The Matrix did not surprise me re it being bad. The Cohen brothers were proven to have stolen the original story if I remember correctly, so not being able to write a sequel is not much of a surprise. THAT did disappoint me. I felt there were tons of questions to be answered: Where would the resources come from for food, etc. as people awakened? Who awakened first, where were they? How was Zion surviving? Was the surface livable at all?

IMO, the most brilliant movie sequel was . . . “Toy Story 2″. No, really, that had all the charm of the original. Book wise, I also like the “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants” and in romance, Dara Joy’s “Matrix of Destiny” each seemed to stand alone while still encompassing information from the last book.

I think the definition given in the article is excellent: “I liked sequels that showcased natural character progression, expanded worldbuilding that didn’t contradict the first, and dedication to the characters, relationships and expectations that I liked in book one.”

As far as my pet peeves go with sequels: Don’t let important action happen off the page. And don’t change character’s personalities. That isn’t a sequel — that’s a new book cashing in on old success.

maggie b.

maggie b.

I haven’t read The Dark Rising, but I’m always looking for books to share with my students and kids! Thanks for sharing that with me!

LOL-Karmela on godfather 3. I loved Godfather and Godfather 2, but haven’t read three. Guess I’m not missing much?

And the godfather #3 was so horrible it doesn’t even deserve capital letters.

I didn’t like five when I read it first, because I got bored with Harry being so sullen all the time – but I have to say book six was a great hit in our family (3 daughters and me) except that my husband didn’t like it – and I think you’re right, we liked all the relationship stuff, which bores him.

FWIW, we’d bear out your theory about Tolkein as well – I reread The Hobbit often, but only got through LoTR once, whereas my husband would be a LoTR man.

Have you read children’s series The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper? I think she also managed to have the books work by themselves, and still have the series work as a single story.

I am also a big Stephanie Plum fan and you are so right. She has stagnated of late and something has gotta change for that Jersey girl. I wish she would go on a hush-hush adventure with Ranger to a place like Paris.

She and Lulu could destroy a Citroen for a change, eat real French fries, and get into lots of trouble with the gendarmes.

And it’d be nice to learn more about Ranger. I mean folded underwear and a meticulous all black wardrobe are unusual for a straight guy in my experience. And I don’t know about you but my man doesn’t know from thread count. If it’s on the bed he sleeps in it.

BTW, Have you tried Metro Girl, yet? I see she’s turning that into a series as well.

Anyway, in my experience, girls typically don’t like Chamber as much as guys do. Many of my male students liked it better than the first. My theory– typically, the girls like the complex relationship building books, the boys like the adventure, suspence books. That’s why my girls like The Hobbit more and my guys like LOTR trilogy books more. I have found that my girls like 1, 3, and 5 the most. The boys like 2 and 4 (four being the favorite). Six was the least favorite because a major character died. No, it’s only partly because of that. After all, they still like 5. I think it’s because, unlike the other books, it doesn’t stand alone. You almost had to have the other books at hand for ready reference! Ninth graders find that confusing.

Now that I’ve rambled on about HP (you guys will learn not to get me started on Harry one of these days ) I have to say that I really enjoyed your post. I’m getting started on my first sequel myself. It’s the second book in a series about werewolves. The thing is, all of my books do fit together. The main character of the second book was introduced in the first book. He will also be an intricate part of the rest of the series because he is the rightful alpha male of the Lycaon clan. Oops, I’ve said too much.

What have I learned? I want to do what J K Rowling did with her first five books– Make them stand alone, so that you can do what I did– start with the third book without being confused. I guess I’m also aiming for what she’s doing with Harry’s story. Each book has a complex story that stands by itself, each book is a new adventure, but the first six books are all building towards a major climax– a huge battle.

Luckily, I’m writing romance! So, while I fear that Harry can’t have a happy ending my series will

That’s for an excellent, exciting post. It has inspired me! Off to write!

The Stephanie Plum thing reminds me a lot of the Becky Bloomwood thing. Why hasn’t that chick gotten professional help? Still, I can’t help watching her — she’s like a train wreck!

And I must agree that shouldn’t Stephanie get better at work by now? Though at least it was mentioned in the last book that she wasn’t buggering up while working for Ranger. For once.

Sequels that read like sequels can be annoying – you very often hit a series third or fourth book in, and there is nothing more annoying than a book that makes you feel you’re starting reading in the wrong place. I don’t like the sort of book that hauls characters from past books needlessly into the story, or includes backstory irrelevant to the current plot – ‘he would ask his friend, Lord Sebastian, who just last summer had fallen in love with the flame-haired Countess of Hackney.’

My other big gripe would be characters that change from between books because the author needs them to play a different role. An Alpha hero from Book 1 who is suddenly prepared to let Hero 2 take control, for example.