Whats your view on other writers finishing books/series

[theducks]

Even when the work is done by offspring, it lacks the creators touch .

1/2 of a collaboration is not the same as the pair playing off each other . There are (and were) some great team writers out there. (Some were originally secret from their fans, publishing under a single name for years)

[AlbertaCowboy]

I've yet to read a continuation that I enjoyed.
I found my interest in the Wheel of Time waning long before Jordan died, so that probably tainted my enjoyment of the continuation.
Another one I couldn't stand was when William King stopped writing the Warhammer "Felix and Gotrek" stories. The guy who picked up had zero idea of how to write their dialogue, use their mannerisms or characterisations. I found the first bookin the non-canon so jarring that I didn't even finish it.
I'm worried that a Song of Ice and Fire is gonna go the way of WoT too
*Sigh

[theinfamousj]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

That's how I feel, too.

The possible exception would be Brandon Sanderson completing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, because Sanderson, as I understand it, worked with Jordan when the latter was terminally ill. I say that, but I've been in no great rush to read the last few Wheel of Time books, so I'm not sure I really believe it.

Mom, who has read all the Wheel of Time books, says that Sanderson is sparse in description; especially of clothing. She finds it jarring and clearly not Jordan's original style.

[Synamon]

No thanks. The continuing author never captures the tone and rhythm of the original.

[Valhalla]

Originally Posted by theinfamousj

Mom, who has read all the Wheel of Time books says that Sanderson is sparse in description; especially of clothing.

I agree. However, I consider that to be a good thing! No more excessively boring descriptions. I found the Sanderson books to be a big improvement. Apologies to all Jordan fans for my sacrilege

[crossi]

Sometimes it works. I liked Pinker's Little Fuzzy book. The books Fuzzy Bones by Tuning and Golden Dreams by Mayhar both worked very well. Tuning's book in particular kept very much the same character.

Sometimes, usually, it doesn't work. Carvic's Miss Seeton series was great. The additional books written by Charles and Crane weren't even close. They just didn't have Carvic's way of playing with words.

[owly]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

That's how I feel, too.

The possible exception would be Brandon Sanderson completing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, because Sanderson, as I understand it, worked with Jordan when the latter was terminally ill. I say that, but I've been in no great rush to read the last few Wheel of Time books, so I'm not sure I really believe it.

Read on, Sanderson did a good job.

[cromag]

I've liked some, and not liked others. I don't mind giving it a chance, but if I'm disappointed I drop it pretty quickly.

[adrian1944]

I wish someone else would write a satisfactory 'Captal's Tower to finish the Exiles Series since it has now been 16 years since the second book and Melanie Rawn does not seem ever likely to write It!

[HarryT]

If it's a series I enjoy, why would I not want more? If it turns out I don't like it, that's fine, but if I do like it, then it's more of a good thing. Eg, I've very much enjoyed Jill Paton Walsh's continuation of Dorothy L. Sayer's "Lord Peter Wimsey" series.

[Yapyap]

I've read enough fanfic, good and bad, as well as tie-in novels, good and bad, to not have any problems with the concept: if it's a series (or universe, or set of characters) I really love so much that I can't get enough of after exhausting the primary source material, I'm more than happy to read anything else on offer.

Obviously, it's not quite "the same", and that needs to be kept in mind, but even in the worst case it's going to be much like (objectively) decently written fanfic, (hopefully also) professionally edited and proofread, more likely than non-commercial fanfic to be based on the original creator's notes or at least ideas (and even if not - again, then it's no different than fanfic, just more polished than the majority of non-commercial fanfic).

I might love it, I might not like it very much, but I don't have a problem with the concept as such itself.

I do prefer it if the new writer is a fan of the original, not just a pen-for-hire, as that makes it more likely the new author has good enough insight into the original creator's world, characterisation, ideas and writing style (although I don't necessarily require or expect the writing style to be completely the same, if it's an official continuation of a series and not just an adaptation or commercial fanfic of public domain work, it would help if the style is similar enough to not feel jarring).

I understand people who don't like it, but it's easy enough to avoid if it's there - therefore my opinion is "publish it, by all means"; those who want to read it, can; those who'd rather keep the original in their memory and not "sully" it with reading another author's input, can ignore it.

(I'd make an exception in case the original creator has made it clear that he or she doesn't want this to happen, regardless of what the creator's heirs / new holders of copyright think; much like I think it rude to write non-commercial fanfic in cases where the original creator has made it explicitly clear they really, really hate the idea.)

[ProfCrash]

I thought that Sanderson did a great job with the Wheel of Time. I actually prefered his work to most of the middle series books. He was writing with a purpose and it actually felt like the series was going to end. But he had pretty detailed notes, the characters and the world was already really well developed, and the end game was known. His style is different but it wasn't jarring.

I have not read any of the co-authored Tom Clancy type stuff. Really? Write your own books, don't develop outlines or basic plot points and hand them off to someone else so you get paid. He was doing that before he passed. It irritates the hell out of me.

I read the first three Bourne novels, which were awesome, but nothing after that. I wouldn't read Bourne written by anyone else and found the movies to be truely terrible. Great books with a well developed, action based plot, and they still managed to toss out the vast majority of the storyline in the books. Really?

For the most part, I avoid the practice. I might give it a book to see if the transition is jarring. I probably won't read the fourth book in the OP series. I liked the first three books but don't feel the need to read a fourth that is being written to make a huge profit on a mans work that, I believe, was published after he died in the first place.

And I have not read anything but the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. I see no reason to read the stuff written by his kid.

[Tarana]

If one wants to write a long series, it would be best to do it in trilogies, making each trilogy one cohesive story, and finishing the trilogy in such a way that a reeader can either keep reading the next trilogies, or stop reading without having to wonder how it would all end.

I think the only author that does this is Terry Brooks. Which is great. Each trilogy is fresh. So many series just blah out by the 6th book.

the movies to be truely terrible

As far as the movie/book thing, there is no reason for that to even come up. Movies are only loosely based on a book's plotline. They have completely new writers and a completely new plot. Comparing the two is pointless. They are apples and oranges. Oh, and the Jason Bourne movie was not terrible. It was GREAT!!

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I think the only author that does this is Terry Brooks. Which is great. Each trilogy is fresh. So many series just blah out by the 6th book.

R. A. Salvatore's The Legend of Drizzt does this.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I think the only author that does this is Terry Brooks. Which is great. Each trilogy is fresh. So many series just blah out by the 6th book.

Yes; in the beginning, he wrote stand-alone novels. The Sword, Elfstones and Wishsong form the original Shannara trilogy, but it's not really a trilogy; it's possible to read each story on its own and understand it perfectly.

With The Heritage of Shannara, he started to write multi-book stories; in this case, a quadrilogy. It's not possible to just start reading the second or third book. One of my pet-peeves with this quadrilogy is that Brooks sometimes leaves a plot thread hanging too long, making me think "So what the frack happened with...?"

I'm actually now reading the last book of that series.

Originally Posted by eschwartz

R. A. Salvatore's The Legend of Drizzt does this.

Yes. The first six Drizzt books are must-reads. Later on they become a bit weaker with some books, but I've yet to read everything after "The Hunter's Blades".

Warning: "Servant of the Shard" previously was a Drizzt book, but because Drizzt doesn't feature in it (apart from being mentioned a few times), it was taken out of the Drizzt series. It is now the first book of the spin-off The Sellswords Trilogy; this series focuses on Jarlaxle and other characters that have sub-roles in the Drizzt books. I have yet to read that trilogy.

By the way, it's quite common in the Forgotten Realms universe that a series of 3-6 books is written by 3-6 different authors, or that a series is started by one author and finished by another.