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Sometimes, a book series is so comfortable, so enjoyable, that I don’t want to leave the world it establishes or the old friends the characters have become. Rereading, especially for a sufficiently long series, can help, but sometimes I just want more. Even if the series is done or the author is gone.
Continuations and fanfiction are two ways to satisfy this craving for more.
I participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and sometimes the question comes up on whether fanfiction is a “valid” project for November. One year, a couple writers were condescending toward an enthusiastic writer of fanfic. It was delightful to see other writers (even those who didn’t read or write fanfic) come to her defense.
Some time later, I attended a panel of professional authors, and fanfic was the topic. One of the panelists (and I wish I could remember who it was to give proper credit) expressed that the scope of fanfic was often smaller, because the primary need it served was for the writer (and the readers) to spend a little more time with beloved characters in a beloved setting.
I wasn’t reading much when fanfiction became a big, online thing, so I can’t really comment on it beyond noting one niche it fills.
However, I’ve read several continuations, always because the original author had died. I’ve mentioned Robert Goldsborough in previous comments. Without Murder in E Minor, the first of a dozen or so of his Nero Wolfe continuations, I might never have found the original series.
I was already a fan of Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy books, thanks to a hardcover omnibus edition in a neighbor’s library, when Ten Little Wizards and A Study in Sorcery by Michael Kurland were published.
Thrones, Dominations continued Lord Peter Wimsey’s story many, many years after Dorothy Sayers died.
Many authors have tried their hand at Sherlock Holmes.
Mysteries aren’t the only series with continuations, of course. Many series in many genres have had this treatment. More below the fold.
John Gardner continued the exploits of Ian Fleming’s James Bond into the early 90s, followed by Raymond Benson and Sebastian Faulks (who’s also written a Jeeves & Wooster continuation). Tom Clancy was already lending his name to collaborations when he died, and those series have continued apace. Eric Van Lustbader continued Robert Ludlum’s Bourne books. Brandon Sanderson finished up The Wheel of Time. Christopher Tolkien has spent a lifetime collating his father’s notes, adding coherence, and filling in blanks along the way. Anne McCaffrey’s son Todd has added to the Pern books. Brian Herbert continues his father’s Dune series.
I know I’ve barely scratched the surface.
As mentioned, my first continuation was Murder in E Minor. I was enjoying mysteries at the time and played cello (not particularly well) in an orchestra. A murder mystery set in one appealed to me. Imagine my astonishment when I found out it was preceded by more than forty books (seventy-two stories!) by an earlier author. What a treasure trove!
Goldsborough continued to write new Wolfe books. For some, it was reassurance that Wolfe, Archie, Fritz, Lily, Saul, Fred, Lon, Inspector Cramer, Sergeant Stebbins, and the rest were all still out there, doing their thing. For others, it was a poor imitation of the originals. For me, it was an introduction to a brand new world.
Murder in E Minor had an interesting history, according to later accounts. It was never intended as a commercial enterprise, instead being inspired by a son’s devotion to his mother’s fervent wish for a new Nero Wolfe book to read after Rex Stout, the originator, had died. So he wrote the first draft, determined to make it as faithful to the original as he could.
(In my opinion, it’s the closest to Stout of all his efforts, and that core might be why.)
I recognize that continuations are rarely as good as the originals, and they’re frequently disappointments. No two authors share a brain, so no two authors can realize the same characters and stories the same way.
But it’s a way to know the characters still live and have new adventures, and, sometimes, it brings new readers to an old series.
Happy reading!
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