Mette Ivie Harrison, Children's writer, triathlete, marathons, Ironman, training, fitness, workouts, The Princess and the Hound, Mira, Mirror, The Monster In Me, The Hound and the Bear, Young Adult Books, Fantasy, Romance, yoga


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Sequels Part 1 There is a blurb from Holly Black on the inside cover of MAGIC LESSONS by Justine Larbelestier that I think is a great starting point for talking about sequels: "MAGIC LESSONS does what only the best sequels do: it takes what we thought we knew and turns that on its head." A sequel is, by its very nature, a return to the same world and characters that drew the reader to the first book. Publishers often try to make sure the reader knows the sequel "fits" with the first book by similar title, similar cover, etc. But, as one of the audience members asked last Friday, how do you make sure the reader doesn't get tired of the same thing all over again? This is very tricky. Obviously, you can't tell the same story again. Readers would just read the first book a second time and save themselves some cash. Many do. And many sequels are just rehashing of the first book, sort of like a soap opera mixes up the characters but really has the same plot over and over again. (Hey, I was a GH junkie in Junior High School). I think many authors try to give a mix of the familiar and the new in a sequel in different ways. Sometimes it is episodic, a new story, with the main character remaining much the same. Or a slight variation on that is Miles Vorkosigan or Harry Dresden, where the reader can pick up any book in the series and still make sense of it, but there is a bit of a character arc and even a world arc going on in there. There are also sequels that cannot be read out of order because they are really installments of one long story (THE WHEEL OF TIME, THE LORD OF THE RING--cut into three by the publisher, not the author, ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE, A GAME OF THRONES, and so on). This has roots back to the early days of the novel when they were serialized. It's perfectly legitimate, and some authors try to do a better job than others on tying up ends at the end of a book. But it still leaves it impossible for readers to jump in. My sequel to THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND is a sequel that was not planned. I was reading through the copy edits and realized that I had left two characters I loved just sort of fading into the background. So I gave them their own story. The world is the same, but twisted on its head, and the original characters don't necessarily get a lot of pages. But I think the feel of the story is so much the same, with a rocking good romance, a great arc of character development, and plenty of new discoveries about magic, not to mention a new evil villain, that readers will be satisfied. I'm trying to think of a model for this kind of sequel, and perhaps the best one is THE BLUE SWORD and THE HERO AND THE CROWN. I didn't consciously model my sequel on those, but they are stories that have a s imilar feel, but a world turned on its head and new characters entirely. Perhaps other examples might be THE PRIVILEGE OF THE SWORD and SWORDSPOINT or EXTRAS after UGLIES and PRETTIES or even TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG after DOOMSDAY BOOK by Connie Willis. Return to home page

Sequels Part 1

There is a blurb from Holly Black on the inside cover of MAGIC LESSONS by Justine Larbelestier that I think is a great starting point for talking about sequels:

"MAGIC LESSONS does what only the best sequels do: it takes what we thought we knew and turns that on its head."

A sequel is, by its very nature, a return to the same world and characters that drew the reader to the first book. Publishers often try to make sure the reader knows the sequel "fits" with the first book by similar title, similar cover, etc. But, as one of the audience members asked last Friday, how do you make sure the reader doesn't get tired of the same thing all over again?

This is very tricky.

Obviously, you can't tell the same story again. Readers would just read the first book a second time and save themselves some cash. Many do. And many sequels are just rehashing of the first book, sort of like a soap opera mixes up the characters but really has the same plot over and over again. (Hey, I was a GH junkie in Junior High School).

I think many authors try to give a mix of the familiar and the new in a sequel in different ways. Sometimes it is episodic, a new story, with the main character remaining much the same. Or a slight variation on that is Miles Vorkosigan or Harry Dresden, where the reader can pick up any book in the series and still make sense of it, but there is a bit of a character arc and even a world arc going on in there.

There are also sequels that cannot be read out of order because they are really installments of one long story (THE WHEEL OF TIME, THE LORD OF THE RING--cut into three by the publisher, not the author, ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE, A GAME OF THRONES, and so on). This has roots back to the early days of the novel when they were serialized. It's perfectly legitimate, and some authors try to do a better job than others on tying up ends at the end of a book. But it still leaves it impossible for readers to jump in.

My sequel to THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND is a sequel that was not planned. I was reading through the copy edits and realized that I had left two characters I loved just sort of fading into the background. So I gave them their own story. The world is the same, but twisted on its head, and the original characters don't necessarily get a lot of pages. But I think the feel of the story is so much the same, with a rocking good romance, a great arc of character development, and plenty of new discoveries about magic, not to mention a new evil villain, that readers will be satisfied.

I'm trying to think of a model for this kind of sequel, and perhaps the best one is THE BLUE SWORD and THE HERO AND THE CROWN. I didn't consciously model my sequel on those, but they are stories that have a s imilar feel, but a world turned on its head and new characters entirely. Perhaps other examples might be THE PRIVILEGE OF THE SWORD and SWORDSPOINT or EXTRAS after UGLIES and PRETTIES or even TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG after DOOMSDAY BOOK by Connie Willis.

Return to home page