Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.
The rules are simple:
- Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
- Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
- Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
- Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.
This week’s topic is Standalone Books That Need a Sequel. I’m going to put my own take on the topic by discussing reasons why, in some cases, a sequel may be a brilliant idea and in others it may not – with some examples thrown in to illustrate my point…
Click on the title to find the book description on Goodreads or to read my review.
5 Situations When A Sequel May Be A Good Idea
- The author has created a wonderful, unique multi-layered character that there is scope to learn more about e.g. Onorio Celavini in The Phoenix of Florence by Philip Kazan
- There are a group of secondary characters capable of being explored further, e.g. Eagle & Crane by Suzanne Rindell
- The genre of the book lends itself to a sequel, e.g. historical crime novel None So Blind by Alis Hawkins (Supplementary question: when is a sequel really just number 2 in a series…?)
- There are alternative endings to the book, e.g. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- The book’s conclusion is open-ended or capable of having a different ending, e.g. Meet Me At The Museum by Anne Youngson
5 Situations When A Sequel May Not Be A Good Idea
- The author is no longer around to write a sequel and there is no living author who can convincingly replicate their style (or Anthony Horowitz is not available)
- The author has a better idea for a new standalone book
- The main character was killed off (although there is an exception to every rule, such as the reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
- The structure of the book doesn’t allow for a sequel, e.g. Together by Julie Cohen where the story is told backwards
- When perhaps you really should not try to improve on perfection, e.g. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee
How do you feel about sequels to standalone books you’ve loved?
