Continuing A Series After The Author's Death

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, The Wheel of Time and The Millennium Series, all have something in common (besides being on my bookshelves); after the death of their authors, someone else has continued the series. Why does an author feel compelled to do that, finish someone else's series? Is it love? Why does a publisher go ahead with this? Is it money? Is it also love?

Though all these series are in my home, I haven't read them all. The Wheel of Time is my Hubby's. I'm not sure if I'll read it one day or not. I want to, but the books are huge! I have read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and recently The Girl Who Played With Fire (finally), but not The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. I don't know why, I suppose I just haven't gotten around to it. I have read the five Hitchhiker books and loved them. Was I a fan of the ending? Not necessarily, but it felt like an ending; it was complete. When I heard about Eoin Colfer's book And Another Thing, as a continuation, I was excited and hesitant. I managed to pick it up (a long time ago - my son was an infant) at a charity book sale. It still sits unread on my shelf.

I've been thinking about this lately. I've also been making an effort to read the books that have been on my shelf for a while, like And Another Thing.  I'm so hesitant to read it, but I want to and I want to love it.  I'm concerned that my expectations are too high. I know Hitchhikers isn't for everyone, but I loved it. What if I hate this "sixth" book?  Would it ruin the series for me? Would my ire be worse than normal? Am I over thinking this?

What do you think about authors who continue a series?  I know I mentioned The Wheel of Time, but that was a different case, right? From what I understand, the series was clearly not finished and Brandon Sanderson worked from Robert Jordan's notes. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.  That is not the case with Millennium, as the author is creating a completely new work, not using the partially finished manuscript Stieg Larrson's girlfriend controls (not that I expect anyone to ever have a chance to finish that novel).  I don't know if Douglas Adams left notes for another book.  Did Eoin Colfer write a book to give himself and fans a better ending to the series? I thought the end of Adams' fifth book was pretty final.

I should just read them, right? No? Do I want to read David Lagercrantz's The Girl in the Spider's Web? I don't know. Yes and no.  If I ever decide to read The Wheel of Time, I will read the books written by Sandersen. That case is different, right? I would go into the series knowing it would be finished by someone else. I finished Hitchhikers years before Colfer wrote his book.  I started reading Millennium as a trilogy. I love reading, and I want to give authors a chance. My fear is that they will change how I feel about Larsson and Adams' work. Though at the rate I'm going, it'll be years before I get around to reading these books.

Where Are We? Top Ten Settings I’d Like To See More

I was very interested by this week's topic at The Broke and The Bookish.  They are asking what are the top ten settings we'd like to see more.  I think I'd have an easier time answering the top ten settings I never want to see again.  I've read some pretty sad, tragic, amazing, I-would-never-want-to-go-there books.  Too much dystopian maybe?

In no particular order:

1.  Narnia – I know it’s never going to happen, but I can wish, right?

2.  Saskatchewan – Seriously.  Richard Ford did a great job (in my opinion) at portraying life in rural Saskatchewan and I found it really interesting.

3.  Montreal – I have always loved visiting Montreal, but I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book set there.  Any recommendations?

4.  The Universe of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – I know Eoin Coffer wrote a book continuing the series.  I have that book, but I’m nervous about reading it since I loved Douglas Adams’ series so much.

5.  Tropical Islands – Again, any recommendations?  I read a lot of books set in cities and the country, but nothing on an island in recent memory.

6.  An Office – Does nothing interesting ever happen in an office?

7.  The North Pole – Just because.  It would be different from anything I've read.

8.  The Desert - See # 7.

9.  Alternate Realities - I like the "What if?" question.  What if some big, significant event didn't happen, how would that affect the world we live in now?

10.  Hotel Rooms - Maybe this is because I just read 1408.

What settings would you like to see more?  Anywhere you've never read about?

The Forbes Fictional 15 Richest People

I saw this over at Stargazing.  It's really interesting.  The Forbes article is more extensive and there are links to the biographies of each character.

1. Scrooge McDuck Uncle Scrooge comics $44.1 billion
2. Carlisle Cullen Twilight $36.2 billion
3. Artemis Fowl II Artemis Fowl novels $13.5 billion
4. Richie Rich Richie Rich comics $9.7 billion
5. Jed Clampett The Beverly Hillbillies $9.5 billion
6. Tony Stark Iron Man $9.4 billion
7. Smaug The Hobbit $8.6 billion
8. Bruce Wayne Batman $7.0 billion
9. Mr. Monopoly Monopoly games $2.6 billion
10. Arthur Bach Arthur films $1.8 billion
11. Jo Bennett The Office $1.2 billion
12. C. Montgomery Burns The Simpsons $1.1 billion
13. Chuck Bass Gossip Girl $1.1 billion
14. Gordon Gekko Wall Street $1.1 billion
15. Jeffrey Lebowski The Big Lebowski $1.0 billion

I don't know how they figured out that Smaug had $8.6 billion or that Carlisle Cullen has more money than Bruce Wayne, but it's a fun list to explore.  The "explanation" at the end of the article says:

"Net worth estimates are based on an analysis of the fictional character’s source material, and where possible, valued against known real-world commodity and share price movements. In the case of privately held fictional concerns, we seek to identify comparable fictional public companies. All figures are as of market close, April 1, 2011."

Final valuations are calculated with a grain of salt, and a willingness to break our own rules."

Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.