When an author dies should his/her book series be discontinued or continued by another author. I think that the series should be discontinued
When an author dies should his/her book series be discontinued or continued by another author.
I think that the series should be discontinued
Discountined
Discontinued
If the books have mainly been written already then I say let another author put them together but then stop not then write books under authors name that don’t match their great writing .example Sidney Sheldon fab author but tilly bagshaw not so good who writes for him now
Discontinued x
I think if they’d planned out the rest of the series and had someone in mind to continue it who they felt could do it justice, they could continue. I heard about an author whose son carried on writing for him after he died
Then they could credit both the original author and the new one on the front cover
I believe the last two books of the Little House on the Prairie series were published after Laura Ingalls Wilder died.
Think there have been a couple of new James Bonds written.
Quite a few. But in this situation each book is written by a different author
Kyle Mills did a fantastic job of carrying on Vince Flynn’s work although I think they had been mostly written.
This is the only case I can think of where the secondary author came close to the first…:)
Having read Kyle Mills stand alones I get the feeling he had a strong template to work from. His books were okay but not great like the Mitch Rapp series.
The Spenser books by Robert B Parker have been continued by Ace Atkins. I’ve tried to read a couple of these books but ended up giving up on them
Yet reed farrell Coleman did a good job of continuing Jesse stone… Ignoring Michael brandman who didn’t really…
I’ve not read the RFC ones yet. I hated the books by Brandman. Would love to know who chose him
Spenser is NOT Spenser any more…they do not have the wit and crisp writing style…Robert Parker was one of a kind. Do not waste my reading hours on them.
Coleman has the right tone, also picked up stuff from Parker’s previous books which I quite admired.
Virginia Andrews has been dead for over 30 years, yet books under her name still sell – but with that length of time, whose books are you actually reading ?
Most people think that VC is still alive 😉
Not unreasonable to think that, really.
For me.. It depends on the author who’s carrying on the work…
I hated the Salander book which came out last year
Depends on the author who continues the books.
Discontinued
The Bourne books have been continued by Eric Van Lustbader. He is quite a decent author
Discontinued for me it’s a respect thing
Discontinued as it’s almost impossible to be able to write and keep true to the style and the stories
Authors should be unique, rather then get on the backs of others
Agree with you.
To me when the author dies the characters and storyline should die also…They are never as great as the original!
I agree…..but even Agatha Christies books are now been revamped by another.
There’s a panel at the Harrogate Crime Festival about this, called Carrying The Torch
Discontinued. Let them write their own series if they want to write something.
Frank Evans Knowles wrote about a friend of his in 1909 Jules Poiret a Belgian police officer.need i say more.
got the name back to ftont comes with age..Frank Howell Evans.
Continued, but only if they’re going to present something new
discontinued. So many bad books have come out in another authors style. I can think of Virginia Andrews series and the new Poirots by Sophie Hannah.
Slightly off the topic but I was looking for references to this sort of thing and came across this gem 🙂 https://www.theguardian.com/books/1990/may/24/crime.agathachristie
Definitely discontinued in my opinion ?
Me too having said that on my TBR is the fourth, girl with the dragon tattoo. I wanted to give it a try and see what it is like. Although I might be negatively biased from the beginning because it’s not the same author.
As long as the publisher is clear that it’s a replacement author, I don’t see any problem with it. I don’t see it as being disrespectful at all, but rather as an homage. I see it as just acknowledging how powerfully some authors have affected our lives, and I appreciate the effort these new authors make towards recreating a world they obviously loved.
Hard to say but we know its not going to be the same.
I’m torn on this subject. I’ve read the Millennium Trilogy and my initial reaction when I heard the series was being continued by another author was “noooooo”, but I am invested in the main characters and would like to see how they continue.
I think if the series wasn’t done and something happened it should be continued the way the author would have done so but after that it should be done and nothing else under the name
Totally agree, the series should be discontinued because every author writes differently.
R I P ITS NEVER THE SAME
I have no problems with the James Bond books being done by different authors
depends if its left on a cliffhanger or not x
Discontinued 100 per cent.
I can’t see James Bond books finishing any time soon.
Discontinued.
They should discontinue because they will never be the same.
It should be discontinued because no one can beat a what the person writes in the first place
Discontinued in my opinion, it’s never quite the same ?
Discontinued!
It should discontinue in respect to the author.
I really have a problem with other writers taking over someone else’s series. They are putting words into the mouth of the deceased authors creations, and making them do or say things that perhaps the original author would never have them do. I’m sure there are many deceased authors who are turning in their graves over what has been done to their creations.
When William Gillette was adapting Sherlock Holmes for the stage, he sent Arthur Conan Doyle a telegram asking if he could marry Holmes off. ACD’s reply was along the lines of ‘Marry him, kill him, do what you like to him!’
OK. I’m not an author, so I can’t say. But, if I was I think I would be a bit possessive about my creations. If the original author is OK about it, I can’t argue with that 🙂
I dread to think what will happen when James Patterson kicks the bucket. 😉
That’s a hard one.
However I do like it when it becomes a spin off.
Inspector Morse / Lewis. We also have had Endeavour which shows you how Morse ended up where his books begins. Also shows you how Lewis continue without him.
These are totally 3 different things but seems to all fix together.
This to me works really well but like some of you have mentioned when someone else carries it on, in the same way it’s not the same.
Ah but these were screenplays not novels. Also Colin Dexter was massively involved in both these spin offs.
What if the author as actually passed the baton over to someone? Stipulated in their will they want the series to continue with XXX writing it? Would we necessarily know that? It’s actually something I have considered doing with mine, not being in the first flush of youth 😉
Really. Well if that was the case I would have no problem with that. If the original author is happy then I’m happy!
In my opinion it just doesn’t read the same though, the Jesse Stone books by Robert Parker are one example
Authors should tell us what they have got planned for the future ie will the baton be handed over to someone else when they’ve passed away
I think if the author feels it is the same quality & vision then why not but the few I have read felt different xxx
Discontinued. Will never be the same
Stieg Larsson never had a say in the future or the Salander books. His family are pulling all the strings
I think each to their own but it isn’t for me. You certainly notice the change and differences so it no longer is that authors baby and becomes something quite different xxx
I loved the hercule Poirot books by AC. People write them off as “cozy crime” but they’re not. I think my expectations of Sophie Hannah’s were too high, because I hated them! Overlong and far too convoluted! So I guess that’s a yes from me!
Cozy crime, I’ve discovered, is a label stuck on any crime book that is written by a woman and focuses on amateur detectives rather than the police.
Discontinued
some books are written through the authors interpredations of characters, personalities and often research to make the main character – I don’t want to see someone else take that away from the characters, especially when there has been a series of books . I think they belong to their inventor.
depends,… sometimes a character can live beyond the originals
Discontinued! Stop while they were good!!
Sequels are never a good thing.
Ok its a movie but Terminator Two is an exception to the rule I think xxx
Not sure if I’ve read many… I like James Henry’s Inspector Frost, think that’s all I’ve read
I think it depends on the circumstances….follow on books of classic authors which are essentially tributes to the characters they created can sometimes work; Anthony Horowitz’s “Sherlock Holmes” books are good, Mike Ripley’s “Campion” and Jill Peyton Walsh’s “Lord Peter Wimsey” books are excellent, but I wasn’t keen on Sophie Hannah’s “Poirot” either.
So long as a story is good I don’t mind who wrote it.
I don’t think I would like any Roy Grace books not written by Peter James.