Amph Series being finished/added to by different authors

I guess I started thinking about this with the new addition to Adams' Hitchhikers' Guide Trilogy, though Adams passed away several years ago. At the same time, there's also the example of Brandon Sanderson finishing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, which Jordan unfortunately was unable to finish before he passed away.

There's a couple of key differences between why I'm thrilled Sanderson is writing in the Wheel of Time series and why I'm rather ambivalent about Colfer's addition to HGttG. First, HGttG works fine as a complete series - there's not really any major loose ends to tie up, etc, whereas Wheel of Time still has major plot lines left unfinished. Second, Sanderson is clearly heavily relying on Jordan's extensive notes while writing A Memory of Light - it'll be Sanderson's words, but Jordan's story, and that does not seem to be the case for Colfer, who seems to have free reign to do pretty much anything.

So there's need for the series to be continued, and reliance on the original author for the basic story. Another major series that would come into play here would be Dune, though I haven't read that series personally and thus can't really say much about it myself (I know, I should, I've been told that many times, and eventually I'll get around to it).

Is there anything else that really distinguishes this type of writing, and what do you think about it - like it, hate it, what?

 

LotR is another example that comes to mind - Christopher continued writing, I think basedon notes, after J.R.R. died.

This. Whatever Colfer writes, it won't be what Adams had it mind. It won't be his story. In essence, it'll be fanfic that gets published.

 

I thought most of Christopher's work was just compiling his father's notes, without really adding to it?

 

I'm not sure, since I've only read the trilogy and the threads here. Maybe. I'm not sure if he had to flesh anything out or make any Sanderson-style additions.

 

i thought the same, which is why i'm a lot more accepting of the work he's bringing out. if there is anything that he's adding, it's definitely got the same flavor of what his father had done and really keeps to the feel of the originals. meanwhile, you have all of the stuff that brian herbert and kevin j. anderson are bringing out for the dune series. where initially i thought it was a great idea to build upon a series that i'd loved, i'm seeing more and more that it's not so much to build upon what frank herbert had created, but more of a way to get more money off his dad's ideas. it also doesn't help that herbert pulled in a hack of a sci-fi writer to help him expand upon those stories.

 

The Silmarillion also had Guy Gavriel Kay stitching together Tolkien's fragmented stories into a more cohesive whole. Tolkien's raw work that became the Silmarillion is mostly shown in the Making of Middle Earth series, and Kay and Christopher Tolkien slipped in the bridges between Tolkien's notes, keeping them to the same style. Their work was that of caretakers and editors, slightly expanded.

 

This sort of thing also happens in the Star Wars EU. Dozens of authors have added their own contributions to the story.

 

Star Wars is really a different kind of case, though. Sure, it all started with George Lucas, but he was/is focused on the movies, and the books have always been a whole slew of different authors, not one person's series that someone else comes in on.

 

I agree. Though I do like some authors more than others and some storylines more than others. But IMO it is more of a HUGE group collab than one author starting something and another finishing.

 

This sort of thing also happens in the Star Wars EU. Dozens of authors have added their own contributions to the story.-timioshere

It's a media tie-in franchise, and thus a different beast altogether than one story written by one writer. That argument is why alot of the Movie-purist fans shun the EU. George didn't write it, not part of George's story, therefor not Star Wars.

The case of Wheel of Time series I'm enthusiastic about the new book even though RJ cannot finish it-okay mostly because I want to know what happens next.

I don't think I'll be interested in the new Hitchiker's. Cuz there isn't more to add.

 

Douglas Adams would disagree with you if he were here. The Salmon of Doubt wasn't working as a Dirk Gentley novel and he thought that it would work better as a Guide book.

 

I think John Gregory Betancourt's addition to Roger Zelazny's Amber series is solid.

The Amber series was the first real epic fantasy saga I read so I have a certain attachment to it. To Rule In Amber is the only one by Betancourt that I've read; it is as good as Zelazny in my opinion.

 

I've never heard of either author. Why'd he start writing for the series?

Another I can think of is Jodie Nye (is that her name?) is supposedly continuing Robert Asprin's MYTH series. He started them, then added her as a co-writer (IIRC for IRS or copyright issues or something), and he died . . . last year?

 

Roger Zelazny died after the 10th Amber novel. I believe he had plans to continue the story. Betancourt's novels are prequels.

I meant to write To Rule in Amber was the third Betancourt novel I read. There is one more in the series that I haven't gotten around to yet.

 

Did he pass on notes or permission or anything?

 

No. His estate authorized the prequels. Many of his close friends have said that he would not have wanted anyone playing in his sandbox. And fans were disappointed that the Betancourt's novels were prequels rather than tying up the loose ends left hanging after Zelazny's death.

I enjoyed them, though.

 

That would suck, though, to have the end just hanging like that

 

I read the first foundation novel with a different author. Can't remember the name. Didn't like it at all.

 

Foundation's Fear, Gregory Benford? Yeah, none of the three are anywhere near Asimov's level

 

Yeah, that's it. Took me a long time to get through. I couldn't stop putting it down. I have Foundation's Triumph but I haven't started it. Don't know if I will.

 

I'd read it once, but leave it at that, I think. I reread stuff all the time, but its off of my 'reread' list.

 

It is an unfortunate thing when an author passes away when he/she has a piece of work that is unfinished. It feels bad as a reader because you wish they had finished it, but you feel guilty at the same time. Then you have their publishers who no matter what there feelings are toward the author, they feel they have an obligation to the public (or for those that don't have a heart, their pocket book) to finish what the late author had started. The fans will buy whatever they end up putting out there, because we are all wanting to know how it all ends, even though we have it in our minds that its not the same and will never be the same.