# Authors that wandered off mid series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092 "2017-06-28T22:40:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/41 "2017-06-29T22:31:57Z")
> [@Mr.Goob](#): > > Patrick O’Brien went guns a blazing for 20 Aubrey/Maturain novels then quit abruptly with an outline of the 21st. > > Some people would say dying is a good excuse. Not me dammit. Ha! It improved Robert Jordan’s writing. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/42 "2017-07-04T01:17:12Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > So has Stasheff. According to him, a grand total of 11 of us bought his _Starship Troupers_ books. As much as I’d like the series to continue, the man **does** have to pay his rent.😃 So, you have a copy? I have a copy… I wonder who the other nine are? 🙂 ---
**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:** [July 4, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/43 "2017-07-04T01:35:23Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > So, you have a copy? I have a copy… I wonder who the other nine are? 🙂 Maybe the Man in Grey has them. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/44 "2017-07-04T03:14:08Z")
John Varley has said he’s going to write at least one more book in his Eight Worlds series. It’s supposed to be a police mystery (presumably using the character of Anna-Louise Bach) titled _Irontown Blues_. But it’s long overdue. His last two books in the series were _Steel Beach_ in 1992 and _The Golden Globe_ in 1998. But maybe now that he appears to have finished the Thunder and Lightning series. eta: I just googled and apparently he has written it. He’s posted he sent the manuscript in to the publisher in May. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/45 "2017-07-04T03:51:41Z")
Can you really count Butcher as wandering off “mid series,” though? It’s not like he’s been building up to some big ending that the readers are anxiously awaiting. I really think of it more as him not deciding to take yet another lap around the track. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/46 "2017-07-04T04:00:10Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Can you really count Butcher as wandering off “mid series,” though? It’s not like he’s been building up to some big ending that the readers are anxiously awaiting. I really think of it more as him not deciding to take yet another lap around the track. Is this a whoosh, or sarcasm? Because he _is_ building up to a big ending that readers are anxiously awaiting. He’s already said that the last three books in the series (he’s got it plotted out until somewhere around book 21-22) are going to be an apocalyptic trilogy titled _Stars and Stones_, _Hell’s Bells_, and _Empty Night_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/47 "2017-07-04T04:09:27Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > He’s already said that the last three books in the series (he’s got it plotted out until somewhere around book 21-22) are going to be an apocalyptic trilogy titled _Stars and Stones_, _Hell’s Bells_, and _Empty Night_. Well, okay. Ignorance fought. I don’t follow his blog or anything - I just read the books as they come out. If he’s leading up to something huge “somewhere around” 5-7 books (and at least that many years) from now it definitely doesn’t come through in the actual series as best I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/48 "2017-07-04T13:27:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Well, okay. Ignorance fought. I don’t follow his blog or anything - I just read the books as they come out. If he’s leading up to something huge “somewhere around” 5-7 books (and at least that many years) from now it definitely doesn’t come through in the actual series as best I can remember. He’s starting to set it up, I think. All that talk about the Others and Mab manning the walls, fighting an endless war? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/49 "2017-07-04T14:45:58Z")
That didn’t strike me as setup for a grand finale so much as setting up a background story arc for a few books until the next and even more dangerous thing comes along. I mean, I’m not hating on The Dresden Files. I’ve read all the main novels. If a definitive ending will help Butcher write more, I’m all for it. I just tend to view each book as nearly standalone, so a lack of new Dresden never bothered me in the same way GRRM did (though I’m way, way, way over it by now). ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/50 "2017-07-04T22:12:11Z")
For all the Weber Honor Harrington fans I can recommend [Honor Amongst Thieves](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11500916/1/Honor-Among-Thieves) It’s a novel-sized wrap-up of the series. Yep, it’s literally fan fiction on [fanfiction.net](http://fanfiction.net), but it’s pretty good. It takes over from War of Honor and concludes the series in a entertaining fashion. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/51 "2017-07-04T23:26:01Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#): > > For all the Weber Honor Harrington fans I can recommend [Honor Amongst Thieves](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11500916/1/Honor-Among-Thieves) > > It’s a novel-sized wrap-up of the series. > > Yep, it’s literally fan fiction on [fanfiction.net](http://fanfiction.net), but it’s pretty good. It takes over from War of Honor and concludes the series in a entertaining fashion. I owe you a beer. I’ve only read the first chapter so far, but it’s just what I’ve been wanting, and haven’t gotten, from Weber. I really need to look into this fan fiction stuff, because the only other example I’ve read, I think called Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, was also better (IMO) than the real thing. I’d guess there must be some AGOT fanfic less meandering than Martin’s, some Reacher fanfic less ridiculous than Child’s, etc. Life is good. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/52 "2017-07-04T23:36:53Z")
Nagaru Tanigawa left the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series hanging. He hasn’t written a full novel in that series since 2011 and wrote a short story in that setting in 2013. That’s it. He’s left a few other projects hanging like that too. There has been some good fanfiction in the setting. One of the most famous examples (Kyon, Big Damn Heroes) has ended as the author has passed away. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/53 "2017-07-08T21:13:17Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#): > > For all the Weber Honor Harrington fans I can recommend [Honor Amongst Thieves](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11500916/1/Honor-Among-Thieves) > > It’s a novel-sized wrap-up of the series. > > Yep, it’s literally fan fiction on [fanfiction.net](http://fanfiction.net), but it’s pretty good. It takes over from War of Honor and concludes the series in a entertaining fashion. Finished it last night. It pretty much explains why Weber is stalled; I don’t see how he could do any better. It’s telling that I usually skip over large portions of Weber’s tedious dialog and exposition, but I didn’t with this series. I never cease to be amazed at how the internet is full of things for free that are as good or better than the commercial version. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092.md?page=2)