Leo Frankowskis must be crazy

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

There's a "authorized sequel" called Great King's War by John Carr and Roland Green, published by Ace in the early 90's. John F. Carr has also produced two self-published further works in the series: "Kalvan Kingmaker" and "The Siege of Tarr-Hostigos". I have the first of them, but not the second.

I had mixed emotions about Great King's War. I thought it was a logical extension to Lord Kalvan, but disagreed with the direction various of the characters were taken in.

I had similar feelings about Great King's War. I didn't know about Carr's books, but I tend not to like sequels written by other authors, even when they are authors I otherwise like. (For example, I haven't bothered to pick up The Wizard of Karres, because I just don't think it's possible for anyone but Schmitz to write a Karres book.)

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I had similar feelings about Great King's War. I didn't know about Carr's books, but I tend not to like sequels written by other authors, even when they are authors I otherwise like. (For example, I haven't bothered to pick up The Wizard of Karres, because I just don't think it's possible for anyone but Schmitz to write a Karres book.)

I'll get to Kalvan Kingmaker at some point and comment.

I agree with your feelings in general. For instance, I have the "sequel" to _The Witches of Karres_ (and for that matter, I have the Chilton hardcover of the original), but I've been reluctant to read it. I love Schmitz's work, and I'm delighted that Baen has brought it back to print.

But sequels by a different hand are always a thorny proposition, and books written by more than one author are another. Combine both, and you have a recipe for failure. I corresponded a bit with Jim Baen before this one got released, and confessed I was disquieted. Mercedes Lackey gets top billing, but Eric Flint and Dave Freer are also in the mix. My suspicion is that Mercedes did the outline, and Eric and Dave, who have collaborated before, did the submission draft. Eric and Dave have worked together before, but there's still the question of vision, chemistry, and viewpoint.

I'll get to it at some point, too. The problem will be not setting my expectations too high.

(And to add irony to it all, I've been told Schmitz had actually written a sequel to Witches, but the manuscript was lost in a move. Arrgghhhh. )

Meanwhile, Jerry Pournelle corresponded with Piper, and once stated he was the only one who knew of who had Piper's formal permission to write stories set in his universe. Jerry is another writer who can be prickly, and his personality and opinions can sometimes get in the way of appreciating his fiction for people familiar with them. But it might be interesting to see what he would do with a Piper story. A sequel to _Space Viking_ might be a good fit for him.
______
Dennis

[nekokami]

Pournell might be well suited to a novel set in the early life of Jack Holloway....

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by nekokami

Pournelle might be well suited to a novel set in the early life of Jack Holloway....

<blink>

You know, I thought the _Little Fuzzy_ books wouldn't fit Jerry at all, but you're quite right: there's probably a fascinating back story to Jack Holloway, and that's something Pournelle probably could do well.

I thought of Space Viking simply because of the parallels between Piper's Federation and Pournelle's Co-Dominium universes, with the rise, fall, and rise again of those interstellar civilizations as the backdrops for stories. But yeah, Pappy Jack was a Character, and there's doubtless a lot to be told about him.

One of the things I mourn is that Piper was one of the first to actually deliberately set a series of stories in a created universe. It's common practice now, but was less so when Beam was writing. (Though various authors attempted to tie published works into a common setting after the fact, like Michael Moorcock.) Piper kept a notebook where he tracked the timelines for the stories and the directions he intended to go. Those were lost on his death. I can't help but wonder what they might have contained.
______
Dennis