New York ? The books are out; the word is spreading.

“The last Potter is amazing. It has definitely gone way beyond what I expected,” Deb Kiehlmeier, 16, of the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, N.J., says of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which was released Saturday to worldwide ecstasy.

“Harry Potter fans are always trying to predict what will happen next, and J.K. Rowling always gives them something different,” Kiehlmeier, who had completed the 759-page book by late Saturday afternoon, told The Associated Press.

On Day 1 of the A.H. (After Harry) Era, reviewers and readers mourned the end of a historic series that proved young people can still crave the written word like the crispiest french fry. It was a day for the sleepless and the sleepy to enjoy and to recall one last, fresh taste of Potter.

The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune were among those bowing before Rowling’s achievement.

She was compared to the greats of children’s and fantasy authors – J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Roald Dahl – and held in awe for living up to the most intimidating standards.

“To create such an extraordinary world, fill it with complicated characters and convergent back stories is beyond the reach of most writers,” wrote the Los Angeles Times’ Mary McNamara.

Some readers, ironically, were tougher than the critics, especially about the 759-page book’s brief epilogue. One reader on the Potter fan site www.mugglenet.com even suggested skipping the last chapter, or at least getting to it later so the rest of the book could be thoroughly enjoyed first.

For those who can’t wait to find out whether Harry lives, Potter fan Julie Neal advises patience. In a customer review on Amazon.com, she writes, “Regardless of the temptation, don’t skip to the end. It doesn’t work. The answers to all those key questions everyone wants to know unfold throughout the story.”

Potter is a pastime and a business. Before the release date, booksellers competed worldwide to sell the $34.99 book, with some cutting the price by two-thirds. Now, the re-sales are starting. On Amazon.com, some individuals were hawking used copies, and some new ones, for as little as $16, $1.99 less than Amazon’s price. On eBay, where just a few days ago a pre-release copy was worth $250, “Deathly Hallows” was offered Saturday for immediate purchase for $10.99.

The first six Potter books have sold more than 325 million copies, and in some places demand for “Deathly Hallows” is already exceeding supply.

Seven of the top 10 best-sellers on Amazon.com were Potter books Saturday, including a box set of the whole series coming out in September with a list price of $195. The British retailer Asda Group Ltd., which discounted “Deathly Hallows” to $10, said Saturday it had sold 450,000 copies of the book between midnight and 4 p.m. and was selling it twice as fast as the previous Potter. Waterstone’s, a British bookstore chain, said that at the height of the overnight sales frenzy, staff members were serving 20 customers a second.

Even people in war zones are reading Harry Potter. About 50 foreigners working in Afghanistan got their hands on a copy of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” on its release date, beating many of their friends back home.

“I sent several text messages to friends and none of them had it yet, and they all said ‘I can’t believe you’re in Kabul and you got the book before us,”‘ said U.N. worker Jayne Cravens, 41, of Henderson, Ky.