Well dreaded by me, writing it, that is. I don’t know what it is about sequels—sometimes I don’t even like to read them myself because the first book was sooo great, and then the second in the series disappoints. I remember a book I really liked—it had cool assassins and mysterious mages, fair damsels and murderous wenches and magic swords and, really, I liked it. A lot. Hero got the girl at the end, naturally. So I bought the second book, only to be utterly disappointed that instead of all of the above, the sequel started with fifty pages of previously non-whiny bad-ass Hero waffling on about his virgin girlfriend not putting out. It was not what I expected.
And that’s the trick, isn’t it? The second book has to meet the expectations brought by the first book—in this case I was expecting mucho swords and intrigue and what I got was an emo. But it can’t be the first book all over again either. In romance, it’s slightly different I suppose—a character from the first book maybe gets his/her HEA, which is your basis. But when it’s not exactly romance, then you need an ongoing story, and there are those expectations and…..and that’s when I start tearing my hair out.
At this rate I could be bald by summer. The plot needs to be of a similar level to the first. Which means I’m confusing myself! The characters need to be changed/have learned from the events of the first book—but not too much, because they have to be the characters that people liked the first time round. Etc. etc. ad infinitum.
So what do you look for in a sequel? Do you want a reprise of what went before, or are you happy for something a little different, or even totally different? What turns you off, and what turns you on?
What I enjoy most when I read a series is continued character growth, so that's what I'm trying to achieve while I'm writing my first sequel.
ReplyDeleteI've been working up to writing my sequel for a while now, but so far what I've plotted out just isn't...right. sigh
ReplyDeleteWorking on edits for my sequel now. Dunno why this book is rather difficult to write. The characters grow and learn more about themselves and each other, but...arrgh. It's the plot getting me and I have a bunch of stuff to fix.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think it's a lot easier when you right romance. The sequel I have planned for Heart of the Druid Laird involves a secondary character we've already met, and that story's antagonist. Easy, Peasy. And I can use any of the peripheral characters for more stories. Like the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and Christina Feehan's series. Doing something like Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series would be daunting. Plus, how long should a series go on. I'm ready for Sookie to get hitched already.
ReplyDeleteYes, there has to be continued character development, and that is so important. However, when the character development barely budges from book to book, I begin to lose interest because I feel disconnected from the character. That's why I think a series can only last so long, unless it's just all plot. And I don't read stories that are all plot.
ReplyDeleteVery true, Tia. My personal feeling is that a series should be a trilogy. Any more than that, and it's kind of superfluous. But that may be the result of my own ADD tendencies.
ReplyDeleteI've been working on edits for my second jaguar shifter book w/ Carina. It's the same world but different characters. From a romance standpoint, I enjoy series like that, where you get deeper into the world, touch base with some of the characters you've gotten to know in previous books but where the main characters and conflict are totally different. From a fantasy standpoint, I also enjoy series that have an overarching plot that follows the same characters and doesn't come to a full resolution until the final book. I'm not much of a plotter though and I think you have to be in order to make that work.
ReplyDeleteSoooo....what book are you talking about up there? Cause it sounds a lot like the one I'm reading right now and liking a lot. I hope it's not. If this character turns emo it would be a shame.
Good question! Definitely character growth. I like how Ilona Andrews has built her Kate Daniels series as we learn more of Kate. I wonder though if the other factor is that the world building also reveals something new in each book?
ReplyDeleteOh gosh. I'm writing my third book in the Allegra Fairweather series. It's a real balancing act to to bring something new to the series while still remaining true to what readers enjoyed before.
ReplyDelete