"Stand-Alone Book That Most Deserves a Sequel (Round 1)" Topic

It's amazing how many on this list should NOT have a sequel. They are allegories, and it would be pointless to even think of a sequel.
1984 is a perfect example. WS is broken by the State. Do you want a sequel with a happy ending? Why?
And there are plenty more on the list like that.

I could find only one that "deserved" a sequel. Dracula.

Well, 'Neverending Story' doesn't need a sequel because (…wait for it…) it hasn't ended.

Yes, I have a problem.

Enough with the sequels!

None of these!

A new book by a new author in a new setting, maybe.

Why isn't sharpes eagle on the list, great book, i feel sharpe needs more books.

Also the hobbit needs 2 more to match the film series.

I've read most of these and agree that most do not only not need a sequel but should not have one.

A few could though.

I forget how so many of these end.

My kids and I often comment about the lack of either talent or risk venture with all the remakes, reboots, sequels of movies and the covers of so much music. The way so many of these flop, you'd think someone might try something new for a change.

Why isn't sharpes eagle on the list

Not a stand alone.

I agree in principle with the assertions above that many of these would not do well with a sequel because of the nature of the book. It is interesting that while I agree with that in principle, WRT the one example of application, I am 180 out.

1984 is a perfect example. WS is broken by the State. Do you want a sequel with a happy ending?

No. I want a sequel where Winston's exploits become underground legend and a new generation of counterculture revolutionaries seek him out as the "chosen one" to lead their overthrow of the state only to find that he truly was broken and is incapable of leading a movement to subvert the state, so they prop him up as a figurehead-god and as group gains momentum and overcomes infiltration and other threats, Winston becomes more aware and alive, growing into the role while the movement itself morphs into a totalitarian fascism of its own stripe. I'm not sure what happens at the climax (but I'm pretty sure you can wargame some aspect of it – I'm thinking a civil war/riot within the revolutionary movement with overtones that it was caused at least in part, by agents provocateurs of Big Brother and other hints that those efforts were ineffective and the revolution genuinely was rent asunder from within) or in the denoument (which will be equally bleak for BB, WS, and the two rev factions).

I could find only one that "deserved" a sequel. Dracula.

Actually, that one was one of my "nots". I think those characters and their potential was well played out in the novel. I feel that sequels in that milieu would quickly beceome the Vampire of the Week Club … maybe it could be set at a High School … on top of a transdimensional portal … with cheerleaders …

many of those tied up things nicely enough. the protagonists have nothing to add or are dead.

thought Princess Bride had a sequel

Little Grey Men has a sequel – Down the Bright Stream

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

Isn't half of modern science fiction a sequel to Starship Troopers?

I want a sequel where Winston's exploits become underground legend and a new generation of counterculture revolutionaries seek him out as the "chosen one" to lead their overthrow of the state…

I think you have somehow confused George Orwell with George Lucas. Orwell would never have written anything that righteous and hopeful…the "chosen one"…brrr.

I voted 'other'. The title I would order from Amazon in a hertbeat is the sequel to the biblical books First and Second Kings, The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. I wish.

Orwell would never have written anything that righteous and hopeful…the "chosen one"…brrr.

Concur, hence the quotes. I wasn't writing the sequel in Orwell's style (since Orwellian has taken a different meaning), just trying to briefly synopsize the idea.

I would also argue that while the timbre of the books is dark, in 1984, WS did have hope that he could do forbidden things and be outside the reach of BB. The hints and movements toward the possibility of a "happy ending" from the standpoint of a character within the milieu help make the overall narrative even more deliciously bleak.

After all, if WS had just accepted his role in the state like a double plus good citizen, there would have been no story.

I think the proposed revolutionaries believing in a savior like figure (especially one who in reality has been crushed into acceptance of the supremacy of the state) is acceptable in an Orwell milieu. I think it nicely sets up factionalization of the movement into groups no different that BB and the rekindling of hope in WS that will ultimately be extinguished in an orgy of violence.

Other:

War of the Worlds.

What happened in the other parts of the world? America? Europe? Mars is dry, how did they do in the tropics? Or in the Arctic?

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
bunkermeister.blogspot.com

thought Princess Bride had a sequel

No, there's a chapter from the 'upcoming' sequel, but that's essentially all it is: yet another teaser for something that doesn't exist. It's a bit cruel that way. So good.

War of the Worlds.

What happened in the other parts of the world? America? Europe? Mars is dry, how did they do in the tropics? Or in the Arctic?

I honestly didn't think of that, but it would certainly be interesting. Although I did like how the invasion was stopped in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic books (biological warfare, courtesy one Dr. Moreau.)