Posthumous Sequels

[Teresa Edgerton]

But the original question at the beginning of the thread had nothing to do with money. I didn't say anything about the hypothetical book being published and making somebody rich, or even that the book would be published at all. Perhaps it might be a manuscript that only you (meaning whoever was answering the question) might read.

So to remove the commercial/financial aspect altogether, and take the question into the area of wish fulfillment, where I originally meant it to be:

If someone -- other than the author, who is no longer with us -- were to write a continuation of a beloved book or series, for your eyes alone, what would the book or series be, and who would you choose to write it?

 

[Spade]

Heinlein & Spider Robinson - Variable Star (the synopsis didn't interest me at all)

A.E. Van Vogt & Kevin J. Anderson - Slan Hunter ( I use the promo postcard as a bookmark. The cover is actually very cool, not really interested in the story though)

 

[Connavar]

But the original question at the beginning of the thread had nothing to do with money. I didn't say anything about the hypothetical book being published and making somebody rich, or even that the book would be published at all. Perhaps it might be a manuscript that only you (meaning whoever was answering the question) might read.

So to remove the commercial/financial aspect altogether, and take the question into the area of wish fulfillment, where I originally meant it to be:

If someone -- other than the author, who is no longer with us -- were to write a continuation of a beloved book or series, for your eyes alone, what would the book or series be, and who would you choose to write it?

I wrote that in first page .

David Gemmell Shannow series sequals being written by Conn Iggulden.

Nothing else i wanna see sequals of really.

Just cause i dont think its needed. I only think Conn should write Gemmell characters cause he is very similer in style and he is a very good writer in the same kind of stories. Not much different beteween the Heroic Fantasy that DG wrote and Conn's Historical Fiction. Also cause Conn was a close friend of DG and a huge fan.

 

[manephelien]

I don't really have a problem with other authors completing outlines or manuscripts after the original author's death, provided it's done with respect for the original work.

I also don't mind sequels, provided they're clearly labeled as such. The execution can leave a lot to be desired, however. It's a hard line to take, to be different enough to bring something genuinely new to the author's universe, yet similar enough to justify the effort of writing and publishing them.

Sadly, I think the money issue here is a huge problem. I don't mind others making money on the dead author's work, as long as it's not the dead author's estate. I heavily suspect that Asimov's estate wanted the sequels to Foundation written so that they could make money from it. I don't mind the authors who actually did the work gain by it. However, I think that all books should become a part of the public domain 50 years after the original author's death, certainly the descendants of an author have done nothing to deserve benefiting from his or her legacy.

For a sequel, I'd pick Anne McCaffrey's The Tower and the Hive series. Granted she's still alive, but her writing has sadly deteriorated during the last 10-15 years. So much so that I think she should retire and let younger, fresher brains do the writing (IMO the only really good book she's written in the new century is Pegasus in Space, the rest are trite by comparison to her older work). I would prefer Elizabeth Moon to write any sequels, although my only condition would be that Todd McCaffrey stays far away from them.

 

[K. Riehl]

I look at continuation books as an homage to the writer that the new author admires. Jordan wrote the Conan books, in part, because they were books that inspired him to write fiction in the first place. There are innumerable Sherlock Holmes pastiches that are of good quality. August Derliths Solor Pons was an effective series in my opinion.
Straight sequels are harder in my mind. I read that Anderson was brought in to finish Slan Hunter towards the end of Van Vogts life when he had deteriorated due to Alzheimer's and was unable to finish the work. The book doesn't have the "feel" of the original. I would contend it never would even if Van Vogt had completed himself. It's 50 years since the original and the author had changed in so many ways you could not capture the "spirit of adventure" that permeated the golden age stories. I see the loss of the original spirit often in series. After White Dragon in the Pern series, later Earthsea after the original trilogy. After God Emperor in Dune. Later Donaldson, Card, etc.
So I am essentially saying posthumous books in a series are for the dedicated fans wanting every scrap of material. They want to keep the magic of the original alive. I admit to this with Zelazny. I accept the Amber pastiches and even read some of the fanwork. While it's never as good as the original I like to see what people write and in a small way keep the shared world alive.
I have a completely different opinion about books written to exploit. The person who wrote the Gone With the Wind sequel a couple of years ago should be paying reparations to the ends of their lives. She won in court claiming a Parody even though she used characters and settings taken directly out of the original. Thus she didn't pay royalties or require approval from the estate. I thought the ruling was too broad by the court in favor of the Parody defense. If you can't copyright characters,what can you copyright?

Even though they are almost never as good as the original I understand the desire to have closure or to keep the story alive.

 

[Snowdog]

I'd agree with Ace but still there are always exceptions. With 11 out of the 12 books released and alot of notes for the last one completed, I think the Wheel of Time series should be finished. It'll never be the same as having Robert Jordan finish it (and that would likely be the opinion even if it was word for word what Jordan would have released) but in this case it is very much an unfinished work rather than an author taking over residence in someone else's world.

Looks like you're going to get your wish -

Tor and Forge Books: Tor announces that the final novel in bestselling Robert Jordan's legendary Wheel of Time® fantasy series will be completed by author Brandon Sanderson

 

[Jojo999]

It's hard for someone else to duplicate an original author's writing style.

That being said, I just finished reading Slan Hunter and found it a light and enjoyable read. While it felt somewhat like Van Vogt (he apparently worked on it prior to getting Alzheimer's and passing on), the ending seemed a bit sloppy, trying to cram too much into the book. But the ending sure came across as a setup for a Slan III book.

 

[ghost8772]

Anno-Dracula, this was an interesting idea, though Kim Newman took a number of Victorian era characters and built a story around them. I at least had enough of an interest in the story to hunt down Dracula to read it. I didn't hunt down any of the other books from Vicrotian age, or even any further stories by Newman. I have looked at several stories done in the world of, a now deceased Author, I try to at least give them a fair shake.

Now, I'd actually like to see someone reimagine Tarzan, or Barsoom, but without all the darned coincidences.

 

[thepaladin]

I think the bottom line for most of us is we’ll have to make our own decisions on a case by case basis. I don’t have any desire to go further with the Van Vogt "sequels", like others I like Van Vogt and the "feel" (a good way to put it) just isn’t right. Also I think there is even a point of view problem. (The point of view of the story, by that I mean it's basic life view has been skewed away from the original.) On the other hand I liked the Lancer Conan series. They stayed in spirit of the original REH stories and were "largely" based on his notes and story fragments.

You know, this practice has been around a long time, it could be argued that Virgil’s Aeneid (title is in the Greek form, but it’s a Latin poem) is a sequel to the Iliad (action taking place elsewhere at the same time as the Odyssey).

Personally I don’t have any problem with the practice of "carrying on a character or story" after its originator has "passed". I only ask that the author’s own story not be wrenched out of its underpinnings (someone with a political axe to grind has an existing character find that "they had always been wrong and now they believe...."). Sherlock Holmes should not suddenly become a master criminal. Aragorn would not suddenly decide to murder Arwen and attempt to bring back Sauron, at least not without mind domination...a really over worked plot device... You get the idea. Dame Agatha Christie killed off Hercule Poirot so there would be no more stories after hers. Of course that really wouldn’t work with a dedicated "plagiarist" (may be a bit strong as when legal ownership ends it’s not really plagiarism). Stories could be placed, before the "end". But she did make her desires plain and they should be (in my opinion) honored.

So I suppose the answer (for me) is support the books you find "good" and don’t support the others. To me Zelazny’s Corwin’s story ended when he died...I haven’t been taken with the "later" Amber novels..others I’m sure have.

Go figure.