# Abandoned book series you wish would get finished **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628 "2007-03-12T17:24:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/1 "2007-03-12T17:24:56Z")
My (least) favorite example is the _Morgaine Saga_ by C. J. Cherryh, which at the moment stands at 4 books. The last one ended on a sort of cliffhanger, with a few people joining Morgaine and Vayne as they journey to the next world. The author (through choice or circumstance) seems to have no interest in continuing the story- line however. What are your favorite series that the author seems to have forgotten about? I will point out that the aphorism “Be careful what you wish for” holds true here: Exhibit A is the hurried and awkward conclusion to the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, who only took up the gauntlet again after almost 20 years and zillions of fanmail bugging him to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/2 "2007-03-12T17:55:33Z")
The _Starfishers_ books by Glen Cook. He didn’t really leave a “series” incomplete, but the universe was fascinating and I’d love to see it explored some more. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/3 "2007-03-12T18:16:10Z")
the Dune series, I cant believe Herbert is still slacking on this one!!! (yes I know hes dead, yes I know his son is writing in the same universe just a happier friendlier version of it) ---
**Author:** ![fuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuffle)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/4 "2007-03-12T18:24:54Z")
I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve continued reading the series, but I wish Jean Auel would just finish Earth’s Children already. The books have been getting steadily worse and the last one was utter garbage, but I want to know what happens to Ayla, dammit! At the rate she’s going, though, I figure she’s not going to finish the last book until 2017. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/5 "2007-03-12T18:31:38Z")
[QUOTE=fuffle] I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve continued reading the series, but I wish Jean Auel would just finish Earth’s Children already. The books have been getting steadily worse and the last one was utter garbage, but I want to know what happens to Ayla, dammit! At the rate she’s going, though, I figure she’s not going to finish the last book until 2017. [/QUOTE] YES! Me, too. I’m waiting for Ayla to invent rubber tires and the internet. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/6 "2007-03-12T18:38:26Z")
I’m still waiting for _The Universal Pantograph_, which would have been the next novel in Alexei Panshin’s [Anthony Villiers](http://www.strangehorizons.com/2003/20030324/villiers.shtml) series but, given that it’s been about 40 years now since the last book, I somehow doubt I’ll ever see it. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/7 "2007-03-12T18:43:14Z")
[QUOTE=fuffle] I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve continued reading the series, but I wish Jean Auel would just finish Earth’s Children already. The books have been getting steadily worse and the last one was utter garbage, but I want to know what happens to Ayla, dammit! At the rate she’s going, though, I figure she’s not going to finish the last book until 2017. [/QUOTE] I was just at a fan site the other day (shut up, I only check on the series about once every six months) and her son was saying that there’s going to be a SEVENTH book!!! So Number Six won’t even be the end of it. I agree with you: just finish the damned series already. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/8 "2007-03-12T18:43:42Z")
**The Last Dangerous Visions** of course. The delay for the book was already a joke in SF circles 20 years ago (In 1974, it was announced it would be released in six months), and we know the fiction for it is already written. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/9 "2007-03-12T19:05:26Z")
Looks like I resubscribed just in time. I post this every time this topic comes up, but I’m dying to read the final book in the Christopher Snow trilogy, **Ride the Storm**. At this point I almost don’t think Koontz will ever write it. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/10 "2007-03-12T19:13:39Z")
Mine would have to be the Fire Dancer books by Ann Maxwel (pen name for Elizabeth Lowel). She wrote three books in the series, but as I recall, issues with them being owned by a different publisher will keep her from every going back to them. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/11 "2007-03-12T21:56:27Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] YES! Me, too. I’m waiting for Ayla to invent rubber tires and the internet. [/QUOTE] _Snicker_ I’d be interested in a synopsis, but I don’t think I can slog through any more books. I stopped after Plains of Passage. A second for the final Chris Snow book. I’ve grown to hate Koontz lately, but I have some hope he would find some modicum of quality if he returned to this series. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/12 "2007-03-12T22:04:05Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] **The Last Dangerous Visions** of course. The delay for the book was already a joke in SF circles 20 years ago (In 1974, it was announced it would be released in six months), and we know the fiction for it is already written. [/QUOTE] What is the story with that one? Why not release it? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/13 "2007-03-12T22:14:21Z")
**The War Against the Chtorr** by David Gerrold. He popped out 4 volumes, and then sort of dried up. Every once in a while, it seems like he’ll finish but he hasn’t yet. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/14 "2007-03-12T22:21:06Z")
[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon] I’d be interested in a synopsis, but I don’t think I can slog through any more books. I stopped after Plains of Passage. [/QUOTE] Oh, [here you go.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shelters_of_Stone) Ayla invents post-natal doulas and lactation consultants, as well as the UN, the David Bowie androgynous look, and single family dwellings (okay, I think Jondalar invented that last one. He gets. . . single family dwellings and the atlatl. She gets. . . everything else.) ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/15 "2007-03-12T22:31:12Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] **The War Against the Chtorr** by David Gerrold. He popped out 4 volumes, and then sort of dried up. Every once in a while, it seems like he’ll finish but he hasn’t yet. [/QUOTE] I think he’s written himself into a corner and has no idea how to finish the thing – unless he wants to kill off or enslave humanity, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/16 "2007-03-12T22:33:21Z")
[QUOTE=Push You Down] What is the story with that one? Why not release it? [/QUOTE] There was a lengthy essay by Christopher Priest titled “Last Deadloss Visions” that went into great (and heartbreaking) detail about why the book will never, ever be published. Unfortunately, Priest appears to have had the essay taken offline. But it was a whole complex of issues, including, IIRC, that the book is frigging _huge_, and would be unfeasable economically in today’s market; some of the contributors have withdrawn their contributions; other contributors are deceased or otherwise not contactable and there are rights issues involved; and the book simply can never have the impact it would have had if it had come out when it was supposed to. Also, Ellison is a schmuck. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/17 "2007-03-12T22:35:19Z")
**The Wheel of Times** series. For the love of God, Jordan, please finish the frickin’ series before you shuffle off this moral coil. There is a special hell reserved for authors who die before finishing a series. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/18 "2007-03-12T22:35:33Z")
[QUOTE=Neidhart] I think he’s written himself into a corner and has no idea how to finish the thing – unless he wants to kill off or enslave humanity, that is. [/QUOTE] Eh, he could just have the Morthans show up and kick the Chtorrs’ butts. And eat them, too! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/19 "2007-03-12T23:16:40Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] Also, Ellison is a schmuck. [/QUOTE] There’s the rub, of course. Personally, every time I see Jerry Pournelle I want to punch him because he won’t finish, or allow to be finished, the **Janissarries** books. They just…stop. Ditto Christopher Stasheff and the **Starship Troupers** series. 3 volumes and…nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628/20 "2007-03-12T23:35:42Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] There was a lengthy essay by Christopher Priest titled “Last Deadloss Visions” that went into great (and heartbreaking) detail about why the book will never, ever be published. Unfortunately, Priest appears to have had the essay taken offline. But it was a whole complex of issues, including, IIRC, that the book is frigging _huge_, and would be unfeasable economically in today’s market; some of the contributors have withdrawn their contributions; other contributors are deceased or otherwise not contactable and there are rights issues involved; and the book simply can never have the impact it would have had if it had come out when it was supposed to. Also, Ellison is a schmuck. [/QUOTE] I just re-read it today (I’d saved it to my hard drive before the request) and on top of those things, he notes that throughout, Ellison kept referencing his need to finish his introductions for each work - at times he didn’t mention it, other times he claimed he’d turned in the book then privately admitted that he really hadn’t, but he was **almost done** and this time he meant it. Besides that fact, there’s also evidence that he had been continually contacting new contributors over the years after each new assurance that this time, no really, the book was really done (except for his forewords), probably to: replace deceased authors’ works/replace works that had been withdrawn by their authors/pump up the collection to something that would fit his ongoing claims that it would be an incredible, groundbreaking work. And finally, there’s the suggestion that if it did come out and was less than a bestseller, Ellison would be humiliated. If the collection languishes in boxes under his desk, however, he merely gets some occasional drama that he can get some mileage out of, pointing at his unreasonable enemies and turning the incidents into stories he can retell. While the collection is in limbo, it’s not a dud at least, and the argument is made that he may well prefer this. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abandoned-book-series-you-wish-would-get-finished/395628.md?page=2)