Author Topic: Books with a good sequel- a rare find? (Read 8331 times)

Spoodle · « **on:** October 31, 2011, 06:13 PM »

Most of the time, if i am totally WOWED by an author from her first release or beginings of a new series, i can barely wait for the sequel to be released. And most of the time, i am dissapointed. This tends to be most prominent in the YA genre, as the sequel usually results in the romance falling apart as a result of some misunderstanding or jealousy. And the story line gets A LOT more complicated and abstract.

So i was just wondering if anyone could list some books with sequels that where amazing, or totally ruined it for you.

For me, Cassandra Claire's MI series have been getting better with evey release, Whereas Lauren Kate's Fallen series started out strong and have dwindled, leaving me questioning whether to carry on reading or not.

Thanks

jessadia · « **Reply #1 on:** October 31, 2011, 06:58 PM »

Well, IMO, a series usually starts to go downhill after the third book....The Iron Fey, The Mortal Instruments. Thank goodness The Hunger Games stopped at 3!

but here are two series that I thought improved greatly from the first to second books:

The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver (book 2 is Soul Thief)
Mercy by Rebecca Lim (book 2 is Exile)

bookreader1 · « **Reply #2 on:** November 01, 2011, 05:12 AM »

I think the Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neil keep getting better and better. Another really good series is by Colleen Houck Tiger's Quest etc. Both authors have new books out today. Yeah!!!

Aoibheal · « **Reply #3 on:** November 01, 2011, 07:54 AM »

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I think the Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neil keep getting better and better. Another really good series is by Colleen Houck Tiger's Quest etc. Both authors have new books out today. Yeah!!!

I second Icg8943! Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neil.

Kallisti · « **Reply #4 on:** November 01, 2011, 08:13 PM »

For YA, I'd say my favorite would be Tamora Pierce. She tends to write books in groups of 2-4, with character progression along the way. Out of the ones she's written, I probably like Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen the most. The second book (TQ) is amazing. But then, I love everything she's written; she's just that fabulous.

Outside of YA, I've got lots of authors that are good with subsequent books. I tend to like authors that write long series. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series is phenomenal; I kept getting more and more attached to the MC. I like almost everything written by Mercedes Lackey. J.D. Robb's In Death series is another of my favorites. She keeps the same male & female MCs throughout the 20+ books and just keeps developing their relationship as well as the secondary characters.

I'm sure there are more...let me know if you want more authors! ;]

Kallisti

gigglingkema · « **Reply #5 on:** November 13, 2011, 09:53 PM »

Sherrilyn Kenyon has pretty good sequels maybe because they don't fit together like a puzzle piece. Lora Leigh sequels are a hit or miss because she tries to tie too many people in and loses focus on the main characters.

Poprad · « **Reply #6 on:** November 14, 2011, 03:01 PM »

I've been searching through my library of books that I've read and I have to say that out of all of the ones I've read this year: Jana Oliver's - (Demon Trappers #2) - Soul Thief (aka. Forbidden in the UK) is by far one of the best series and one of the most compelling sequels I've ever read. It keeps the plot moving, is suspenceful, is gut-wrenching in both the romance and action department and makes me scream and yell at the book in a very good way. Waiting for the next one in the series is slowly killing me, it's that good.

kaetots · « **Reply #7 on:** November 15, 2011, 11:29 AM »

In YA I loved Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers trilogy (love her adult series as well) and Lesley Livingston's Wondrous Strange series. The second and third books in both didn't null out the first one, like so many do. There were still trials and hardships, but thankfully there wasn't tons of whining and blind distrust (so many main characters seem to just assume and accept the worst without bothering to see if there's any foundation to their "problems").
Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series is also one who's second book is as good as, if not better, than the first. And really, they just keep getting better from there. The whole series is fantastic.

Asparagus · « **Reply #8 on:** November 16, 2011, 04:08 AM »

The sequel to the Iron Fey was one of those books that make you go "What the hell was that?" The first book was good but then... the second falls short.

Although there ARE books that get better as they go along in the series(I really liked the second book in the Wicked lovely series) maybe, like secretone said, the awesome first debut makes it harder for them to create a sequel equal to or greater in awesome-ness than the first, since all the word building happens in the 1st and that's mostly what makes us interested in.
They kinda have to build on the ideas in the first book, or create ideas that sometimes go terribly sour so yeah maybe that's why the second book mostly isn't good.

We don't usually see books having just two in the whole series, and when books come in a trilogy or series... everybody gushes about the first book, the last, maybe the third and fourth, but rarely the second. Damn, I'll kill for a good sequel. But even if the sequel IS good, it's mostly overshadowed by the third book.
(sorry for the rant)

kingston · « **Reply #9 on:** November 16, 2011, 06:45 AM »

I like sequels but I hate when series get so long that nothing really happens anymore. Like Morganville Vampires, or The Private series. I loved the first books but now it's just more of the same and it gets really boring. I just read them out of curiosity.
best sequels ever for me, of course, effortless (sequel to thoughtless) and Fifty Shades Darker (Sequel to Fifty shades of Grey)

boots78 · « **Reply #10 on:** November 17, 2011, 02:32 AM »

I'm not sure what kind of genre you normally read, but you should check these out..

Stephen King - The Darktower Series
7 books epic saga, kept me reading for 20+yrs! literally...it took him that long to finish the saga. they are amazing! dynamic characters, addictive storyline just perfection.

The Outlander Series: by Diana Gabaldon
Also 7 books. she is not as well known as some writers today, but the detail in her books is amazing. I love how she meshes the 2 ages so effortlessly..These books are Jamie and Claires tale of undying love...200yrs couldn't keep them apart.

For younger readers(I read these aloud to my son and I loved them!)
Fabelhaven by Brandon Mull
Percy Jackson, and the Lost Heros series by Rick Riordan

Heather Brewer - The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd

Nicole Peeler - Jane True Series

Books with a good sequel- a rare find?