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 4 OK, what I hate about sequels: 1. When the series seems to be going on and on without any apparent end or resolution in sight. Because, hey, the money keeps rolling in. 2. When the author brings in a ton of new viewpoint characters, many of whom I don't like nearly so much as the original one, and some of whom are the villains whose pov I don't want to know and doesn't add to the resolution of the plot at all and seems only designed to do more of #1. 3. When a dead character comes back to life just because it turns out there is no series without them. (Yes, I know the readers are often at fault on this one. Authors hang tough. Don't do what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did.) 4. The series turns darker and darker, until I am physically nauseated at the thought of reading anymore. 5. The new book in the series is written so rapidly that it has none of the resonance, care, and voice of the previous books in the series. 6. The new book in the series is so long that it actually has to be published in two books. (Yes, George R.R. Martin, I am talking about you here. Control yourself, man! And yes, I loved this series.) 7. The new book in the series is about an apprentice to the main character in the original series. 8. The villain in the series never dies. He just keeps coming back in a new form. (Rowling used this, and at times I got annoyed by it. On the other hand, I could live with her sales numbers, so who cares what i say?) 9. Dreams take up much of the pages of the book. Or prophecies. Or poetry in elf language. This is filler, and I'm not stupid enough to forget that. 10. The world and the threat become so big that I don't care about them anymore. 11. The main character gets so old that it is physically impossible for him to continue to do the things that he/she is doing. A 60 year-old is just not that sexy. 12. The same old jokes just aren't funny anymore. 13. The price paid for the climax in the previous book is erased or forgotten or magically healed. I hate this, and had to work really hard to avoid it in my own sequel recently. Readers want a happy ending, but not a meaningless one. 14. The new evil is a previous hero from the first book. Because no one expects that, right? 15. The main character is touched by some energy cloud and "forgets" the previous lessons learned, so that they have to be learned all over again. That's one way to recycle. love a series as much as the next person. When I finally finished Season Seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I wanted more. I was desperately sad when I heard it was unlikely that there would be anymore Miles Vorkosigan books. I wanted Robin Hobb to keep telling Fitz's story (but she figured out a way to do it, the genius!). But there is a time when farewell means farewell. And you have to find a new series to love. It's better to leave Holmes dead than to bring him back as a puppet of the audience's expectations. Return to home page

Sequels Part 4

OK, what I hate about sequels:

1. When the series seems to be going on and on without any apparent end or resolution in sight. Because, hey, the money keeps rolling in.

2. When the author brings in a ton of new viewpoint characters, many of whom I don't like nearly so much as the original one, and some of whom are the villains whose pov I don't want to know and doesn't add to the resolution of the plot at all and seems only designed to do more of #1.

3. When a dead character comes back to life just because it turns out there is no series without them. (Yes, I know the readers are often at fault on this one. Authors hang tough. Don't do what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did.)

4. The series turns darker and darker, until I am physically nauseated at the thought of reading anymore.

5. The new book in the series is written so rapidly that it has none of the resonance, care, and voice of the previous books in the series.

6. The new book in the series is so long that it actually has to be published in two books. (Yes, George R.R. Martin, I am talking about you here. Control yourself, man! And yes, I loved this series.)

7. The new book in the series is about an apprentice to the main character in the original series.

8. The villain in the series never dies. He just keeps coming back in a new form. (Rowling used this, and at times I got annoyed by it. On the other hand, I could live with her sales numbers, so who cares what i say?)

9. Dreams take up much of the pages of the book. Or prophecies. Or poetry in elf language. This is filler, and I'm not stupid enough to forget that.

10. The world and the threat become so big that I don't care about them anymore.

11. The main character gets so old that it is physically impossible for him to continue to do the things that he/she is doing. A 60 year-old is just not that sexy.

12. The same old jokes just aren't funny anymore.

13. The price paid for the climax in the previous book is erased or forgotten or magically healed. I hate this, and had to work really hard to avoid it in my own sequel recently. Readers want a happy ending, but not a meaningless one.

14. The new evil is a previous hero from the first book. Because no one expects that, right?

15. The main character is touched by some energy cloud and "forgets" the previous lessons learned, so that they have to be learned all over again. That's one way to recycle.

love a series as much as the next person. When I finally finished Season Seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I wanted more. I was desperately sad when I heard it was unlikely that there would be anymore Miles Vorkosigan books. I wanted Robin Hobb to keep telling Fitz's story (but she figured out a way to do it, the genius!). But there is a time when farewell means farewell. And you have to find a new series to love. It's better to leave Holmes dead than to bring him back as a puppet of the audience's expectations.

Return to home page