# Biggest Book Sequel Disappointment **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246 "2003-03-30T18:34:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/41 "2003-04-01T00:49:52Z")
I would have said _Hannibal_, except it made me realize that I don’t care for Harris’ writing very much. I remember the offense being more egregious in _Hannibal_ than in _The Silence of the Lambs_, but the man loves run-on sentences. It tested my focus throughout the whole thing. The story itself wasn’t that great, either. ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/42 "2003-04-01T00:57:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cmkeller \* > \*\*Mostly Harmless read to me like he wanted to get them off his back, as in “OK, I’ve written you another one, now all the universes are completely destroyed, and there’s no hope for another sequel ever!!! Now let me get back to my life…” \*\* I read “A Salmon of Doubt”, a collection of Adams’ essays/short stories/whatever published post-humously. He was exceptionally depressed/pissed off when he wrote “Mostly Harmless”, and, well, that’s pretty much what he was trying to do. (At least, that’s the impression I got.) He did a similar thing in “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish”, when he advises the readers to skip to the last chapter, which has a nice bit about Marvin. He was busy telling the stories he wanted to tell, and the fans just wanted more Marvin and Zaphod. While I love King’s “Dark Tower” series, “The Drawing of The Three” always struck me as being the weakest. It wasn’t the best, but it was necessary to get to the next bit in the series. ---
**Author:** ![cankerist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@cankerist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cankerist)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/43 "2003-04-01T01:43:39Z")
**Sublight** - hehehe. Sorry for beating you to the punch, but we’re in the same time zone so no one had a headstart advantage! 🙂 Anyway, I didn’t go into detail about how and why “Closing Time” was such a letdown after an interlude of 34 years between the original and the sequel. Any thoughts? ---
**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:** [April 1, 2003, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/44 "2003-04-01T01:47:04Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by RawkStah \* > \*\* He was busy telling the stories he wanted to tell, and the fans just wanted more Marvin and Zaphod._\* That’s because the stories he wanted to tell mostly sucked. IMHO. He was an extremely talented, but erratic, writer. Inner demons, and all that. Adams seemed unable to expand and elaborate on, more meaningfully, his universe. Unlike Pratchett, who does it nicely with Discworld. IMHO ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/45 "2003-04-01T01:59:33Z")
I’m not really sure what the problem with Closing Time was, considering that Heller’s other later books, such as God Knows and Picture This, were great, in my opinion. I think perhaps if he had written the same kind of book with a completely new set of characters, instead of continually trying to relate what each character was thinking with what happened to them in Catch-22, it might have worked out better. ---
**Author:** ![Fibber\_McGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Fibber\_McGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibber_McGee)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/46 "2003-04-01T02:14:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Czarcasm \* > \*\*All of the _Myth_ books by Robert Asprin after the fourth one have been overextended and underwritten pieces of excrement, with barely enough plot to fill a single comic book. \*\* I liked the Myth books up until _Sweet Myth-tery of Life_, but found _Myth-ion Improbable_ unreadable, and have heard enough bad things about _Something M.Y.T.H. Inc._ that I’m not even gonna bother. Then there’s Xanth. The first twelve or so books were good though they never got any better than _Castle Roogna_, _Centaur Aisle_ and _Night Mare_, the best books of the series in my opinion. After that though, the series had degenerated into sameness. Every book is the same plot with different characters plugged in, and while the puns started out as a cute device, they were the ultimate demise of the series in my opinion. When an author starts letting audience submissions dictate the direction of his stories, well . . . while there’s nothing wrong with writing to your audience, Piers Anthony has taken it to surreal new extremes. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/47 "2003-04-01T06:44:09Z")
The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Supremacy. Ludlum took a good idea, and churned it into a psychological mess. I get it already, he’s dealing with his old identity. Poor conflicted soul Buttercup’s Baby, the long-lost sequel to The Princess Bride. It really sucked. 😉 E3 ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/48 "2003-04-01T06:45:18Z")
WOT definately is up there in both crapitude, and long waits for crapitude. We’ve been on the cusp of several major events for books now, and he somehow manages to draw it out more and more without most of them happening. In the earlier books, the characters traversed the entire continent on determined quests, toppling cities and chasing this or that lead on a huge, creeping evil plot. But the latest book might as well be called "what some people were thinking about while camped out in the wilderness/taking a bath/resting in a villa/hiding in a traveling circus. There’s even a chapter where the deadly Deathwatch guard warrior commander spends his time sitting in his study or something thinking about stuff. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/49 "2003-04-01T06:55:31Z")
Not exactly a book, but a graphic novel: Frank Miller’s **DK2** Sounded like a good idea, I suppose, especially since **The Dark Knight Returns** was great, but this thing was a steaming pile of goat turds. It’s like he decided after about page 5 of the first part he was going to phone the whole thing in. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/50 "2003-04-01T07:17:02Z")
How about _Scarlett_. that piece of crap sequel to _Gone With the Wind_? Margret Mitchell must have been spinning in her grave like a top when that overhyped suckfest actually got published. ---
**Author:** ![Vorae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@Vorae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vorae)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/51 "2003-04-01T09:25:45Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by brianjedi_ > **Frank Miller’s DK2** I thought of this title as soon as I read the thread topic. If only I hadn’t been two hours too late to offer something new. :smack: ---
**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:** [April 1, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/52 "2003-04-01T12:31:52Z")
Woeg, hunt up Newman’s JUDGEMENT OF TEARS-Anno Dracula 1959 (titled DRACULA CHA CHA CHA in the UK)- it’s much closer to the original than was BRB. Also, Newman has some short stories in the series- ORSON WELLS’ DRACULA (set up like CITIZEN KANE), FRANCIS FORD COPOLLA’S DRACULA (wonderfully like APOCALYPSE NOW- Brando is The Count, Hopper- Renfield, Sheen- Harker, Duvall- Van Helsing), a Buffy satire, a Count Yorga 1970 one, & ANDY WARHOL’S DRACULA aka JOHNNY ALUCARD. The Copolla, Yorga & Warhol ones are on the Net- as is Newman’s own site. I don’t have the links handy tho. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/53 "2003-04-01T13:07:32Z")
Despite how bad some of William Goldman’s books can be (_Brothers_, _Heat_, _Control_, _The Temple of Gold_ in particular), they’re _still_ better reads (just because his writing style always cracks my stuff up) than the drudge that Stephen King puts out for sequels and original novels these days. Does he have to tie EVERY single book to his Dark Tower series? Was there any excuse to do that to _Black House_? He’d probably go back and rewrite _IT_ to have the creature shot to death by Roland if he could. Yech. And I know this isn’t quite the direction of the OP, but the longest series with the best sequels? L. Frank Baum’s _Oz_ books. Yay! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/54 "2003-04-01T13:14:17Z")
_Bill, the Galactic Hero_ by Harry Harrison was hysterical but the sequels (always cowritten by Harrison and someone else) varied in suckitude. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/55 "2003-04-01T13:27:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*How about _Scarlett_. that piece of crap sequel to _Gone With the Wind_? > > Margret Mitchell must have been spinning in her grave like a top when that overhyped suckfest actually got published. \*\* I think you have to take _Scarlett_ in context. Was it as good as GWTW? Absolutely not. Was it a fun speculation of Scarlett and Rhett after Rhett left? I thought so. I liked it enough to pick up a couple of other Alexandra Ripley books. The Great American Novel? Hardly. But taken with a grain of salt and a sense of fun it’s not that bad. > [@](#): > > And I know this isn’t quite the direction of the OP, but the longest series with the best sequels? L. Frank Baum’s Oz books. I have these! ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/56 "2003-04-01T13:41:41Z")
_Peace Breaks Out_, the sequel to John Knowles’ classic _A Separate Peace_ sucked. Also, I was terribly disappointed with _The Forest House_, the sequel to _Mists of Avalon_ by Marion Zimmer Bradley. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/57 "2003-04-01T14:12:05Z")
\*\* I Love Paul Pevere, Whether he Rode or Not\*\* is a great sequel to Richard Schenkman’s **Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History** , but the second sequel, **Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of World History** , was pretty awful. It’s a _lot_ shorter, and they eked out the pages by using bigger type. All in all, it has the feel of a book rushed into production. Nevertheless, it’s a pity that neither of the sequels seems to be in print, and never even made it to paperback, while the original has undergone many paperback reprintings. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/58 "2003-04-01T14:24:41Z")
_The Two Towers._ Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Alcibiades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cab0a1/32.png) [@Alcibiades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alcibiades)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/59 "2003-04-01T14:27:10Z")
I add my voice to the chorus about DK2, and agree with the mention of Hyperion’s sequels. Probably _the_ most disappointing prequel ever was the new Dune books by Frank Herbert’s son. Good writing obviously wasn’t a family trait. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246/60 "2003-04-01T14:30:40Z")
Book or movie? As a book, its moves a lot faster than the _Fellowship_, and has a lot more action. As a movie, Peter Jackson introduced two or three illogical slash out-of-place elements. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-book-sequel-disappointment/165246.md?page=4)