The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

20.1 Most Improved Player - Hettie's task: Missing books

When I love a book I am always disappointed when it ends. I am always glad to see a sequel or the next book in the series. I find it upsetting when I love a series that has ended and there is no hope of a continuation as the author is deceased*. I am therefore grateful when another author takes up the challenge to continue the story.

For this task, read a continuation of a book or series written by someone OTHER than the original author. Continuations stay true to the characters, settings, and themes of the original work; they may be sequels, prequels or fill-in stories.

Examples:
Prequel: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is a prequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Sequel: Peter Pan in Scarlet is a sequel to Peter Pan
Eric Van Lustbader continues the Jason Bourne series after the death of Robert Ludlum
Fill in: Juliet of the Chalet School covers a missing term in Elinor M. Brent-Dyer's Chalet School series.

This list may help What Might Have Been, but be careful, only continuations work, retellings in different settings and parodies do NOT work.

Series written by different authors, like The 39 Clues, Star Wars, and Nancy Drew do not work for this task.

*The author does not need to be deceased, as in Dragonsblood, a continuation of Anne McCaffrey's world of Pern.

Required: Please state the original book/series and author and whether you are reading a sequel, prequel or fill-in.

Approved books


Mr. Darcy's Daughters as a sequel to Pride and Prejudice
Rhett Butler's People as a prequel and parallel to Gone with the Wind
The Beekeeper's Apprentice (and the Mary Russell series) as a sequel to Sherlock Holmes
Scarlett as a sequel to Gone with the Wind
Death Cloud as a prequel to Sherlock Holmes
Wide Sargasso Sea as a prequel to Jane Eyre
Borne series books written by Eric Van Lustbader
Mr. Darcy's Diary as a alternative perspective to Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre's Daughter as a sequel to Jane Eyre
Eugenia Potter series written by Nancy Pickard
Mrs. De Winter as a sequel to Rebecca
Rebecca's Tale as a sequel to Rebecca
The Pemberley Chronicles as a sequel to Pride and Prejudice
Anthologies of a series such as Snows of Darkover or Free Amazons of Darkover if the original author (or authors) have only written 1 or 2 stories in the anthology
Silverfin and the rest of the series as a prequel to James Bond
The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy as an alternative perspective to Pride and Prejudice
Sherlock in Love: A Novel as a fill in and sequel to Sherlock Holmes
The Mists of Avalon
The Penelopiad
Peter and the Shadow Thieves as a prequel to Peter Pan
March fill in for Little Women
Nero Wolfe Novels written by Robert Goldsborough
Ancestors of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Ravens of Avalon and Sword of Avalon as a prequel to Mists of Avalon.
The Wind Done Gone: A Novel fill in for Gone with the wind
This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein
Adele: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story

Books that do not work


Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues
Sixkill
Confessions of an Ugly StepsisterPride and Prejudice and Zombies
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
39 clues series
The Royal House of Shadows series
The Forest House and Lady of Avalon
Carte Blanche: The New James Bond Novel
Annexed

This help thread is open!

good task Hettie! now to find what I want to read

does Mr. Darcy's Daughters work, as a sequel to P&P? or Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues

Congratulations Hettie. Since Robert B. Parker died in 2010 would Sixkill work since it was published in 2011? Obviously someone else is continuing the series.

Would Rhett Butler's People work as a prequel/parallel to Gone with the Wind?

Thanks :)

Would Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister work as a prequel to Cinderella?

Does The Beekeeper's Apprentice work for this task?

Is eligible?

Thanks Dee and Sheila.
My only problem with doing a task that I am so interested in is that I expect my TBR list to grow exponentially.

Dee, Mr. Darcy's Daughters from a quick look seems to fit the task.
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues, however, will not. From the Goodreads description it does not look like it is in keeping with the original books characters and themes.

Sheila, Goodreads stills has Roberts B. Parker as the author of Sixkill. Could he have written it before he died and it has just been published since then? Unless you can find evidence that it was written by someone else I'm afraid it does not qualify.

Beth F. wrote: "Would Rhett Butler's People work as a prequel/parallel to Gone with the Wind?

Thanks :)"

Rhett Butler's People will work well for this task.

Sheila wrote: "Congratulations Hettie. Since Robert B. Parker died in 2010 would Sixkill work since it was published in 2011? Obviously someone else is continuing the series."

Robert B. Parker left 3 manuscripts at the time of his death.
Jesse Stone will continue with Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues by Michael Brandman, Ace Atkins will continue Spenser in Spring 2012

Death Cloud is the first in a series of three about Sherlock Holmes as a teenager. I suppose that makes them prequels - do they work?

Thanks for the info on the Robert B. Parker books Hettie. In place of the Parker book how about


Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. It is on the what might have been list as a predecessor of Jane Eyre.

AND/OR

Do ALL of the Bourne books by Eric Van Lustbader
work for your task?

I'm thinking Mr. Darcy's Diary. Would this work?

Ha Ha! I just happen to have The Bourne Sanction by Eric Van Lustbader on a list for another group! I guess I don't need to look any further for this task.

lucky girl Bea, I seem to be having problems figuring out this one.

Sheila wrote: "lucky girl Bea, I seem to be having problems figuring out this one."

Yeah, but I just noticed it is a BIG BOOK! Oh, well. I do need to get over my feeling of intimidation by big books.

can you clarify keeping with the characters and themes - everything I can find on Mr Darcy Takes a wife says that it picks up right after their wedding at the end of the book and has Darcy, Elizabeth, Jane and Bingley included

Hettie wrote: "Thanks Dee and Sheila.
My only problem with doing a task that I am so interested in is that I expect my TBR list to grow exponentially.

Dee, Mr. Darcy's Daughters from a quick look s..."

Sheila wrote: "Thanks for the info on the Robert B. Parker books Hettie. In place of the Parker book how about


Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. It is on the what might have been list as a prede..."

Sheila, these will all work.
Wide Sargasso Sea is indeed a prequel to Jane Eyre

Also all the Borne books by Eric Van Lustbader qualify as he was not the original author.

Hope this gives you a few options now.

Hettie wrote: "Thanks Dee and Sheila.
My only problem with doing a task that I am so interested in is that I expect my TBR list to grow exponentially.


I'm afraid that is SO true Hettie and that is with the entire challenge. I read a book for a task and really like it and then I find out it is #3 in a series of 16 books or something OR I really liked the author. For example I really enjoyed the group read in the summer challenge of Madame Toussaud and now I have Nefetiti penciled in for one of the fall tasks. It is neverending I'm afraid ;)

Stacie wrote: "I'm thinking Mr. Darcy's Diary. Would this work?"

Mr. Darcy's Diary will work Stacie as it is the original story told from a different perspective. It looks like an interesting read.

so would Duty and Desire work - as it is part of P&P told from Darcy's perspective?

Sherlock seems a popular choice so far.

Gayla, The Beekeeper's Apprentice looks like a great sequel to Sherlock Holmes.

Wendy UK, Death Cloud will work as a prequel as well.

Laurie wrote: "Is eligible?"

Yes this will work as a sequel.

Jen wrote: "Would Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister work as a prequel to Cinderella?"

This is harder. I have to say that this is a retelling of the Cinderella story and therefore will not work. It is not set during the same time period as the story it is a prequel to.

From what I can see most of the tales that we would recognize as Cinderella are actually retellings of the original story themselves.

I hope you manage to fit it in elsewhere as it looks like an interesting read.

what about Jane Eyre's Daughter - from what I can tell based on the description - it is a sequel, but features several of the same themes - a mystery (a la the woman in the attic); two suitors (a la St John and Rochester)

Sheila wrote: "lucky girl Bea, I seem to be having problems figuring out this one."

If approved,

Sheila, how about The 27-Ingredient Chili Con Carne Murders if you can find it - Nancy Pickard continued the Eugenia Potter series after Virginia Rich's death

There have been several Rebecca continuations- Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca's Tale

I guess I'm a little confused by this one as well, as far as what counts and what is considered a retelling. Would something like The Mists of Avalon work?

Thanks Dlmrose but I think I'm going with Wide Sargasso Sea. My library has it in large print for my old tired eyes

Sheila wrote: "Thanks Dlmrose but I think I'm going with Wide Sargasso Sea. My library has it in large print for my old tired eyes"

As I sit with my reading glasses on- with another pair on my head....

would this work? Death Cloud

she ok'd death cloud above for Wendy

Would the Pemberley Chronicles series work?

It seems that there is some confusion on what is a retelling of a story and what could be counted as a fill in or parallel story.

I will use Sherlock as an example as it seems popular.

Death Cloud works as a prequel as it is set in 1868 and this is a realistic time period for the Sherlock of the original book to have been a child.

I remember there being as series of young Sherlock books or TV episodes that were much more modern. I would consider them to be a retelling of the story (and not valid for this task) as they do not match the timeline of the original books.

The recent BBC series Sherlock is a retelling of the original story as it is set in current day London. Sherlock has to deal with things that A C Doyle could not have conceived of. Such as mobile phones and the internet among others.

A parallel story or fill in story would be something that is set at the time of the original books and does not change them. So for example a new case for Sherlock to solve would work well as a fill in. A Study in Scarlet told from the perspective of Watson would be a parallel and could be used in the task.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice like Death Cloud is set at a time that is in keeping with with the original books.

I hope that this helps you to decide on what book you would like to use for the task.

Dee wrote: "can you clarify keeping with the characters and themes - everything I can find on Mr Darcy Takes a wife says that it picks up right after their wedding at the end of the book and has Darcy, Elizabe..."

Dee the reason I decide that
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues would not be suitable for the task is from the description of the book and some of the reviews that have been written.

The book is a sequel, however, I am not sure that it stays true to the themes of the original work. The publishers states that this book is 'sexy, epic, hilarious' and 'goes far beyond Jane Austen'. From this and some of the reviews I take it to mean that the book is much more of a explicit romance than would be in keeping with the original book.

If you feel this is not the case then I am willing to change the book to the approved list.

Since The Beekeeper's Apprentice works, does that mean that all the books in Laurie R. King's Holmes/Russell series will work? I'm up to A Letter of Mary

And what about Robert Ludlum's Covert-One series?

Kate wrote: "I guess I'm a little confused by this one as well, as far as what counts and what is considered a retelling. Would something like The Mists of Avalon work?"

What would you be using as your original book? I think that that is probably the easiest way to tell if it is a retelling or not. Without that as a basis I am not sure.

This sounds like the perfect time to read And Another Thing...!

i see The Penelopiad on the list. will you take it? sounds like it tells the story of what penelope was up to while odysseus was out and about during his "odyssey". thanks for your help! :)

Dee wrote: "she ok'd death cloud above for Wendy"

oh ok thanks! There is so much on here i look over things easily!

★Meghan★ wrote: "Would the Pemberley Chronicles series work?"


The Pemberley Chronicles would work as a sequel of Pride and Prejudice

I never knew there were so many sequels to Pride and Prejudice out there.

Hettie wrote: "Kate wrote: "I guess I'm a little confused by this one as well, as far as what counts and what is considered a retelling. Would something like The Mists of Avalon work?"

What would y..."

I suppose I would be using Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur & the Legends of the Round Table as the original. If it doesn't work, it's okay. Just trying to get an idea of what I might use.

Dee wrote: "what about Jane Eyre's Daughter - from what I can tell based on the description - it is a sequel, but features several of the same themes - a mystery (a la the woman in the attic); t..."

Yes Jane Eyre's Daughter works as a sequel to Jane Eyre

Dlmrose wrote: "Sheila wrote: "lucky girl Bea, I seem to be having problems figuring out this one."

If approved,

Sheila, how about The 27-Ingredient Chili Con Carne Murders if you can find it - ..."

The 27-Ingredient Chili Con Carne Murders,Mrs. De Winter and Rebecca's Tale all work.

I'm so glad that you approved Rhett Butler's People. I've had that sitting here TBR in what seems like forever! LOL

will the books in the 39 clues series work they are written by different autbhor's throughout the series

How about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, the prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?

Hettie, what about short story collections like Snows of Darkover or Free Amazons of Darkover? Short story collections, set in Darkover. There are a lot of these collections involving Darkover, and I would imagine for other popular fictional worlds as well. Edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley, often with a story by her, but mostly stories by other people...