# Any authors just abandon a successful series right in the middle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598 "2005-01-07T17:20:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/41 "2005-01-09T06:38:06Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Not exactly a series, but Barry Hughart wrote The Bridge of Birds, regarded as one of the finest and most innovative fantasy novels to come out in the past 25 years, wrote two sequels nearly as good, and then stopped, apparently because he was getting [screwed by his various publishers](http://www.massmedia.com/~mikeb/hughart/interview.htm). So _that’s_ what happened! Damn. I love those 3 books (all of which I made sure to get in hard cover). I wish he’d try again with another publishing house. Better yet, I wish another publishing house would get a clue and try to get him to write more of those stories for them. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/42 "2005-01-11T18:43:58Z")
The only one that springs to mind as abandoned is the _Fire Dancer_ series by Ann Maxwell a.k.a. Elizabeth Lowel. As I understand it, it’s a publishing thing, so the series will never continue past the 3 books in existance. Shame too, as I thought it had a lot of promise. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/43 "2005-01-11T22:24:53Z")
> [@Atrael](#): > > The only one that springs to mind as abandoned is the _Fire Dancer_ series by Ann Maxwell a.k.a. Elizabeth Lowel. As I understand it, it’s a publishing thing, so the series will never continue past the 3 books in existance. Shame too, as I thought it had a lot of promise. AAAAAgh! I was afraid of that. Heather Gladney’s _Song of Naga Teot_. The first two books were published back in the 80’s, and due to somebody at ACE having no brain, the third planned book never came out. Ms. Gladney promised us fans there was a third in progress three years ago, but I haven’t heard a peep since. Dammit. I’ve read my copies of the first two ragged. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/44 "2005-01-12T03:46:36Z")
Ooh, Robin McKinley. I’d forgotten about her Damar series. Good books, although I’m as clueless as you… suspect #3 is vaporware. And – someone else who knows about Barry Hughart. Mon frere! Next choice: Diane Duane’s ‘Door’ series. I reread them repeatedly. I got my hot little mitts on the first three books in the late 90’s. And Book 1 (_Door into Fire_) and 2 (_Door into Shadow_) were published in 1984, twenty years ago. #3, (_Door into Sunset_) turned up in an indie used bookstore about 3-4 years ago. Man, I love those places. When I found out in 2001 about the 2002 omnibus containing rewritten versions of Book 1 and 2, I thought Christmas and all my birthdays had come at once, since that would imply the upcoming release of Book Four (_Door into Starlight_). …It’s now January 2005, no omnibus #2 (author website still promises release in 2004), and I’m pert-near ready to mortgage something near and dear to my heart to find out HOW it all ends before I die of curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/45 "2005-01-12T05:48:28Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Chelsea Quinn Yarbro intended to write a trilogy based on the characters of Dracula’s brides. Sales on the first two were disappointing and the third was never released. > > William Forschen and Newt Gingrich intended _1945_ to be the first volume of a series but the subsequent books were never written. Er, the OP did specify **successful** series, so I don’t think either of those count. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/46 "2005-01-12T13:02:34Z")
Roger MacBride Allen’s Hunted Earth series. I picked up Vol 1 _Ring of Charon_ and loved it. Great SciFi story about the Earth disappearing, but obviously it didn’t close out the story just there, it’s a trilogy. I looked it up on Amazon, the second book “Shattered Sphere” is out there, written in '94, but no third book. Dammit, if you’re going to start a trilogy, at least have the balls to finish the thing up. Not like the guy never wrote after '94 either, he started and finished another trilogy since then… ---
**Author:** ![VampyChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5daacb/32.png) [@VampyChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VampyChick)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/47 "2005-01-12T13:47:30Z")
I was discussing the Damar books with a friend of mine after I first read this thread. We decided that if the third Damar book had ever been published, people would know about it, if only by dint of it being horrifyingly bad or something. So I’d say yep, it’s a phantom. When I was about twelve or so, I read a series of fantasy YA novels called _The Night World_ by LJ Smith. They were very popular among the teeny gawth set, which I’m sad to report I fell into at the time (like, vampires were soooo romantic :rolleyes: ). What I think was meant to be the last book in the series, _Strange Fate_, just…never came out. The circumstances were quite odd. I believe Ms. Smith was rumored to be sick for a while, so the book was being delayed. About a year after it was _supposed_ to come out, the book went up for pre-order on Amazon, complete with cover art, summary (it sounded like it was going to suck), and a release date within two months. It vanished from the site shortly before it was supposed to be released, with no explanation, and I’ve never heard anything about it again. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/48 "2005-01-12T18:21:29Z")
> [@JerH](#): > > Robert Anton Wilson’s _Historical Illuminatus_ series - though I suspect that was due to a loss of publisher interest. I believe NATURE’S GOD (III) has been privately published & is available on his website. I have the first two but just haven’t gotten the interest up to buy it. ---
**Author:** ![andymurph64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@andymurph64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andymurph64)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/49 "2005-01-12T18:46:25Z")
To third it, I also thought of David Gerrold’s “War Against the Chtorr” series first when reading the OP. Bastard. I don’t mean that in a humorous way either, I am annoyed he dropped it. Bastard. I also find it interesting that two others thought of it in this thread. I thought maybe it was a more obscure series but it appears others liked it as well to have it top of mind 12 years later. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/50 "2005-01-12T19:26:23Z")
4 words: Robert. Asprin. Myth. Series. As I understand it, from a friend who’s met Asprin at cons in the past, he’s suffered severe writers block for years, though to be honest, after the first few books they really went downhill and the last few books, both MYTH and Phule’s Company, seemed more like textbooks on business management than novels, so it’s no great loss. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/51 "2005-01-12T21:02:40Z")
The last volume of Piers Anthony’s schlocky-but-fun **Bio of a Space Tyrant** series claims that a sequel, focusing on Hope’s sister Spirit, would soon be released. That was in 1986. But wait! I just learned from [amazon.com](http://amazon.com) that he did, in fact, write that book, and it was published in 2002. Now I wonder if I still care? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/52 "2005-01-13T02:41:26Z")
> [@photopat](#): > > 4 words: > > Robert. Asprin. Myth. Series. > > As I understand it, from a friend who’s met Asprin at cons in the past, he’s suffered severe writers block for years, though to be honest, after the first few books they really went downhill and the last few books, both MYTH and Phule’s Company, seemed more like textbooks on business management than novels, so it’s no great loss. The last two of the Phule’s series that I read sucked in a major way and I won’t read another. But then it was co-authored and I suspect that Asprin had only a small contribution. (my opinion though, not a fact.) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/53 "2005-01-13T02:50:44Z")
I believe \*\*Larry Niven \*\* intended to write a 3rd volume in the series “The Integral Trees” and “The Smoke Ring”. I’m still waiting. As for \*\*Anne Rice’s \*\* “The Mummy”, she’s had a change of heart and has said (check her website) that she will not write a sequel. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/54 "2005-01-13T02:51:17Z")
> [@andymurph64](#): > > To third it, I also thought of David Gerrold’s “War Against the Chtorr” series first when reading the OP. > I also find it interesting that two others thought of it in this thread. I thought maybe it was a more obscure series but it appears others liked it as well to have it top of mind 12 years later. > > 🙂 Make me a 4th. It’s the first series I thought about when I saw the topic. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/55 "2005-01-13T02:52:47Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Now I wonder if I still care? I sure don’t. I would have cared many years ago. But I burned out on Piers long, long ago. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/56 "2005-01-13T02:53:31Z")
Kate Elliott’s Jaran books. There were 9 planned, she made 4 (well, actually only 3, they split the second into two books because of its size). I’m assuming they were popular, because the first book got a rerelease. I’m still not sure how she would get up to 9 books, because the plot moved pretty fast in the first few…at the rate it goes, the characters would be about 3-4 generations through before the end. > [@Little Nemo](#): > > Chelsea Quinn Yarbro intended to write a trilogy based on the characters of Dracula’s brides. Sales on the first two were disappointing and the third was never released. Is that the one with The Angry Angel as the first book? That was one weird book. Couldn’t get through the second one though. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/57 "2005-01-13T02:55:08Z")
> [@tisiphone](#): > > AAAAAgh! I was afraid of that. > > Heather Gladney’s _Song of Naga Teot_. The first two books were published back in the 80’s, and due to somebody at ACE having no brain, the third planned book never came out. > > Ms. Gladney promised us fans there was a third in progress three years ago, but I haven’t heard a peep since. > > Dammit. I’ve read my copies of the first two ragged. How is that series? I’ve heard much about it, and would invest in it if I was sure on the plot. ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/58 "2005-01-13T05:58:10Z")
Samuel Delaney never finished the second book in the two book series that started with _Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand_, and it looks as though he never will. I don’t even think he writes fiction anymore, but focuses on lit crit now. Grrr. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/59 "2005-01-13T16:19:45Z")
> [@photopat](#): > > 4 words: > > Robert. Asprin. Myth. Series. > > As I understand it, from a friend who’s met Asprin at cons in the past, he’s suffered severe writers block for years, though to be honest, after the first few books they really went downhill and the last few books, both MYTH and Phule’s Company, seemed more like textbooks on business management than novels, so it’s no great loss. I don’t know…he just released another MYTH book not that long ago…Myth-alliances or something like that. I do think the series is just sort of hanging out there though. I really liked the first Phule’s book, the second was ok, but the last two are pretty lame. I’m buying them now more because I hate not having complete sets in my library, than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598/60 "2005-01-13T19:15:21Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > How is that series? I’ve heard much about it, and would invest in it if I was sure on the plot. Excellent, IMHO. The characters are well-written and engaging, the world and its cultures are suitably complex without detracting from the story, and the plot, while a standard variant of the Game of Empires, has some nice curves in it. I especially like the blend of mysticism and technology, and the hints of older, more advanced civilizations. Ms. Gladney also manages to avoid overexplaining stuff, invented words are kept to a minimum (just enough to give a flavour of Somewhere Else, without making it unreadable), the hero(s) are not perfect, and the politics are complex. And, best of all, I didn’t find it incredibly boringly predictable. I wish Meisha Merlin would pick this series up, and encourage her to complete it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-authors-just-abandon-a-successful-series-right-in-the-middle/283598.md?page=4)