluxe edition] thing. I think people are returning to reading and also returning to buying physical books,” said Erickson. “People who are coming back to reading and they come in and say, ‘I read it, I loved it, what’s next?' And then we tell them about Sarah J. Maas [‘Court of Thorns and Roses’].”

Metcalf reaches beyond books to describe the Yarros phenomenon, which has resulted in readers posting TikTok videos in which they sob while talking about the book and gatherings like the sold-out Magers & Quinn event.

“We’ve done book sales at podcast tapings and it s a similar vibe — people who are sort of beside themselves that they are going to get to be in the same room as the creator,“ said Metcalf. ”That’s what it feels like to me. It’s similar to the way a lot of different fan culture manifests. Podcasts, music, concerts. This is bringing books into that as well."

Like Nathan, Metcalf is seeing “Onyx Storm” customers browse around and take home additional titles. Well, when “Onyx Storm” is in stock. Although Magers & Quinn is currently selling zero copies of the mega-seller and although it’s still early in 2025, Metcalf said she’s pretty confident “Onyx Storm” will be the Minneapolis store’s top book of the year.

“Maybe something will come out in August that blows it out of the water,” said Metcalf. “But, based on the numbers we sold for that [O’Shaughnessy] event alone and the numbers we sold when it was on shelves and I’m sure will continue to do when we get it back in, let’s say it’s off to a very strong start.”