• the217
• Life
• Leave it at happily ever after

Related Media

One of the key elements of a book destined to make the bestseller list is that it leaves readers wanting more. More time with the characters, more plot, more highs and lows, more laughs, more tears, more words on a page … Basically, anything that will keep the story stretching on after that last page. Truly addicting books will condemn us to pacing and puzzling over what happens next in the fictional world we were suddenly evicted from with the author’s last word.

During these times when I am coming down off a literary high, I usually suggest the book to friends in the hope that they will love it as much as I did, and will engage in some friendly—or not-so-friendly— debate once they are finished. I will also admit to scanning the Internet for rumors of a sequel in progress or, even better, an already written one. This is where things can either end up really gratifying or really disappointing.

Back when I was in high school, I stumbled upon a book called Twilight and chose it as my companion on family vacation. Though it managed to hold my interest, it wasn’t the kind of book that inspired the frenzy that usually led me to tear through a book in a span of hours. Nevertheless, once I was finished, I recommended it to others, and when Stephenie Meyer’s sequel New Moon hit bookshelves, I happily picked it up … and soon set it down.

In the end, it took me three tries to get through the continuation of Edward and Bella’s love. I found Jacob to be grating on the nerves and was frequently compelled to shake Bella, who had plunged into a pit of despair and hallucinations that nearly caused her death during her vampire boyfriend’s absence. Had it not been for the fan frenzy that suddenly sprang up amongst my friends, the world and even myself, it is unlikely I ever would have finished New Moon.

Though the books that followed were much easier to get through, in truth, I was more content when the first novel ended with a little ambiguity. Sometimes, the endings we create in our own minds are just better.

The interesting thing about sequels is that they explore the characters even as they explore the plots started by the first installment. No matter how large the first book may be, it is more than likely that the characters are still a bit fuzzy at the end of it, leaving us to more clearly define them. This is why so often when books are made into movies you will hear people say, “She doesn’t look like that! She looks like this!” while another person says, “That is exactly what she looks like!” In books, we are left to fill in the blanks far more than on the movie screen.

We can experience this same sensation when we encounter a sequel. After all, our final version of the characters sketched out in the first book might be far different than that of another fan or even the author. I found this out the hard way when I read Sharon Lathan’s continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. In Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy, my two favorite strong-willed, independent characters were turned into something reminiscent of lovesick teenagers who still think its cute to call each other every pet name in existence. While it was an entertaining read, it didn’t even come close to the original, and I often felt a separation between the characters I knew and the ones about which I was currently reading.

Fortunately, not all sequels are bad. In fact, many of them can be on par with the first. While the third is my favorite, each Harry Potter sequel, for example, inspired the same feelings as the first, and even now I can take any one of them off the shelf and remember the excitement of waiting in line at midnight and staying up all night reading.

My advice to you is this: should a sequel make its way onto a shelf, proceed with caution. Sequels that come about as a result of the storyline always intended by the author are usually better than those that are quickly penned to sate consumer demand and bottom lines. In those cases, sometimes it’s better just to imagine what became of your beloved characters rather than be faced with the written reality. A bad ending can be even harder to shake off then curiosity.