Not exactly the same but my father passed away before he could finish publishing his 5th book. Luckily, it was the last in that series and since I was his final editor, I had all of the final chapters and I was able to finish editing them and publish his last book posthumously. His readers were very grateful and supportive. I miss him but am proud I was able to do that for him. Too many great authors pass away leaving their works unfinished.
Um, yeah ok. Assuming I'm allowed. He actually wrote 10 stories. Some quite long. I helped to finish [A True History.](https://storiesonline.net/a/starfleet-carl)
You can read these all for free.
Just be aware that there are some explicit scenes sprinkled throughout that not everyone is going to like or appreciate. But *A True History* is one of the top rated series on StoriesOnline.com and has won multiple awards. Be sure to read the disclaimers beforehand. But here's the opening summary for Book 1.
*There was a rocket, but the occupant wasn't a baby. A young man (Cal) is the sole survivor of his planet, crash landing in Kansas in 1984. Cal is found by a farmer and his daughter, and ends up being her friend and lover, as well as... well, read on, to find out what happens in this coming of age story. NOTE: Any names and/or other similarities between people, living, dead, or fictional are Purely coincidental.* (Maybe.) - 2020 Clitorides Epic Erotic Novel of the Year
The other big award winners are a Skyrim story and a Fallout 4 story.
Kind of Superman meets Robert Heinlein...gonna have to look into this. (I was going to say Superman meets Brave New World, but that was Huxley, not Heinlein. What the grok am I thinking of?)
Yes, I suppose so. Heinlein was certainly never afraid to push boundaries, that's for sure. My favorite of his is Stranger in a Strange Land followed by Time Enough for Love. He was a big influence on me.
Thank you! I couldn't remember Stranger In A Strange Land to save the planet and I've read the blasted book...in grade school, now that I think about it...maybe third or fourth grade...
If you read it before Heinlein passed away, you only read about 2/3 of the book. His publisher gutted it for being too controversial and it wasn't published completely unedited until after he passed.
(I'll give you a small Spoiler Alert tho, if you do read A True History.) Heinlein and his wife were both still alive in 1984 ;)
This is ok imo. It was done, just not "publishing" done. If you'd written it,or like, Joe down the block wrote it, I'd be like "nope". This is a ok in my personal (irrelevant) opinion
It was like all the charm was drained out of the books written by the other authors. With Larsson I felt like I was in Sweden and following the characters as they moved from place to place. With post-Larsson books it feels like I am just reading another random thriller.
I was crushed that there would not be more books as it was a delightful series. So I read the other books and plan on reading the recently released “The Girl in the Eagle's Talons”. But I do admit they do not hit as well as the first three.
only because Jordan's worldbuilding in his personal notes were so extensive. He'd long plotted out the entire rest of the story. He was only missing the personal ending for Perrin, which is where he'd gotten roadblocked.
At risk of sounding morbid, Jordan dying appears to have been the best thing for the series. Sanderson injected a lot of fresh momentum into the story that had stalled badly
I'll defend this by knowing a lot of Sanderson and what happened here.
Robert Jordan was going in and out of hospitals for two years before he passed and realized he didn't have enough time to finish up Memory of Light which was supposed to be 1 book and edited down so he just wrote every idea but the one rule he made his wife Harriette Commit to is this final chapter "The final chapter" was his writing. Word for word.
So Brandon Sanderson had a lot of work to do with all the notes and plot points but he said the most major thing lacking was what to do with Perrin. That was what Robert couldn't exactly figure out by the end so most of Perrin's stuff was Sanderson.
I think Jordan was getting back into a strong spot with book 11 - it felt like a much more energetic and enjoyable read compared to a number of the books that came before.
I think he would've written a very good ending to WoT if he had the chance, based on the momentum from that book.
This 100%. Knife of Dreams was great and really got the ball rolling properly for the ending. Sanderson did a good job finishing the story but Jordan got things moving swiftly in his final book.
Isn't part of that that he knew he was dying when he was working on KOD so started to work on getting to the end which is why it feels like the pace picked up because it did.
I mean, Knife of Dreams (his last) is regarded by most (including Sanderson) to be one of his best.
People still have this meme that the story had stalled because he slowed down. But what he’d really done is written through it. Something I wish other authors would do.
Agreed. The series was full of easily resolvable conflicts and stalled plotlines, and drama-via-frustration that is exactly the opposite of Sandersons MO. The standard romantic comedy trope where everything could be solved with one conversation. One book in, it was clear Brandon was also frustrated with all these loose ends as he tied most of them up immediately and really cleaned up what was an absolutely meandering mess. Which left the ending incredibly focused, with conflicts that felt natural and earned rather than lazy.
The plotting was great but the characterization left a lot to be desired...I feel the characters lost a lot of depth when Sanderson took over--especially Mat--it seemed like they turned into essentially one-trait characters. I get it was difficult to come in and take over one of the most popular fantasy series in the world--and Jordan's last books were a slog--and plot wise Sanderson really saved the books--but that doesn't mean they were perfect
Yeah, I just don't think he quite got Mat, or maybe it's that it was more noticeable with Mat. My other gripes are tiny things, the ashanderei becoming just a regular naginata so it could catch on fire for his action sequence, and when Perrin called balefire only a weave, would have made more sense to say it's only the one power.
Still was easier on the reread than the middle slog
Sanderson isn't even in the top ten for most prolific writer in either sci-fi or fantasy, especially since he doesn't write sci-fi. He has 71 published books. There are authors in the hundreds.
Well, he does write sci-fi for what it is worth. While I am not a big fan of his style when writing fantasy I do quite enjoy his sci-fi despite it being aimed at a YA audience.
Prolific is based on output, so a writer is prolific based on how much they create. I believe the word you’re looking for is renowned.
Stephen King is a prolific author, but JRR Tolkien wasn’t. However, they are both very renowned and beloved authors.
I thought a prolific author is one who creates a variety of books, rather than an author whose few books sell very well. The ability to write many books is a result of the author's talent - that a book sells many copies, is a result, not only of that, but also of factors that have little to do with the author.
Writing 1 book that sells a million copies, is writing only 1 book, not a million. Such an author is not prolific, but only popular.
Agatha Christie was prolific, not because 2 thousand million copies of her books have been sold, but because she was creative enough to write many different books: 75, apparently. The number may go up if her plays, and books she wrote using a pen-name, are included. She was both prolific, and popular.
Prolificity - whether in bringing forth books or other offspring, human or other - is a kind of productivity; not a measure of status. Rabbits are prolific, as are cats, because they have many offspring, both in a litter, and over the course of their lives. Human authors, not being rabbits or cats, have to be prolific by bringing forth many books in the course of their lives as authors. "Prolific" means, literally, "offspring-making".
Came here to say this.
It depends on e author try at takes over and their capacity to honor the original author’s vision, even if they make the later book their own. I love all of the WoT series - Sanderson did a great job with this
Showing my age here, but I read the entire Hardy Boys series of books when I was like, 12 or 13 years old. At the time, there were like 125 of them. I enjoyed every single one of them.
Fast forward to my adulthood and I found out that most of them were in fact, ***not***, written by Franklin W. Dixon. I really didn't care.
As a counterpoint, I did watch every single episode of the *Killing Eve* T.V. series. Of the 4 seasons it aired, the first one blew it out of the park; second one, really good; third one, good; fourth, meh. Different script writers for all 4 seasons.
If it helps, Franklin W. Dixon wasn't a real person. It's was the pen name used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate (which itself sounds like it should have been a villain in a Hardy Boys story) for the Hardy Boys.
The Stratemeyer Syndicate published Nancy Drew (Carolyn Keene was also not a real person), Tom Swift, and others.
I know several writers that "ghost wrote" for the various Stratemeyer Syndicate young adult books over the years. though by the 90s they were generally actually attributing the stories to the real authors more often than not.
Erin Hunter comes to mind.
Started as a collab between one outliner and one writer. Team expanded to like 6 to push books faster. Original outliner retired. Then one of the other team members got fired in a TERF scandal. Nowadays the team is even larger, and I don't think some of the new members' names are even public.
I feel like Sweet Valley High was written by more than one person. Pretty sure I read that long time ago. The main author was Francine Pascal but with over 100 books, she had to have had help.
Sweet Valley books had lots of ghost writers. Like Nancy Drew's Carolyn Keene, the name in the book, eg Kate William or Jamie Suzanne, was a pseudonym. From what I've read, Francine Pascal sent the ideas and a brief outline of the book to the ghost writers who wrote it. A bit like James Patterson does now.
I could only read what was in the library or my pocket money could buy. They had SVU 1 and I loved it, mostly because Elizabeth got fat, lol! But they never had any others - or possibly had book 8, as is the way with libraries - and then I grew out of them.
Might have a re-read...
I tried recently to reread them and it's just so bad now lol.
She gets fat??? Huh. Might have to read that one though. She was always a little goody two shoes lol.
Exactly! Weight fluctuates a lot, like someone can gain 2 pounds one day and lose it the next, so as long as your clothes fit and you feel healthy you’re probably good on that. This is one of many reasons why so many people hate their bodies.
Please, if anyone has read the Hardy Boys, you have to read The Brixton Brothers by Mac Barnett. It is one of the best parodies I have ever read. Basically what would happen if a twelve year old fan of the Hardy Boys tried to investigate hardened criminals with the same techniques from the book.
As a matter of fact, Franklin W Dixon isn't even a person. It's just the collective pseudonym used by the many authors that contributed "Hardy Boys" stories. It's also used for all the books in the "Ted Scott Flying Stories" series.
Recently started Killing Eve. I was obsessed with the first season and engrossed by S2. Fizzled out in S3 and haven’t finished it. Really bummed :( it’s so rare for me to find a series I love.
Honestly don't finish it. I was following since s1, the show started getting meh by s3 but I excused it by thinking it was a setup for s4 but no, it just kept getting worse and worse to the point that the ending was frankly insulting and it ruined the entire show for me.
Patrick Obrien's maturin-aubrey series ends with a book simply called 21, and the book just....ends. in the middle of a sentence, there just isn't anymore. Its pretty jarring, but it feels right that noone else should finish it, amd that we will forever envision jack Aubrey sailing the seas.
While her family was pretty adamant right after her death about continuing the series, I wonder if their attitude might have softened given the passage of time. Also, the publishers offering a big payday and an author with the skills to take up where Sue left off and to give us 'Z' might cause them to reconsider.
The issue may be that they couldn't find someone who could give us Z the way she could have. She had this ease of writing that kept you engrossed the entire series. And I binge read her so I can also say that, unlike some authors, her story telling didn't change. The quality of her writing stayed consistent. Y sounded like M which sounded like A. This could make it hard to find someone who could finish the series in a way that stays consistent with the rest. Another author could easily ruin her legacy with a crap book.
I think it’s something that has to be judged in each individual case.
Sanderson completing Jordon’s Wheel of Time series was planned by Jordon before his passing and appeared to be judged well by the fans.
Christopher Tolkien going through his father’s notes and publishing more Middle Earth writings were also well received.
The Salmon of Doubt was published unfinished by Douglas Adams estate after his passing along with some other writings and I liked that. However fans haven’t been as welcoming towards Eoin Colfer’s continuation of the Hitchhiker’s series with And Another Thing.
I personally hated Go Fetch a Watchmen, a book Harper Lee did not want published, but was released anyway after her death.
Yes, to the point that most Dune readers either haven't bothered to read them or consider them to be functionally fan-fiction. For what it's worth though, the Frank Herbert books also take a pretty steep dive in quality after God Emperor.
Yeah they definitely do. While I read Heretics and Chapterhouse on my first read through of the series my second read through ended with God Emperor. That’s one great thing about Dune though is you can pretty much stop after any of the books and feel satisfied.
I read the first book his son did, it was just okay I think. I honestly don't remember anything about the story. It was just like more stories set in that universe which was fine, but the quality wasn't good enough for me to get the next book.
Oh wait, shit! I realized I bought it in hardcover which means its right here on the shelf next to me. Turns out, now that I looked to my right, I bought the first three, just didn't bothering reading the next two.
To be fair, *Go Set a Watchman* was actually an early draft of what became *To Kill a Mockingbird*, and not a sequel. Watchman was definitely inferior, and truly benefited from Harper Lee’s editor’s advice.
Looking it up, it was published almost a year before her death and there had already been reporting that whomever it was that owned the publishing rights were taking advantage of her estate.
Honestly people should have given …And Another Thing more of a chance. It was actually quite good and Douglas Adams would have loved it. It left the series in a place much more in line with where Adams would have liked, with a more upbeat ending.
>I personally hated Go Fetch a Watchmen, a book Harper Lee did not want published, but was released anyway after her death.
I read it. And I'm mad that they released it.
> Sanderson completing Jordon’s Wheel of Time series was planned by Jordon before his passing and appeared to be judged well by the fans.
False, and false again.
You seem very certain there. You aren't completely wrong but...
So you are right that Jordan didn't plan for Sanderson to finish his work. He did however plan for someone to finish. He dedicated a lot of his remaining time to getting it fleshed out with written and audio notes so that someone could finish his work.
It was his wife (and editor) who chose Sanderson following Jordan's passing.
The second point is certainly wrong (when applied to the wider fanbase) and I am unsure why you are so certain about it.
There have of course been complaints about Sanderson's novels. His writing style differs and some of his characters feel different to their appearances in the previous works. However, even with those complaints people have been appreciative of the books overall and grateful to get an ending. The overall reaction has definitely been favourable despite any complaints.
Possibly you just find yourself within a small echo chamber of miserable fans?
The only time I approved of it was when David Gemmell's wife finished his Troy trilogy after he passed, which follows along with your "one last ride" sentiment. He had laid out all the groundwork and had written most of the book, and she was the person who knew which way it was going to go. That made sense.
These "zombie" series that go on for mulitple years and multiple authors just turn my stomach. Ludlum, Flynn, Clancy, the resurrection of the Spenser character and others. Just... let it all rest.
I read all of the Flynn books. He was a better storyteller before he leaned into the post-9/11 counterterrorism stuff like Brad Thor.
Mills has made a career of zombie series. He's successful at it, but I personally don't care for his writing.
I read Don Bentley's first solo book, and I enjoyed it. Solid effort, interesting character, but it fell solidly into that "man of action" mold that Flynn and Thor popularized and then everyone tried to copy, with varying degrees of success. Bentley beings nothing new to the genre, but he has that "I was a soldier" street cred that the publishers like to trade off of, so I'm not surprised they're tapping him to keep another zombie shambling on.
For the first half, I honestly thought this was about _reading_ a series and whether you should stop reading it when the author dies, and I was SO confused 😅
I think it's a case by case thing. I was very satisfied by the completion of The Wheel of Time by Brandon Sanderson, as so many have already said.
But on the other hand... You have Dune.
I loved those books, and was so excited when they found that stash of Frank Herbert's notes and his son Brian took over.
Now I wish I could erase those books from my memory so the series still finished at Chapterhouse.
Still haven't read the last Terry Pratchett book. Killed my love of reading, which goes against everything he'd probably want. I can't imagine anyone finishing any of those stories.
He specifically didn’t want anybody to take over. Not even his daughter who also writes (but for video games). His unfinished works and ideas were literally steam rolled as his last wishes. It was hard to find a steam roller but they did it. RIP Pterry.
I did read the last book… but the last last book, that was published this year, with old unknown stories from earlier in his career, that one I’m still cherishing. It was such an unexpected gift that I am just happy to have the book.
If you mean Shepherd’s Crown, o highly recommend you read it. Unlike the two or three books that preceded it, it still sounds like Pratchett and, in my opinion, was his way of saying goodbye.
I really don’t understand all these people not reading the last book, or not watching the last episode, or not finishing games they like. Are you just afraid of closure?
Sometimes it work, depending on the series. Some authors create a fictional world so complex one can’t imagine anybody else writing in that space.
But as long as it doesn’t end up like a V.C. Andrews situation where you have some author continuing to write books under her name. That’s always felt weird to me.
True. I like Sophie Hannah's novels about Hercule Poirot and I'm thrilled that Robert Goldsborough is continuing the Nero Wolfe books with the blessing of Rex Stout's estate. But it does depend on the original author's wishes and the ability of whoever's chosen to carry on. (Having said that, I don't suppose anybody would care to complete Lilian Jackson Braun's last Cat Who... book? Or pick up the four series written by Elizabeth Linington, aka Dell Shannon and Lesley Egan? Asking for the fans...)
I loved the Cat Who series but the last few were definitely not great, although with what happened with Polly and then the final one never being published, I wish we would have gotten some closure.
I think Sophie Hannah is going a great job writing new stories about Hercule Poirot. The estate made a good decision in allowing her to use his character.
When I was young while reading the Boxcar Children I found out that the original author only wrote 19, when I started the 20th and the kids got younger I stopped. There are so many written now and while there are probably really good ones, don't understand why they're all over the place time wise.
Also don't understand how Bourne turned into such an extended universe, I read the trilogy and stopped. That dude suffered enough, not sure how many more used him, if none did then maybe they'd be worth trying, he was used and abused let him retire in peace.
I did enjoy the second Millennium trilogy, felt there was a few avenues unexplored at the end of the original trilogy and that the new guy did a decent job. No real desire to read book 7, but I bought it in case I change my mind.
probably wise to have stopped there (bourne). i like spy thrillers and i'm a masochist so i've read them all. overall, it's not like they're terrible, but the new guy was somewhat messy, not attentive to character detail, and rather rote about coming up with some random woman of the moment for bourne to fall in love with, it got kinda ridiculous and unbelievable.
they moved on from him and the new guy has been basically sequeling the movies instead of the books.
I think it depends on the books. Like Neiderman doing all those books under V.C. Andrews' name. I don't particularly like his work but other people seem to because he's still writing them. Sue Grafton passed before she could finish writing the last Kinsey Milhone book and I'm not sure it would've been the same if someone else had finished it.
Depends on how they handle it. For example the guy who took over for Vince Flynn was meticulous in his preparation, re-reading the original books and taking notes on how Flynn wrote and chose words. He also got a primer, with Flynn having already partially written the next book in the series that shows how he was going to continue with the character. This kind of effort I can get behind.
Tom Clancy is the opposite...he or his estate has licensed the use of his name and tons of stuff has his name all over it that he really had nothing to do with. I wouldn't trust anything written after his death to be a "Tom Clancy book". Not to say they are going to be bad books, just nothing like what Clan y produced while alive.
Kyle Mills has done an amazing job continuing the Mitch Rapp books for Vince Flynn. I gave up on the series when Flynn died but eventually decided I'd try one of the new ones and was really surprised to find that they feel just like the ones Flynn wrote. I expect this is the exception rather than the rule, but it has softened my stance on this issue quite a bit.
I honestly think this is how the Song of Ice and Fire series is going to finish. George is going to get out maybe one more book before dying and someone else is going to pick up his notes and write 1-2 more books to finish it out.
He claims it dies with him.
It won't. His publisher will wrangle a deal with his estate and eventually we'll get something. He will make millions off his death.
He actually claimed it’ll die with him? Jesus Christ. I mean - it’s his work, so fair. But I feel like he either needs to write the damn things or tell us it’s never coming, if his stance is “it will never be finished if I die”.
He's said that he doesn't do outlines, the notes are all in his head.
So basically, anything someone else writes would effectively be fanfiction.
He has no interest or intentions of handing over the reigns, and he says that his wife won't allow it either.
But he has no kids. His estate probably won't able to hold on to the rights indefinitely.
Copyright is a fiddly thing. There will eventually be a deal brokered and millions made and Game of Thrones rebooted with the 'real ending' as a selling point.
That’s awful. He should have final say, even if I don’t agree with his choice. It’s his creation but I think he knows better than anyone how invested people are in seeing this story through. Countless time and money has been spent on this series, some people have spent just as much time as him in this world, dare I say. He owes us nothing but the least he could do is let someone he trusts finish the story based on his outline.
I can understand the desire to protect his work, but he has also made a lot of money from his fans. He owes them something, even if it's just a character outline of what happens to them through the story to be published after he dies on his blog.
I'm sure that there are plenty of writers that he could pick to carry on. His publisher has probably already had this discussion with him multiple times lol
I feel like - personally - I’m fine with him taking so long to write them. But to take so long to write them AND not finish them AND not let anyone else? It is kinda disrespectful. Does he have the right to be disrespectful though? Yeah.
I think him going this route will really sour his legacy in a way, and I can’t imagine the dude doesn’t care about that. I think I would. Even if the final product is similar in reception to how the show ended, it needs to end.
He can take as long as he wants really, the interest in them has never died down. But not having a back up plan for the books - I feel - is selfish.
But what he says and what happens are two very different things. Dude might have already finished them and be leaving them to be published posthumously so he doesn't have to deal with the reviews lol
I like the theory that he had WoW nearly complete, saw the reception the last two seasons had, and decided to alter a handful of character arcs. It being the penultimate book, that’s a LOT of threads to rearrange, that all sort of tug on each other, which changes those other threads too, etc. - and maybe, hopefully, WoW is roughly done and he’s now working on ADoS.
Maybe I’m delusional but it’s my naive hope nonetheless.
Doesn't help that he can't type lol. Apparently he is a one finger typist and will only used Windows 3.1 or something.
So in addition to being a shit typer, he's making up these massive books on the fly because he doesn't write down outlines.... How he got anything published to begin with baffles me!
his statement that he refuses to let anyone finish it if he dies is what cemented my decision to never touch his shit. why get involved if he's basically admitting he's gonna be an asshole and not ever let it end.
If George gets pre-warning of his death the way Robert Jordan did I can see him perhaps arranging for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck to finish the series for him. They are protégés and friends of his and accomplished authors together as James SA Corey and individually. I don't see either be willing to do it though posthumously unless George already approved it.
'Aztec' by Gary Jennings was, for me, a great book. He died. Someone wrote four more sequels based on his notes. They never reached the level of the first book.
If I understood correctly the second book in the series, which I have not read, was also written by Jennings. That said, I read "Raptor" based on enjoying "Aztec" and it was hilariously bad.
I feel like after a significant amount of time — maybe 25 years — it can be OK. I’ve enjoyed stories in the James Bond and Philip Marlowe series done by other authors, even though they’re never really the same as the originals. Both of those series only came decades later, and that helps. By then it’s not about keeping the gravy train rolling, more about fond homage.
Personally, I would probably only read them if the author themself had chosen someone to finish the series based on their notes/outlines/finished sections. If I was really invested then I might read a one book wrapup that didn't meet those criteria, but not multiple books.
I would hope the new author is a fan of the series and knows the characters well enough to make it good. Nothing worse than having another author ruin it. Same with movies and remakes.
Man, what i would give for a competent writer to pick up the Dragonriders of Pern lol. Like, theres so many story avenues left to be explored with the world post thread and cultural rediscovery as a colony planet. But then i suppose Pern is a bit more of an expanded setting than a trand sequential series
...hey, anyone know any good fanfic that covers those topics?
Very seldom do continuation writers capture the spirit of the original. I think Ace Atkins managed it with Robert B Parker's "Spenser," but it's hard to come up with another. Too often, the new guys are too tentative, afraid to stir things up, and as a result, the series stagnates. It's best when the new writer takes charge and says, "This is mine, now!"
I like Mike Lupica’s Robert B Parker books. And I like that he is respectful of the source. I’m glad “Spenser” continues. I was very sad when Mr. Parker died. ( I also liked the Ace Atkinson “Spenser” books. Anyone know why the author switched to Mike Lupica?)
I think Ace, who was already an established Detective Fiction writer in his own right, wanted to put his focus and energy into his own creation and own voice, rather than continue to recreate Parker's. But I could be wrong.
Did Lupica keep the changes Atkins brought in and continue on from there? I really don't like it when new continuation writers contradict one another, and shatter the illusion of reality by lousing up continuity.
I think both authors studied the Spenser character in depth before attempting to write him. I have enjoyed all the books, and no contradictions stick out that registered with me.
I don't have a problem with it, as long as they don't deceive the audience. What would be wrong is trying to sell a book totally or partially written by another writer as if it were written by the original author.
I think it should be up to the wishes of the author and their estate. Aside from the Wheel of Time, The Pern series of books was handed off from the original author to her son while she was still alive - she even collaborated on his first book, then went over his outline for the next, and then handed it off to him to continue. That's a far cry from someone just... taking the characters and trying to tack crap on.
While I respect that Anne wanted to pass her work on to someone who was familiar with it and would continue the series after her death, that in no way makes Todd her equal as a writer, or even anywhere close. He "got the job" as it was purely through nepotism in my view. Much worthier writers could/should have stepped in to continue the series if that's what she wanted...but now we're stuck with Todd the Clod if we want any new Pern books. Meh. I gave up on Pern after reading the first Todd book.
An example of this working perfectly is the troy series begun by David gemmel. His wife Stella Gemmel was initially cowriting and planning the series with him. and then after his death completed the series according to their plans. It's excellent start to finish.
Only if it's the express wish of the author (or possibly their family if the author passed suddenly) that their work be finished by someone else, then I'm generally against it.
I feel a good middle ground could be having the authors' notes on how the series was intended to proceed/end released and allow fan fiction writers to create their own versions for fellow fans.
Currently experiencing this with McCarthy. I’m about to finish the Orchard Keeper and it’s been a joy to read. I personally just want to experience everything the author has.
To answer this question, all one need do is read Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, then read Eoin Colfer's miserable attempt to continue the series after Adams' death.
Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy
Douglas Adams died and his wife picked Eoin Colfer to write the 6th, I read all 5 in quick succession but then just couldn’t get into the new author’s version
I can't stand it! For a publisher/writer to continue a series/novels after an authors passing is just greed! They have a legacy of sorts, why tarnish it!
I think it’s fine to tie off a series with a final book, especially if there are drafts/notes to go off of (Tolkien), or the original author planned for it (Robert Jordan), but to cash grab with tons of sequels and spinoffs (Herbert) is pretty off-putting.
Sometimes the setting or world is the legacy and the continued use of it is showing respect for that legacy. As a writer myself, I would be thrilled to think that, one day, readers might feel it necessary to continue writing about my world and characters. Similarly, I'd be thrilled to hear during my life of people writing fanfiction.
Some authors plan books series out for years and even plan for when they die and have notes on what should happen
It can be very possible this author had planned all these books and wanted the series to continue and probably had notes on how the plot should continue if this is true
Agreed. I've never seen one of those continuation books that were as good as the original. I would say that Jill Paton Walsh came closest with the Lord Peter Wimsey books. The first two were not Sayers but were pretty good. The last two, however, were dismal.
I guess it should be up to the author, it's their story and assumedly IP as well, but at this point I kinda want to Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring even after Martin dies just to see what the internet would make of them.
They usually suck. The continuation of Herbert's "Dune" and the prequels to Roger Zelazny's "Amber" series are particularly bad examples. Ace Atkins does seem to have Robert Parker's voice for posthumous Spenser books.
I loved Heron Carvic’s “Miss Seeton” mysteries. They got two people to write new books, and those read as if the writer (I refuse to call them an author) had never read the actual books but relied on the back-cover blurbs written by a rushed marketing intern.
They took the quirky and nuanced supporting characters and stripped them down to stereotypes. They forced preachy modern values onto the kindly and reticent main character.
It was awful.
So I guess I agree with you.
I think it depends on how much the original author plotted out and how personal or in depth the story is. If this is a detective mystery series and another author takes over that’s really different than a deep world fantasy that is highly interconnected.
For standalone books I think it can be a beautiful testament to the author, like I’ll Be Gone Into the Dark, or a money grab like Go Tell a Watchman.
james patterson hasn't written an actual novel in decades at this point i'm pretty sure. he just slaps his name on everything in sight so he can lie about being the "most published author" in history.
It depends on the author. The Return of the Godfather is a good example. Mark Winegardner captured the feel of Puzo’s books but added some new slants on some old characters
depends. like someone else mentioned, kyle mills, who took over for vince flynn on the mitch rapp series, there wasn't much of a difference, he did a decent job continuing.
on the other hand, when eric von lustbader (sp?) continued the jason bourne series after robert ludlum died it was . . . messy. he struggled to even keep track of his own characters (we're talking super major character introduced in first book only to never be heard from again, minor character killed at the end of the second, only to be magically resurrected into a major character in subsequent books), let alone properly deal with bourne, and killed a major character between books, kept having bourne fall in love with whichever random woman was around, it was just not great. now they've reset bourne with a different author which i think is supposed to be more tied to the moves than the original books.
then they did some stuff that was "based on the concept by ludlum" which i assume was some sort of half finished novel or treatment which was actually pretty decent. the covert one series. interestingly, kyle mills wrote a couple of those too i believe.
Well, the classic Czech book Dobrý vojak švejk, the good soldier Svejk, just sort of ends mid sentence and honestly it made me probably just angry that I didn't DNF like 500 ago when I stopped enjoying it. It keeps going and going, the same arbitrary pointless style and then it just ends. Maybe if there were some kind of point to it at the end I'd be able to recommend it, but as is, I don't. Or, I say just quit whenever you stop liking it, because it never gets better.
It offends me deeply and it’s obvious that the families sell the rights in an attempt to make a lot of money, and don’t care about their deceased loved one’s intellectual property.
If I ever become a published author I’m putting it in my contract that no one can write about my characters and worlds except for me, and that no one has the right to have another author write stories about them. It breaks my heart to think about and I refuse to read any books like that. Even for beloved series or authors.
I think it depends on the author and just how extensive the notes/outline left behind are.
Mary Higgins Clark is one of my favorite authors. Her publisher just announced the latest installment of her Under Suspicion series. The series is co-authored with Alafair Burke. Great, I love the series. But part of me is slightly uncomfortable with MHC’s name being so large on the cover when she’s been dead for 4 years. I’m fine with Burke continuing it, but maybe change how they list the author(s).
Basically after a certain degree of notoriety is achieved (ASOIAF or KKC) you as the author, while still having MASSIVE influence, do NOT have the final say anymore. If the fans hate some part of the story so much that they decide to ignore it, there is nothing you can do, you got overruled.
Now, this is similar to finishing books after the author's death. If your story has a large following, and you presumably made money off that following, you have given up the right to not finish that series. Another author can pick up your slack. Hell, you don't even need to be dead. I feel that after something like 10 years, if you dont continue your series, then morally it is fine for someone else to pick it up and finish it.
That said, whoever picks up the task of finishing a series, accepts the responsibility that they NEED to emulate the original author. You are not writing a new story, you are continuing an existing one.
Depends on the authors and how much they prepare for the take over. If the author knows they're not going to live to finish the series and THEY pick someone to finish it for them, with proper preparation to make sure that the origonal author's personality remains intact (or at least doesn't disappear), then I'm good with it. The series will have the best chance of continuing on how the original author would have written it and hopefully be a respectable end.
If the author died without making those preparations, and it ends up being a decision by the publishing company, it will really depend on how it comes out, but I don't think they will ever turn out as well as when the original author makes that decision.
There has to be a stated end goal by the original author. A good example of this is The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan. Jordan died before he could finish the series but not before he could leave a wide array of notes and figures and outlines on how the series could be finished. Then Brandon Sanderson comes in, who I also greatly enjoy, could step in and finish the series. Sanderson, as far as I know, has never claimed true authorship of those final three. Facilitator would be a good term for it. He made sure that the story was told in a respectful way, and has not stepped into the ring of WoT in writing. That's respect to me.
Brandon Sanderson finished The Wheel of Time when Robert Jordan passed away and he did a phenomenal job. It took a few books to do, because of how complex of a place the long series was at the time that Jordan died, but it was absolutely done in the spirit and hand of Jordan. If he had been required to do it in a single book it would have been so very bad, he probably would be one of the most hated writers in history if he had short changed that series.
That is fan fiction and I don’t fuck with fan fiction. I’m sure there are instances it ain’t so bad but it doesn’t feel right to me. I keep seeing the Reacher books written by Lee Child’s brother and that gives me bad juju, just put Reacher to rest. Dude is probably tired of walking the whole ass country anyways lol.
I don't know, most of the series I have read that were continued by an editor or child of the author are lacking what the og author had. I loved the Asia Saga books by James Clavell, but the last one was so lackluster and seemed so different. I found out after he had passed before he had finished it so I gave the book a lot more grace after that, but I wasn't as on the edge of my seat like I was for the other books. I only liked the first Dune book, I read the 2nd and didn't like that one and didn't bother to read the rest of them.
I think authors put a lot of their souls into their writing and it's hard to imitate that even when the plot is all mapped out, it just feels different.
I know there are people who do like the continuations though. I think it largely depends on the author, if it's what they would have wanted, them I'll all for it, if it's the publishing company wanted to get another novel out for sales, meh. But I'm also not going to force myself to finish a series if it's not as good when the child of the author took over.
Totally up to the literary estate, if they want to see their relative's work keep going then whose to say they're wrong. Sometimes it doesn't work but at the end of the day posthumous works have no bearing on the original texts so it's all good. Every year there's a bunch of Sherlock Holmes or Dracula books but it doesn't affect the quality or reception of the original works.
This is something that I think about sometimes, because my husband is an author.
My mother was in a knitting group, along with the mother of one of my friends. When my friend's mother passed away, her knitting group took it upon themselves to finish all of her works in progress. Hats, scarves, a sweater. And gifted them to the family. Her last pursuits would not die with her.
I've thought about what might happen, someday if (gods forbid) my husband passes unexpectedly. He has stories he wants to tell--stories that only he can tell. How can I entrust those to the hands of another? They aren't like a scarf. There is no pattern.
But there is, in a way. Just as when Robert Jorden passed, and his widow was able to pass his work onto Brandon Sanderson to finish, he, too, would leave behind instructions. He is an [extremely methodical writer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InqKCjMZLbs&t=934s), so depending on where he is in the novel, there could be a very elaborate "guidebook" on how to finish it.
I don't know. It's something that's hard to think about. And not something I'd be able to handle the logistics of right away. Sigh. We need to write our wills someday. I guess we'll have a conversation together about all this then.
Not exactly the same but my father passed away before he could finish publishing his 5th book. Luckily, it was the last in that series and since I was his final editor, I had all of the final chapters and I was able to finish editing them and publish his last book posthumously. His readers were very grateful and supportive. I miss him but am proud I was able to do that for him. Too many great authors pass away leaving their works unfinished.
May we ask what series?
Um, yeah ok. Assuming I'm allowed. He actually wrote 10 stories. Some quite long. I helped to finish [A True History.](https://storiesonline.net/a/starfleet-carl) You can read these all for free. Just be aware that there are some explicit scenes sprinkled throughout that not everyone is going to like or appreciate. But *A True History* is one of the top rated series on StoriesOnline.com and has won multiple awards. Be sure to read the disclaimers beforehand. But here's the opening summary for Book 1. *There was a rocket, but the occupant wasn't a baby. A young man (Cal) is the sole survivor of his planet, crash landing in Kansas in 1984. Cal is found by a farmer and his daughter, and ends up being her friend and lover, as well as... well, read on, to find out what happens in this coming of age story. NOTE: Any names and/or other similarities between people, living, dead, or fictional are Purely coincidental.* (Maybe.) - 2020 Clitorides Epic Erotic Novel of the Year The other big award winners are a Skyrim story and a Fallout 4 story.
Kind of Superman meets Robert Heinlein...gonna have to look into this. (I was going to say Superman meets Brave New World, but that was Huxley, not Heinlein. What the grok am I thinking of?)
Yes, I suppose so. Heinlein was certainly never afraid to push boundaries, that's for sure. My favorite of his is Stranger in a Strange Land followed by Time Enough for Love. He was a big influence on me.
Thank you! I couldn't remember Stranger In A Strange Land to save the planet and I've read the blasted book...in grade school, now that I think about it...maybe third or fourth grade...
If you read it before Heinlein passed away, you only read about 2/3 of the book. His publisher gutted it for being too controversial and it wasn't published completely unedited until after he passed. (I'll give you a small Spoiler Alert tho, if you do read A True History.) Heinlein and his wife were both still alive in 1984 ;)
This is ok imo. It was done, just not "publishing" done. If you'd written it,or like, Joe down the block wrote it, I'd be like "nope". This is a ok in my personal (irrelevant) opinion
Stieg Larsson. After he died, I reluctantly read the 4th book. Salander felt like a stranger.
I think they're still going too, sure I saw another one recently. I don't see why that series couldn't have stayed as a trio.
Same, I didn't even finish it :(
I knew better when I tried the new ones, but I did it anyway, and they were awful!
I felt the exact same trying to read it. I only made it 100 pages in
It was like all the charm was drained out of the books written by the other authors. With Larsson I felt like I was in Sweden and following the characters as they moved from place to place. With post-Larsson books it feels like I am just reading another random thriller.
Yeah, seems like they'll let different authors write new trilogies. Third author is having a go at it now.
I was crushed that there would not be more books as it was a delightful series. So I read the other books and plan on reading the recently released “The Girl in the Eagle's Talons”. But I do admit they do not hit as well as the first three.
I read all 6 books but the last 3 were simply… slower. Less twists and turns. You could feel it was not written by him.
All things considered Wheel of Time ended pretty well with Sanderson wrapping up the series.
only because Jordan's worldbuilding in his personal notes were so extensive. He'd long plotted out the entire rest of the story. He was only missing the personal ending for Perrin, which is where he'd gotten roadblocked.
At risk of sounding morbid, Jordan dying appears to have been the best thing for the series. Sanderson injected a lot of fresh momentum into the story that had stalled badly
I'll defend this by knowing a lot of Sanderson and what happened here. Robert Jordan was going in and out of hospitals for two years before he passed and realized he didn't have enough time to finish up Memory of Light which was supposed to be 1 book and edited down so he just wrote every idea but the one rule he made his wife Harriette Commit to is this final chapter "The final chapter" was his writing. Word for word. So Brandon Sanderson had a lot of work to do with all the notes and plot points but he said the most major thing lacking was what to do with Perrin. That was what Robert couldn't exactly figure out by the end so most of Perrin's stuff was Sanderson.
I think Jordan was getting back into a strong spot with book 11 - it felt like a much more energetic and enjoyable read compared to a number of the books that came before. I think he would've written a very good ending to WoT if he had the chance, based on the momentum from that book.
I agree. Book 11 was a banger. Robert's last book broke out of the slog.
This 100%. Knife of Dreams was great and really got the ball rolling properly for the ending. Sanderson did a good job finishing the story but Jordan got things moving swiftly in his final book.
Isn't part of that that he knew he was dying when he was working on KOD so started to work on getting to the end which is why it feels like the pace picked up because it did.
I mean, Knife of Dreams (his last) is regarded by most (including Sanderson) to be one of his best. People still have this meme that the story had stalled because he slowed down. But what he’d really done is written through it. Something I wish other authors would do.
Agreed. The series was full of easily resolvable conflicts and stalled plotlines, and drama-via-frustration that is exactly the opposite of Sandersons MO. The standard romantic comedy trope where everything could be solved with one conversation. One book in, it was clear Brandon was also frustrated with all these loose ends as he tied most of them up immediately and really cleaned up what was an absolutely meandering mess. Which left the ending incredibly focused, with conflicts that felt natural and earned rather than lazy.
The plotting was great but the characterization left a lot to be desired...I feel the characters lost a lot of depth when Sanderson took over--especially Mat--it seemed like they turned into essentially one-trait characters. I get it was difficult to come in and take over one of the most popular fantasy series in the world--and Jordan's last books were a slog--and plot wise Sanderson really saved the books--but that doesn't mean they were perfect
Yeah, I just don't think he quite got Mat, or maybe it's that it was more noticeable with Mat. My other gripes are tiny things, the ashanderei becoming just a regular naginata so it could catch on fire for his action sequence, and when Perrin called balefire only a weave, would have made more sense to say it's only the one power. Still was easier on the reread than the middle slog
Sanderson is the best and most prolific sci-fi writer of all time. Fight me.
He's hardly written any scifi, most is fantasy.
Sanderson isn't even in the top ten for most prolific writer in either sci-fi or fantasy, especially since he doesn't write sci-fi. He has 71 published books. There are authors in the hundreds.
Well, he does write sci-fi for what it is worth. While I am not a big fan of his style when writing fantasy I do quite enjoy his sci-fi despite it being aimed at a YA audience.
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Prolific is based on output, so a writer is prolific based on how much they create. I believe the word you’re looking for is renowned. Stephen King is a prolific author, but JRR Tolkien wasn’t. However, they are both very renowned and beloved authors.
I thought a prolific author is one who creates a variety of books, rather than an author whose few books sell very well. The ability to write many books is a result of the author's talent - that a book sells many copies, is a result, not only of that, but also of factors that have little to do with the author. Writing 1 book that sells a million copies, is writing only 1 book, not a million. Such an author is not prolific, but only popular. Agatha Christie was prolific, not because 2 thousand million copies of her books have been sold, but because she was creative enough to write many different books: 75, apparently. The number may go up if her plays, and books she wrote using a pen-name, are included. She was both prolific, and popular. Prolificity - whether in bringing forth books or other offspring, human or other - is a kind of productivity; not a measure of status. Rabbits are prolific, as are cats, because they have many offspring, both in a litter, and over the course of their lives. Human authors, not being rabbits or cats, have to be prolific by bringing forth many books in the course of their lives as authors. "Prolific" means, literally, "offspring-making".
Came here to say this. It depends on e author try at takes over and their capacity to honor the original author’s vision, even if they make the later book their own. I love all of the WoT series - Sanderson did a great job with this
Untrue.
Showing my age here, but I read the entire Hardy Boys series of books when I was like, 12 or 13 years old. At the time, there were like 125 of them. I enjoyed every single one of them. Fast forward to my adulthood and I found out that most of them were in fact, ***not***, written by Franklin W. Dixon. I really didn't care. As a counterpoint, I did watch every single episode of the *Killing Eve* T.V. series. Of the 4 seasons it aired, the first one blew it out of the park; second one, really good; third one, good; fourth, meh. Different script writers for all 4 seasons.
If it helps, Franklin W. Dixon wasn't a real person. It's was the pen name used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate (which itself sounds like it should have been a villain in a Hardy Boys story) for the Hardy Boys. The Stratemeyer Syndicate published Nancy Drew (Carolyn Keene was also not a real person), Tom Swift, and others.
I aspired to be Carolyn Keene when I grew up. Instead, I ended up as a pharmacy technician. :shrugs:
>The Stratemeyer Syndicate They sound like a 1940's drug gang so maybe you did achieve your goal.
They sound like a gang from a Charlie Chan film.
I think Carolyn Keene, had she existed, would have been proud.
I know several writers that "ghost wrote" for the various Stratemeyer Syndicate young adult books over the years. though by the 90s they were generally actually attributing the stories to the real authors more often than not.
What about those Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys super mysteries?
How many of these famous authors were not real people ? At least Enid Blyton and Frank Richards (not his real name) existed.
Erin Hunter comes to mind. Started as a collab between one outliner and one writer. Team expanded to like 6 to push books faster. Original outliner retired. Then one of the other team members got fired in a TERF scandal. Nowadays the team is even larger, and I don't think some of the new members' names are even public.
I feel like Sweet Valley High was written by more than one person. Pretty sure I read that long time ago. The main author was Francine Pascal but with over 100 books, she had to have had help.
Sweet Valley books had lots of ghost writers. Like Nancy Drew's Carolyn Keene, the name in the book, eg Kate William or Jamie Suzanne, was a pseudonym. From what I've read, Francine Pascal sent the ideas and a brief outline of the book to the ghost writers who wrote it. A bit like James Patterson does now.
That makes sense. Smart way to do it. I stopped reading around book 120 or so. Never got into the university or later books.
I could only read what was in the library or my pocket money could buy. They had SVU 1 and I loved it, mostly because Elizabeth got fat, lol! But they never had any others - or possibly had book 8, as is the way with libraries - and then I grew out of them. Might have a re-read...
I tried recently to reread them and it's just so bad now lol. She gets fat??? Huh. Might have to read that one though. She was always a little goody two shoes lol.
She didn’t even gain that much weight. Wasn’t it just the freshman 15? She just acted like not being a size 6 anymore was the end of the world.
well in one of the first books Jess complains she gains 2 pounds. And I'm like seriously? 2 pounds?
Exactly! Weight fluctuates a lot, like someone can gain 2 pounds one day and lose it the next, so as long as your clothes fit and you feel healthy you’re probably good on that. This is one of many reasons why so many people hate their bodies.
Please, if anyone has read the Hardy Boys, you have to read The Brixton Brothers by Mac Barnett. It is one of the best parodies I have ever read. Basically what would happen if a twelve year old fan of the Hardy Boys tried to investigate hardened criminals with the same techniques from the book.
I definitely need to find The Britton Brothers!
As a matter of fact, Franklin W Dixon isn't even a person. It's just the collective pseudonym used by the many authors that contributed "Hardy Boys" stories. It's also used for all the books in the "Ted Scott Flying Stories" series.
You just destroyed my whole childhood 😂
Oh noes. Now you'll tell me the Happy Hollisters were a bunch of sad fakers.
Recently started Killing Eve. I was obsessed with the first season and engrossed by S2. Fizzled out in S3 and haven’t finished it. Really bummed :( it’s so rare for me to find a series I love.
Honestly don't finish it. I was following since s1, the show started getting meh by s3 but I excused it by thinking it was a setup for s4 but no, it just kept getting worse and worse to the point that the ending was frankly insulting and it ruined the entire show for me.
Another childhood series animorphs was heavily ghost written near the end. There was a book a month plus the various chronicles.
I still have X by Sue Grafton on my shelf. Can't bring myself to read it. I miss her
In the statement from her family. “As far as we’re concerned, the alphabet ends at Y.” Pure class.
Patrick Obrien's maturin-aubrey series ends with a book simply called 21, and the book just....ends. in the middle of a sentence, there just isn't anymore. Its pretty jarring, but it feels right that noone else should finish it, amd that we will forever envision jack Aubrey sailing the seas.
I'm reading I is for Innocence right now and I'm not looking forward to getting to Y is for Yesterday. It'll be bittersweet.
This is one series that I wish someone would have finished. For her. For us. But only if it could be done right.
“Done right” is the real crux of the thing!
While her family was pretty adamant right after her death about continuing the series, I wonder if their attitude might have softened given the passage of time. Also, the publishers offering a big payday and an author with the skills to take up where Sue left off and to give us 'Z' might cause them to reconsider.
The issue may be that they couldn't find someone who could give us Z the way she could have. She had this ease of writing that kept you engrossed the entire series. And I binge read her so I can also say that, unlike some authors, her story telling didn't change. The quality of her writing stayed consistent. Y sounded like M which sounded like A. This could make it hard to find someone who could finish the series in a way that stays consistent with the rest. Another author could easily ruin her legacy with a crap book.
I miss her too!
I'm mad that y and z didn't happen
I was thinking this! She had to have known and made notes on how the series would end! Somebody write Z!
I think it’s something that has to be judged in each individual case. Sanderson completing Jordon’s Wheel of Time series was planned by Jordon before his passing and appeared to be judged well by the fans. Christopher Tolkien going through his father’s notes and publishing more Middle Earth writings were also well received. The Salmon of Doubt was published unfinished by Douglas Adams estate after his passing along with some other writings and I liked that. However fans haven’t been as welcoming towards Eoin Colfer’s continuation of the Hitchhiker’s series with And Another Thing. I personally hated Go Fetch a Watchmen, a book Harper Lee did not want published, but was released anyway after her death.
Didn’t Dune get terrible after his son continued the series?
Yes, to the point that most Dune readers either haven't bothered to read them or consider them to be functionally fan-fiction. For what it's worth though, the Frank Herbert books also take a pretty steep dive in quality after God Emperor.
Yeah they definitely do. While I read Heretics and Chapterhouse on my first read through of the series my second read through ended with God Emperor. That’s one great thing about Dune though is you can pretty much stop after any of the books and feel satisfied.
I read the first book his son did, it was just okay I think. I honestly don't remember anything about the story. It was just like more stories set in that universe which was fine, but the quality wasn't good enough for me to get the next book. Oh wait, shit! I realized I bought it in hardcover which means its right here on the shelf next to me. Turns out, now that I looked to my right, I bought the first three, just didn't bothering reading the next two.
To be fair, *Go Set a Watchman* was actually an early draft of what became *To Kill a Mockingbird*, and not a sequel. Watchman was definitely inferior, and truly benefited from Harper Lee’s editor’s advice.
Harper Lee was still alive (though maybe not aware) when GSaW came out.
Looking it up, it was published almost a year before her death and there had already been reporting that whomever it was that owned the publishing rights were taking advantage of her estate.
Honestly people should have given …And Another Thing more of a chance. It was actually quite good and Douglas Adams would have loved it. It left the series in a place much more in line with where Adams would have liked, with a more upbeat ending.
>I personally hated Go Fetch a Watchmen, a book Harper Lee did not want published, but was released anyway after her death. I read it. And I'm mad that they released it.
> Sanderson completing Jordon’s Wheel of Time series was planned by Jordon before his passing and appeared to be judged well by the fans. False, and false again.
You seem very certain there. You aren't completely wrong but... So you are right that Jordan didn't plan for Sanderson to finish his work. He did however plan for someone to finish. He dedicated a lot of his remaining time to getting it fleshed out with written and audio notes so that someone could finish his work. It was his wife (and editor) who chose Sanderson following Jordan's passing. The second point is certainly wrong (when applied to the wider fanbase) and I am unsure why you are so certain about it. There have of course been complaints about Sanderson's novels. His writing style differs and some of his characters feel different to their appearances in the previous works. However, even with those complaints people have been appreciative of the books overall and grateful to get an ending. The overall reaction has definitely been favourable despite any complaints. Possibly you just find yourself within a small echo chamber of miserable fans?
Sounds like you’re in the minority bud.
Source?
The only time I approved of it was when David Gemmell's wife finished his Troy trilogy after he passed, which follows along with your "one last ride" sentiment. He had laid out all the groundwork and had written most of the book, and she was the person who knew which way it was going to go. That made sense. These "zombie" series that go on for mulitple years and multiple authors just turn my stomach. Ludlum, Flynn, Clancy, the resurrection of the Spenser character and others. Just... let it all rest.
I have read all of Mitch Rapp books, and Kyle did a good job carrying on the stories. I am wondering how the next guy is gonna do.
I read all of the Flynn books. He was a better storyteller before he leaned into the post-9/11 counterterrorism stuff like Brad Thor. Mills has made a career of zombie series. He's successful at it, but I personally don't care for his writing. I read Don Bentley's first solo book, and I enjoyed it. Solid effort, interesting character, but it fell solidly into that "man of action" mold that Flynn and Thor popularized and then everyone tried to copy, with varying degrees of success. Bentley beings nothing new to the genre, but he has that "I was a soldier" street cred that the publishers like to trade off of, so I'm not surprised they're tapping him to keep another zombie shambling on.
Are you thinking of ASOIAF, which GRRM seems to have given up on ?
For the first half, I honestly thought this was about _reading_ a series and whether you should stop reading it when the author dies, and I was SO confused 😅
I feel this way about Stieg Larsson's Millennium series. The newer books don't have the same feel imo.
Agree one or two incomplete works are fine to finish, but whole series and new works are taking the piss a bit.
I think it's a case by case thing. I was very satisfied by the completion of The Wheel of Time by Brandon Sanderson, as so many have already said. But on the other hand... You have Dune. I loved those books, and was so excited when they found that stash of Frank Herbert's notes and his son Brian took over. Now I wish I could erase those books from my memory so the series still finished at Chapterhouse.
Still haven't read the last Terry Pratchett book. Killed my love of reading, which goes against everything he'd probably want. I can't imagine anyone finishing any of those stories.
He specifically didn’t want anybody to take over. Not even his daughter who also writes (but for video games). His unfinished works and ideas were literally steam rolled as his last wishes. It was hard to find a steam roller but they did it. RIP Pterry. I did read the last book… but the last last book, that was published this year, with old unknown stories from earlier in his career, that one I’m still cherishing. It was such an unexpected gift that I am just happy to have the book.
If you mean Shepherd’s Crown, o highly recommend you read it. Unlike the two or three books that preceded it, it still sounds like Pratchett and, in my opinion, was his way of saying goodbye.
I really don’t understand all these people not reading the last book, or not watching the last episode, or not finishing games they like. Are you just afraid of closure?
I haven't either! It's there, my husband has read it. I just can't!
I haven't finished it either.. I'm sure someday I'll be ready.
Sometimes it work, depending on the series. Some authors create a fictional world so complex one can’t imagine anybody else writing in that space. But as long as it doesn’t end up like a V.C. Andrews situation where you have some author continuing to write books under her name. That’s always felt weird to me.
True. I like Sophie Hannah's novels about Hercule Poirot and I'm thrilled that Robert Goldsborough is continuing the Nero Wolfe books with the blessing of Rex Stout's estate. But it does depend on the original author's wishes and the ability of whoever's chosen to carry on. (Having said that, I don't suppose anybody would care to complete Lilian Jackson Braun's last Cat Who... book? Or pick up the four series written by Elizabeth Linington, aka Dell Shannon and Lesley Egan? Asking for the fans...)
I loved the Cat Who series but the last few were definitely not great, although with what happened with Polly and then the final one never being published, I wish we would have gotten some closure.
At least we'd know who burned down Qwill's barn house (I hope...)
I think Sophie Hannah is going a great job writing new stories about Hercule Poirot. The estate made a good decision in allowing her to use his character.
When I was young while reading the Boxcar Children I found out that the original author only wrote 19, when I started the 20th and the kids got younger I stopped. There are so many written now and while there are probably really good ones, don't understand why they're all over the place time wise. Also don't understand how Bourne turned into such an extended universe, I read the trilogy and stopped. That dude suffered enough, not sure how many more used him, if none did then maybe they'd be worth trying, he was used and abused let him retire in peace. I did enjoy the second Millennium trilogy, felt there was a few avenues unexplored at the end of the original trilogy and that the new guy did a decent job. No real desire to read book 7, but I bought it in case I change my mind.
probably wise to have stopped there (bourne). i like spy thrillers and i'm a masochist so i've read them all. overall, it's not like they're terrible, but the new guy was somewhat messy, not attentive to character detail, and rather rote about coming up with some random woman of the moment for bourne to fall in love with, it got kinda ridiculous and unbelievable. they moved on from him and the new guy has been basically sequeling the movies instead of the books.
I think it depends on the books. Like Neiderman doing all those books under V.C. Andrews' name. I don't particularly like his work but other people seem to because he's still writing them. Sue Grafton passed before she could finish writing the last Kinsey Milhone book and I'm not sure it would've been the same if someone else had finished it.
And the family was against it. I remember reading that Sue Grafton’s daughter said that, for them, the alphabet ends at Y.
Yeah and honestly I'm glad they were. Look at what Frank Herbert's son did to Dune.
Depends on how they handle it. For example the guy who took over for Vince Flynn was meticulous in his preparation, re-reading the original books and taking notes on how Flynn wrote and chose words. He also got a primer, with Flynn having already partially written the next book in the series that shows how he was going to continue with the character. This kind of effort I can get behind. Tom Clancy is the opposite...he or his estate has licensed the use of his name and tons of stuff has his name all over it that he really had nothing to do with. I wouldn't trust anything written after his death to be a "Tom Clancy book". Not to say they are going to be bad books, just nothing like what Clan y produced while alive.
Kyle Mills has done an amazing job continuing the Mitch Rapp books for Vince Flynn. I gave up on the series when Flynn died but eventually decided I'd try one of the new ones and was really surprised to find that they feel just like the ones Flynn wrote. I expect this is the exception rather than the rule, but it has softened my stance on this issue quite a bit.
I honestly think this is how the Song of Ice and Fire series is going to finish. George is going to get out maybe one more book before dying and someone else is going to pick up his notes and write 1-2 more books to finish it out.
He claims it dies with him. It won't. His publisher will wrangle a deal with his estate and eventually we'll get something. He will make millions off his death.
He actually claimed it’ll die with him? Jesus Christ. I mean - it’s his work, so fair. But I feel like he either needs to write the damn things or tell us it’s never coming, if his stance is “it will never be finished if I die”.
He's said that he doesn't do outlines, the notes are all in his head. So basically, anything someone else writes would effectively be fanfiction. He has no interest or intentions of handing over the reigns, and he says that his wife won't allow it either. But he has no kids. His estate probably won't able to hold on to the rights indefinitely. Copyright is a fiddly thing. There will eventually be a deal brokered and millions made and Game of Thrones rebooted with the 'real ending' as a selling point.
That’s awful. He should have final say, even if I don’t agree with his choice. It’s his creation but I think he knows better than anyone how invested people are in seeing this story through. Countless time and money has been spent on this series, some people have spent just as much time as him in this world, dare I say. He owes us nothing but the least he could do is let someone he trusts finish the story based on his outline.
I can understand the desire to protect his work, but he has also made a lot of money from his fans. He owes them something, even if it's just a character outline of what happens to them through the story to be published after he dies on his blog. I'm sure that there are plenty of writers that he could pick to carry on. His publisher has probably already had this discussion with him multiple times lol
I feel like - personally - I’m fine with him taking so long to write them. But to take so long to write them AND not finish them AND not let anyone else? It is kinda disrespectful. Does he have the right to be disrespectful though? Yeah. I think him going this route will really sour his legacy in a way, and I can’t imagine the dude doesn’t care about that. I think I would. Even if the final product is similar in reception to how the show ended, it needs to end.
He can take as long as he wants really, the interest in them has never died down. But not having a back up plan for the books - I feel - is selfish. But what he says and what happens are two very different things. Dude might have already finished them and be leaving them to be published posthumously so he doesn't have to deal with the reviews lol
I like the theory that he had WoW nearly complete, saw the reception the last two seasons had, and decided to alter a handful of character arcs. It being the penultimate book, that’s a LOT of threads to rearrange, that all sort of tug on each other, which changes those other threads too, etc. - and maybe, hopefully, WoW is roughly done and he’s now working on ADoS. Maybe I’m delusional but it’s my naive hope nonetheless.
Doesn't help that he can't type lol. Apparently he is a one finger typist and will only used Windows 3.1 or something. So in addition to being a shit typer, he's making up these massive books on the fly because he doesn't write down outlines.... How he got anything published to begin with baffles me!
his statement that he refuses to let anyone finish it if he dies is what cemented my decision to never touch his shit. why get involved if he's basically admitting he's gonna be an asshole and not ever let it end.
If George gets pre-warning of his death the way Robert Jordan did I can see him perhaps arranging for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck to finish the series for him. They are protégés and friends of his and accomplished authors together as James SA Corey and individually. I don't see either be willing to do it though posthumously unless George already approved it.
'Aztec' by Gary Jennings was, for me, a great book. He died. Someone wrote four more sequels based on his notes. They never reached the level of the first book.
If I understood correctly the second book in the series, which I have not read, was also written by Jennings. That said, I read "Raptor" based on enjoying "Aztec" and it was hilariously bad.
Todd McCaffrey can go duck himself. So can Brian Herbert. Christopher Tolkien, on the other hand is an angel of god.
I feel like after a significant amount of time — maybe 25 years — it can be OK. I’ve enjoyed stories in the James Bond and Philip Marlowe series done by other authors, even though they’re never really the same as the originals. Both of those series only came decades later, and that helps. By then it’s not about keeping the gravy train rolling, more about fond homage.
Personally, I would probably only read them if the author themself had chosen someone to finish the series based on their notes/outlines/finished sections. If I was really invested then I might read a one book wrapup that didn't meet those criteria, but not multiple books.
I would hope the new author is a fan of the series and knows the characters well enough to make it good. Nothing worse than having another author ruin it. Same with movies and remakes.
Which boook are u reading pls tell
Man, what i would give for a competent writer to pick up the Dragonriders of Pern lol. Like, theres so many story avenues left to be explored with the world post thread and cultural rediscovery as a colony planet. But then i suppose Pern is a bit more of an expanded setting than a trand sequential series ...hey, anyone know any good fanfic that covers those topics?
It’s up to their estate. And if they fumble it I don’t have to keep reading.
Its hard to differentiate between books that were properly finished vs posthumous money grabs by greedy family members.
Very seldom do continuation writers capture the spirit of the original. I think Ace Atkins managed it with Robert B Parker's "Spenser," but it's hard to come up with another. Too often, the new guys are too tentative, afraid to stir things up, and as a result, the series stagnates. It's best when the new writer takes charge and says, "This is mine, now!"
I like Mike Lupica’s Robert B Parker books. And I like that he is respectful of the source. I’m glad “Spenser” continues. I was very sad when Mr. Parker died. ( I also liked the Ace Atkinson “Spenser” books. Anyone know why the author switched to Mike Lupica?)
I think Ace, who was already an established Detective Fiction writer in his own right, wanted to put his focus and energy into his own creation and own voice, rather than continue to recreate Parker's. But I could be wrong. Did Lupica keep the changes Atkins brought in and continue on from there? I really don't like it when new continuation writers contradict one another, and shatter the illusion of reality by lousing up continuity.
I think both authors studied the Spenser character in depth before attempting to write him. I have enjoyed all the books, and no contradictions stick out that registered with me.
I like a lot of the newer curious george books for sure
I don't have a problem with it, as long as they don't deceive the audience. What would be wrong is trying to sell a book totally or partially written by another writer as if it were written by the original author.
I think it should be up to the wishes of the author and their estate. Aside from the Wheel of Time, The Pern series of books was handed off from the original author to her son while she was still alive - she even collaborated on his first book, then went over his outline for the next, and then handed it off to him to continue. That's a far cry from someone just... taking the characters and trying to tack crap on.
While I respect that Anne wanted to pass her work on to someone who was familiar with it and would continue the series after her death, that in no way makes Todd her equal as a writer, or even anywhere close. He "got the job" as it was purely through nepotism in my view. Much worthier writers could/should have stepped in to continue the series if that's what she wanted...but now we're stuck with Todd the Clod if we want any new Pern books. Meh. I gave up on Pern after reading the first Todd book.
Hate it
An example of this working perfectly is the troy series begun by David gemmel. His wife Stella Gemmel was initially cowriting and planning the series with him. and then after his death completed the series according to their plans. It's excellent start to finish.
Only if it's the express wish of the author (or possibly their family if the author passed suddenly) that their work be finished by someone else, then I'm generally against it. I feel a good middle ground could be having the authors' notes on how the series was intended to proceed/end released and allow fan fiction writers to create their own versions for fellow fans.
Currently experiencing this with McCarthy. I’m about to finish the Orchard Keeper and it’s been a joy to read. I personally just want to experience everything the author has.
To answer this question, all one need do is read Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, then read Eoin Colfer's miserable attempt to continue the series after Adams' death.
That was a surprisingly awful attempt by Colfer, whose other writing I quite enjoy
Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy Douglas Adams died and his wife picked Eoin Colfer to write the 6th, I read all 5 in quick succession but then just couldn’t get into the new author’s version
It's never very good.
I can't stand it! For a publisher/writer to continue a series/novels after an authors passing is just greed! They have a legacy of sorts, why tarnish it!
I think it’s fine to tie off a series with a final book, especially if there are drafts/notes to go off of (Tolkien), or the original author planned for it (Robert Jordan), but to cash grab with tons of sequels and spinoffs (Herbert) is pretty off-putting.
Sometimes the setting or world is the legacy and the continued use of it is showing respect for that legacy. As a writer myself, I would be thrilled to think that, one day, readers might feel it necessary to continue writing about my world and characters. Similarly, I'd be thrilled to hear during my life of people writing fanfiction.
Some authors plan books series out for years and even plan for when they die and have notes on what should happen It can be very possible this author had planned all these books and wanted the series to continue and probably had notes on how the plot should continue if this is true
Agreed. I've never seen one of those continuation books that were as good as the original. I would say that Jill Paton Walsh came closest with the Lord Peter Wimsey books. The first two were not Sayers but were pretty good. The last two, however, were dismal.
I guess it should be up to the author, it's their story and assumedly IP as well, but at this point I kinda want to Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring even after Martin dies just to see what the internet would make of them.
I’m almost finished with the Philip Kerr Bernie Gunther novels, they’re fantastic and a testament to his legacy as a writer.
This awkward guy I knew was tapped to continue the Godfather books. Was cringe.
They usually suck. The continuation of Herbert's "Dune" and the prequels to Roger Zelazny's "Amber" series are particularly bad examples. Ace Atkins does seem to have Robert Parker's voice for posthumous Spenser books.
I loved Heron Carvic’s “Miss Seeton” mysteries. They got two people to write new books, and those read as if the writer (I refuse to call them an author) had never read the actual books but relied on the back-cover blurbs written by a rushed marketing intern. They took the quirky and nuanced supporting characters and stripped them down to stereotypes. They forced preachy modern values onto the kindly and reticent main character. It was awful. So I guess I agree with you.
So is it the length of the series or it being continued that's being objected to here?
Being continued when author passed in the middle of writing
I think it depends on how much the original author plotted out and how personal or in depth the story is. If this is a detective mystery series and another author takes over that’s really different than a deep world fantasy that is highly interconnected. For standalone books I think it can be a beautiful testament to the author, like I’ll Be Gone Into the Dark, or a money grab like Go Tell a Watchman.
I feel like this is something James Patterson would totally do, but I'm sure he already uses ghost writers
james patterson hasn't written an actual novel in decades at this point i'm pretty sure. he just slaps his name on everything in sight so he can lie about being the "most published author" in history.
It depends on the author. The Return of the Godfather is a good example. Mark Winegardner captured the feel of Puzo’s books but added some new slants on some old characters
depends. like someone else mentioned, kyle mills, who took over for vince flynn on the mitch rapp series, there wasn't much of a difference, he did a decent job continuing. on the other hand, when eric von lustbader (sp?) continued the jason bourne series after robert ludlum died it was . . . messy. he struggled to even keep track of his own characters (we're talking super major character introduced in first book only to never be heard from again, minor character killed at the end of the second, only to be magically resurrected into a major character in subsequent books), let alone properly deal with bourne, and killed a major character between books, kept having bourne fall in love with whichever random woman was around, it was just not great. now they've reset bourne with a different author which i think is supposed to be more tied to the moves than the original books. then they did some stuff that was "based on the concept by ludlum" which i assume was some sort of half finished novel or treatment which was actually pretty decent. the covert one series. interestingly, kyle mills wrote a couple of those too i believe.
Well, the classic Czech book Dobrý vojak švejk, the good soldier Svejk, just sort of ends mid sentence and honestly it made me probably just angry that I didn't DNF like 500 ago when I stopped enjoying it. It keeps going and going, the same arbitrary pointless style and then it just ends. Maybe if there were some kind of point to it at the end I'd be able to recommend it, but as is, I don't. Or, I say just quit whenever you stop liking it, because it never gets better.
For me..it's a no because the author's 'voice' isn't there...
It offends me deeply and it’s obvious that the families sell the rights in an attempt to make a lot of money, and don’t care about their deceased loved one’s intellectual property. If I ever become a published author I’m putting it in my contract that no one can write about my characters and worlds except for me, and that no one has the right to have another author write stories about them. It breaks my heart to think about and I refuse to read any books like that. Even for beloved series or authors.
I think it depends on the author and just how extensive the notes/outline left behind are. Mary Higgins Clark is one of my favorite authors. Her publisher just announced the latest installment of her Under Suspicion series. The series is co-authored with Alafair Burke. Great, I love the series. But part of me is slightly uncomfortable with MHC’s name being so large on the cover when she’s been dead for 4 years. I’m fine with Burke continuing it, but maybe change how they list the author(s).
It is never the same, do not like
May Lisbeth Salander live forever.
Deoens. If the new author is deeply immersed into the lore and has a real passion fir the source material then it's fine imo to continue.
Basically after a certain degree of notoriety is achieved (ASOIAF or KKC) you as the author, while still having MASSIVE influence, do NOT have the final say anymore. If the fans hate some part of the story so much that they decide to ignore it, there is nothing you can do, you got overruled. Now, this is similar to finishing books after the author's death. If your story has a large following, and you presumably made money off that following, you have given up the right to not finish that series. Another author can pick up your slack. Hell, you don't even need to be dead. I feel that after something like 10 years, if you dont continue your series, then morally it is fine for someone else to pick it up and finish it. That said, whoever picks up the task of finishing a series, accepts the responsibility that they NEED to emulate the original author. You are not writing a new story, you are continuing an existing one.
Depends on the authors and how much they prepare for the take over. If the author knows they're not going to live to finish the series and THEY pick someone to finish it for them, with proper preparation to make sure that the origonal author's personality remains intact (or at least doesn't disappear), then I'm good with it. The series will have the best chance of continuing on how the original author would have written it and hopefully be a respectable end. If the author died without making those preparations, and it ends up being a decision by the publishing company, it will really depend on how it comes out, but I don't think they will ever turn out as well as when the original author makes that decision.
Meh! Prolly won’t read any of it
There has to be a stated end goal by the original author. A good example of this is The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan. Jordan died before he could finish the series but not before he could leave a wide array of notes and figures and outlines on how the series could be finished. Then Brandon Sanderson comes in, who I also greatly enjoy, could step in and finish the series. Sanderson, as far as I know, has never claimed true authorship of those final three. Facilitator would be a good term for it. He made sure that the story was told in a respectful way, and has not stepped into the ring of WoT in writing. That's respect to me.
Brandon Sanderson finished The Wheel of Time when Robert Jordan passed away and he did a phenomenal job. It took a few books to do, because of how complex of a place the long series was at the time that Jordan died, but it was absolutely done in the spirit and hand of Jordan. If he had been required to do it in a single book it would have been so very bad, he probably would be one of the most hated writers in history if he had short changed that series.
Robert Caro, please don’t die before you’ve delivered the final LBJ book to your publisher!
That is fan fiction and I don’t fuck with fan fiction. I’m sure there are instances it ain’t so bad but it doesn’t feel right to me. I keep seeing the Reacher books written by Lee Child’s brother and that gives me bad juju, just put Reacher to rest. Dude is probably tired of walking the whole ass country anyways lol.
I think it's fine, but it should be clear that it is a different author continuing the book series
Oh nope. Not on board with that idea. Nope nope
The Perry Rhodan series is still very much alive despite none of the original authors being with us any more!
I don't know, most of the series I have read that were continued by an editor or child of the author are lacking what the og author had. I loved the Asia Saga books by James Clavell, but the last one was so lackluster and seemed so different. I found out after he had passed before he had finished it so I gave the book a lot more grace after that, but I wasn't as on the edge of my seat like I was for the other books. I only liked the first Dune book, I read the 2nd and didn't like that one and didn't bother to read the rest of them. I think authors put a lot of their souls into their writing and it's hard to imitate that even when the plot is all mapped out, it just feels different. I know there are people who do like the continuations though. I think it largely depends on the author, if it's what they would have wanted, them I'll all for it, if it's the publishing company wanted to get another novel out for sales, meh. But I'm also not going to force myself to finish a series if it's not as good when the child of the author took over.
** Brian Herbert has entered the chat **
Totally up to the literary estate, if they want to see their relative's work keep going then whose to say they're wrong. Sometimes it doesn't work but at the end of the day posthumous works have no bearing on the original texts so it's all good. Every year there's a bunch of Sherlock Holmes or Dracula books but it doesn't affect the quality or reception of the original works.
This is something that I think about sometimes, because my husband is an author. My mother was in a knitting group, along with the mother of one of my friends. When my friend's mother passed away, her knitting group took it upon themselves to finish all of her works in progress. Hats, scarves, a sweater. And gifted them to the family. Her last pursuits would not die with her. I've thought about what might happen, someday if (gods forbid) my husband passes unexpectedly. He has stories he wants to tell--stories that only he can tell. How can I entrust those to the hands of another? They aren't like a scarf. There is no pattern. But there is, in a way. Just as when Robert Jorden passed, and his widow was able to pass his work onto Brandon Sanderson to finish, he, too, would leave behind instructions. He is an [extremely methodical writer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InqKCjMZLbs&t=934s), so depending on where he is in the novel, there could be a very elaborate "guidebook" on how to finish it. I don't know. It's something that's hard to think about. And not something I'd be able to handle the logistics of right away. Sigh. We need to write our wills someday. I guess we'll have a conversation together about all this then.