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(Originally posted July 30, 2013. I really wasn’t giving any breaks between posts back then, which is a shame. I should have spread these out. It looks like I did these posts to promote Prodigy of Rainbow Tower. So, they’re geared primarily towards that.)
So this is the big question that actually started my idea for these types of posts. Since Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower is a sequel, I’m really curious to see what people say.
Personally, I like consistency and growth. The characters from the earlier books have to act like they did before, but change as the story progresses. A sudden change of personality between books is jarring to me and makes the early book feel unconnected. It’s essential to make sure your books feel connected if they hold the same characters and places.
I also look for continuity and it’s something I worry about a lot in my own books. For example, I switched Luke Callindor’s eye color in the second book and it took me 3 editing runs to realize it. He has green eyes and I made him blue. Though, I’m looking into a way to change that since I realized two other champions have green. Can’t do it until the sixth when something happens to him. That’s a story for next year if things keep going smoothly.
The third thing I like in a sequel are new characters and locations. Staying in the same place gets boring and you need fresh voices. Without these things, you’re probably going to rehash the first story. For locations, it can make sense to stay in the same place if the plot is about defending a central location. Still, show different areas of that place or have a small excursion to the surrounding region. Otherwise, it feels like the author has no depth to the world.
So, what do you look for in a sequel? What’s the best and worst sequel you’ve ever seen or read?
Legends of Windemere 
What’s below the picture is the same as was printed on Monday. If the question you’re asking today is what do we look for in a sequel, I look for a good story. I’ve read many sequels that were better than the first book.
In movie sequels, I look for something like Top Gun Maverick, Dune 2 and Across the Spider-Verse–movies that surpassed the original or are at least is as good as the original. Movies like this set a high bar. My basement level expectation is a book or movie that doesn’t make me regret reading it or watching it.
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That’s bizarre. I’ll try to fix it by phone.
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Should be fixed now. It’s tough for a sequel to surpass, especially in a trilogy. My goal is usually that the book doesn’t destroy the the series.
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It’s fixed. I agree that surpassing is rare. I’ll take a sequel that is at least good and not an embarrassment.
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I always look to a sequel to provide the same entertainment as the original. What I mean is whatever it was that caused me to enjoy the original I would like the feeling to continue. I want to feel comfortable with the characters and don’t mind if they grow in their roles.
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That sounds like a stable foundation for a whole series.
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We can only hope so.
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It depends on the series. If it’s a series of standalone books with different stories about the same characters, I like stability of the characters. If it’s a series where a story is ongoing from book to book, like Lord of the Rings, I like each book to be able to be read separately, but with some loose ends to continue the story.
For example, in my Wolves of Vimar series, Book 1, the characters find the Sword that is prophesied, but its use isn’t clear. That becomes clear in Book 2, along with the discovery of whom the real antagonist is.
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It’s tough to make plot connected books stand alone. You can’t really have it done in a way where people read the books out of order. At least I can’t figure it out.
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No, neither have I.
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Good sequels are written with a master plan for the whole series. Hollywood tends to make them as either a money grab or trying to capture a sense of nostalgia. Someone put serious effort into a story and it came across well. Hollywood puts out a sequel and in this era the script might not even be finished when they begin filming. I fell into some of that trap as a push by friends, and wished I’d finished the whole series before the first book came out.
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This is why I plan out a whole series before I start. I might add or remove a book if it’s thin, but I know I won’t stumble into a wall at some point.
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For me, the characters and story have to carry on as they began. As you said, there may be progression and growth, and hopefully an over-arching plot. And as someone else said, the series has to stay consistent with what made it popular in the first place.
I think a good idea of what NOT to do is the Indiana Jones series, where they did the Nazi-hunting Raiders of the Lost Ark, but then skipped back to the death cult of Kali with a different woman. (I can’t even call her a love interest, because Indy and that brat kid were so mean to her.) Then they skipped again back to Nazi hunting but with another different woman. A lot of the Raiders audience fell in love with Marian, and were pissed that she didn’t return to her rightful place at Indy’s side.
In other words, the series was in name only and lacked internal consistency.
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Temple of Doom was interesting, but it definitely fell short. I wonder if that was one of the earliest attempts at a prequel instead of a sequel. Funny how it was George Lucas too. I also read that Spielberg didn’t like doing sequels at the time, so they attempted this instead. Makes the whole thing sound like an experiment. I also wonder if watching Temple first changes the feel of the franchise.
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