# Paired novels --- stories that intersect **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404 "2016-11-19T04:16:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [November 19, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/1 "2016-11-19T04:16:06Z")
I was thinking about this recently, then came across this entry by **Dung Beetle** in the What You Reading thread for this month: > [@](#): > > Started this morning on Replica by Lauren Oliver. It’s a “flip book”, meaning two stories bound back to back and upside down. Each story will cover the same ground with a different narrator. So I’ve started on the “Gemma” side. (The other side is “Lyra”; I decided to do things alphabetically). A YA sci-fi tale about clones. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=808882&page=2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=808882&page=2) The reason I was thinking about it was that I was reading (as an audio book) Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison’s **The Emperor’s Revenge** , in which Juan Cabrillo and people from his _Oregon Files_ series run into Kurt Austin and Joe Zuvala from the _Numa Files_ series during a heist in Malta. The book ties into **The Pharaoh’s Secret** , a Numa Files book by Cussler and Graham Brown which was released at the same time, and presumably explains why the Numa guys are stealing Egyptian artifacts. It’s the first time I’ve seen Cussler tie two simultaneous novels together with characters from different series. Philip Jose Farmer himself did a “Flip Book” like the one **DB** mentions, with his **Lord of the Trees/The Mad Goblin** , which was released as an Ace double about 1970 (and reprinted later with both stories in a single volume, but not back to back). The two stories intersect at one point. I finally read it a few years ago. I’d seen the book for sale in stores, and it was obviously a take on Tarzan (but as :Lord Grandrith") and Doc Savage (as “Doc Caliban”), but I didn’t pick it up at the time. It’s a good thing I didn’t – the book is incomprehensible without a knowledge of Farmer’s fictional universe, abnd especially of the X-rated book **a Feast nknown** that introduces Grandrith and Caliban. (Farmer claims it’s the only time an X-rated original gave rise to a PG-rated sequel) Stephen King did something of the kind when he released **The Regulators** (released under his already-revealed pen name Richard Bachman) and **Desperation** (released as by Stephen King). The cover art of the two books fitted together, and the stories and characters are related, although it’s more like a parallel universe. An onstage version was Alkan Ayckbourn’s **The Norman Conquests** , a trilogy consistinmg of the plays **Table Manners** , **Living Together** , and **Round and Round the Garden**. The action in each takes place in the same house at the samew time, involving the same characters, but each is self-contained and can be viewed independently, and in any order. Some scenes overlap, and a character’s exit in one play may correspond exactly with an entrance in another. Are there any other examples of this? I’m not talking about book series with characters “crossing over” or the like, but actual simultaneous appearances of characters in two works taking place at the same time. I note that these cases were all written by the same author for each work. Are there any cases when two authors each wrotea cwork so that the two linked up in the same way? I know that there are plenty of cases where a later author retold the story of a famous work from the point of view of a different character (Stoppard’s _Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead_, or Christopher Moore’s _Fool_ both do this for Shakespeare plays), but I’m talking about cases where you see the vaction rom two different viewpoints as written by two contemporary (and probably not extremely famous) authors. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/2 "2016-11-19T04:36:22Z")
Do the longer Tales from _The Silmarillion_ count as novels, or at least novellas? I’m pretty sure that Beren and Turin crossed paths briefly at one point. And I’m not precisely clear on your criteria for crossing over: Would Card’s _Ender’s Game_/_Ender’s Shadow_ count? They’re both entirely the same story, just from the point of view of two different characters. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/3 "2016-11-19T04:50:29Z")
The first thing I thought of when reading the thread title and preview was The Regulators and Desperation but you said that. A while ago there was a Star Trek novel in the DS9 post series continuity where it was two books back to back exactly as you describe. If you flip the book over and back you start the second book. The story was about a character in the main Trek universe and the other is about her mirror counterpart and the stories of course meet at the end. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/4 "2016-11-19T04:55:38Z")
The [Alexandria Quartet](https://www.amazon.com/Alexandria-Quartet-Lawrence-Durrell/dp/0571283934/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479530914&sr=8-1&keywords=the+Alexandria+quartet) by Lawrence Durrell (brother of Gerald, currently on PBS Sunday nights) comprises four novels. The first three go over the same events from the different perspectives, and the fourth one puts them all together. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/5 "2016-11-19T10:12:26Z")
As I recall the [Conquerors’ trilogy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquerors') by Timothy Zahn was partly like that. There was an overlaps in events in the first two books; the first of which is written from the human perspective, and the second book from the Zhirrzh perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/6 "2016-11-19T10:44:37Z")
Gavin Deas (a pseudomym for authors Gavin Smith & Stephen Deas) recently had two novels published dos-à-dos (like an old Ace Double). Each could be read on it’s own, but > [@](#): > > Two alien invasions. Two heroes. One Story. > > Collects EMPIRES: EXTRACTION and EMPIRES: INFILTRATION in one volume! This groundbreaking collaboration between two Gollancz authors tells of the invasion of Earth by two different alien races - at the same time. Two men become aware of the threat, and must work to sabotage the invasion plans and see off the aliens. Each book follows one hero, uncovering the threat to humanity and the world from their point of view. > > Each book can be read on its own, and will give the reader a complete, kinetic, fast-paced military SF story. But read both books and the reader gets something else - another view of (some of) the same events and crossover points, culminating in a bloody battle at Canary Wharf. The two books can be read in any order, but together they tell the story of humanity caught in the crossfire between two deadly alien races, who have made Earth their battleground… I’m not aware of the books being available in print before, but they may have been individual e-books. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/7 "2016-11-19T17:35:45Z")
Not exactly what the OP had in mind but interesting nontheless: > **[William Ashbless](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ashbless)** > > William Ashbless is a fictional poet, invented by fantasy writers James Blaylock and Tim Powers. > Ashbless was invented by Powers and Blaylock when they were students at Cal State Fullerton in the early 1970s, originally as a reaction to the low quality of the poetry being published in the school magazine. They invented nonsensical free verse poetry and submitted it to the paper in Ashbless's name, where it was reportedly enthusiastically accepted. > The college paper printed poetry, and it was cl... BTW: That Trek book was called Fearful Symmetry. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/8 "2016-11-19T17:41:05Z")
Mary Scholtz’s children’s books The Dog of Barkham Street and the Bully of Barkham Street tell the same stories from two different characters. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/9 "2016-11-19T19:06:47Z")
Edward Eager’s great “Magic” series from the fifties. There’s a crossover between MAGIC BY THE LAKE and THE TIME GARDEN where the 1920s children from the former run into the 1950s children from the latter and are rescued from cannibals. Each novel tells it from its characters’ POV. Oh yeah…the 1920s children are the parents, uncles, and aunts of the '50s kids. The comic crime novelists Donald E. Westlake and Joe Gores swapped chapters in their early ‘90s books DROWNED HOPES and 32 CADILLACS. Gores’ private eye/repo man tries to repossess a car stolen by Westlake’s crooks, and is baffled when they do everything but fix a lunch for him. (What easier way to dispose of a stolen car, right?) 32 CADILLACS went on to be nominated for the Best Novel Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/10 "2016-11-19T22:16:09Z")
Not exactly the same thing, but Rainbow Rowell first wrote “Fangirl”, which is a great book about a college student who writes “Simon Snow” (a Harry Potter analogue) fanfic, and then “Carry On”, which is her fanfic magnum opus. You don’t have to read either one to get the other but they are both really good and “Carry On” might be one of my favorite books I read this year. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/11 "2016-11-20T00:32:02Z")
_Hamlet_ and _Rosenkrantz and Guilderstern are Dead_ The first act of \* Clybourn Park \* starts immediately after the final scene of _A Raisin in the Sun_ ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/12 "2016-11-20T00:57:31Z")
Stephen King wrote a second paired-set of novels: _Dolores Claiborne_ and _Gerald’s Game_, both from 1992. (I see that the Wikipedia articles on the books don’t mention this fact, but I remember it from when I read them–the pairing isn’t throughout, but the same solar eclipse is crucial in each and each main character sees the other, as I recall.) ---
**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:** [November 20, 2016, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/13 "2016-11-20T03:08:15Z")
Harry Turtledove wrote two stories that intersected. They were time travel stories where somebody traveled back in time to interact with his earlier self and “fix” his life. One story - “Forty, Counting Down” - was told from the point of view of the time traveler and the other - “Twenty-One, Counting Up” - was told from the point of view of the earlier self. Turtledove sold the two stories to two different magazines and they published in the same month. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/14 "2016-11-21T00:24:01Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Philip Jose Farmer himself did a “Flip Book” like the one **DB** mentions, with his **Lord of the Trees/The Mad Goblin** , which was released as an Ace double about 1970 (and reprinted later with both stories in a single volume, but not back to back). The two stories intersect at one point. I finally read it a few years ago. I’d seen the book for sale in stores, and it was obviously a take on Tarzan (but as :Lord Grandrith") and Doc Savage (as “Doc Caliban”), but I didn’t pick it up at the time. It’s a good thing I didn’t – the book is incomprehensible without a knowledge of Farmer’s fictional universe, abnd especially of the X-rated book **a Feast nknown** that introduces Grandrith and Caliban. (Farmer claims it’s the only time an X-rated original gave rise to a PG-rated sequel) I managed to enjoy “Lord of the Trees”/“The Mad Goblin” without reading the rest of Farmer’s works (I have read his “nonfiction” bio of Tarzan, which contradicts “Lord of the Trees” in a few places, on purpose). A less blatant example - Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Cetaganda” and “Ethan of Athos” take place at about the same time in universe, and there are a few places where characters in “Cetaganda” are distracted by news from the other novel, as I recall. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/15 "2016-11-21T00:41:42Z")
John Scalzi’s _The Last Colony_ and _Zoe’s Tale_ tell the same series of events from the point of view of different characters. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/16 "2016-11-21T03:15:30Z")
A lovely Carol Shields novel, [Happenstance.](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/169150.Happenstance) It tells the same story from the perspectives of a husband and wife. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/17 "2016-11-21T03:23:30Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Mary Scholtz’s children’s books The Dog of Barkham Street and the Bully of Barkham Street tell the same stories from two different characters. Darn, you beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/18 "2016-11-21T05:22:31Z")
I think we see some of the same events from the differing points of view of Henry Huggins and Ellen Tebbits in a couple of Beverly Cleary’s novels. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/19 "2016-11-21T06:11:15Z")
Gene Luen Yang’s _Boxers_ and _Saints_ are two graphic novels describing the same events from the point of view of two different characters. It’s tough to say whether they are two books or one with an unusual structure, really - you don’t get the full effect unless you read them both. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404/20 "2016-11-21T06:19:01Z")
Not exactly the same but Cloud Atlas is six interlocking stories in a sort of onion pattern, starting in the past, going forward to the future with intersecting characters then going back to where it started step by step. A lot of people hated the movie, but the book is absolutely worth it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paired-novels-stories-that-intersect/772404.md?page=2)