Finish the books we sooo desperately desire!!!!

[Lashana]

Thank you again screwtape for that update. I hope any previous as well as new readers of that series found that information helpful.

[Lashana]

Until about two years ago I had never read a series where there was any doubt about whether it would be published. Then I read the Mortal Coils series by Eric Nylund. It was a great series and I eagerly looked forward to the next book. However, it seems that the future of this series is now clouded in uncertainty. No one seems to know if the series will continue. Although the author did say that several interesting deals were being considered. Regardless, the next books in the series have not been bought by a publisher as far as I know which is a shame. I will maintain hope that the next book will be published however as it is a great series.

For the joy and fulfillment of anyone reading the series above I also hope someone picks it up and publishes the fallowing stories.

Great addition to this thread. Thank you very much gonno.

[screwtape]

Jesus, you scared me. You started talking about WOT, which I love and then asked if anyone had heard about 'A Song of Fire and Ice'. I was scared that Martin had died. I freaked out and had to go search the web. I guess you just mean the long wait times between books which I understand. I started reading WOT a couple months before 'Winters Heart' came out. Then had to wait a year or two between books. Then he dies and there is a big wait till Sanderson picks it up. I think he does a great job by the way. Luckily he's doing one a year.

Hated to hear about Norton and the Halfblood Chronicles.

That's become a definite risk with the increasing modern tendency for authors to commit trilogy or worse.

The Harry Potter series of 7 books is an excellent example. It's apparently now the best selling book series in history worldwide (450M copies sold according to Wiki), and the 8 films are the highest grossing film series of all time. Again, according to Wiki, the Potter brand is worth about $15B total now, excluding the various Potter theme parks. The interesting thing is that they actually started to make the films long before JK Rowling had finished writing the series - the first film came out shortly before the release of the 4th book, the Goblet of Fire. The ongoing release of the excellent film versions then had a great deal to do with the last books breaking all historical records for pre-release books sales and initial print run sales. (According to that great authority Mr. Wiki, again, on the release date for Goblet of Fire, FedEx had 9,000 of its trucks dedicated solely to delivering loads of GoF to bookstores.)

But can you imagine the worldwide screams of anguish from readers and filmgoers alike (to say nothing of publishers and movie studio executives) if JK Rowling had been run over by an out-of-control FedEx delivery truck before turning in the manuscript for one or more of the last 3 books?

The first 3 books were complete stand-alone adventures, almost like the traditional British 'adventures at boarding school' yarns except with magic thrown in. If the series ended after any of them, there would be loose ends but nothing too dreadful. However, once Goblet of Fire was published, the series was firmly into an 'open war with Voldemort' arc and I don't really consider any of those last four books to be 'stand alones'.

It always struck me that filming the series before it was even halfway concluded was both a brilliant movie/book/merchandise sales tactic and risky as hell: as long as JK Rowling continued to produce the remaining books on schedule and up to spec, it was brilliant as the staggered releases of new books and new films boosted each other's hype and fed each other's sales; but if any 'adventures in real life' had messed up or ended her output, it could have been a worldwide PR fiasco for both publishers and studio.

Some authors at least have the entire story arc mapped out in their minds (or better still, on paper) before they sell the first couple books. However, it seems as though many modern authors have the story for the first couple books outlined when they first get a publishing contract, then when the books sell well, they receive a contract for 'x' number more books in the series and they basically seem to be winging it from book to book from then on.

If people like fantasy and want to read a complete series, you may want to check out Lisa Shearin's series about Raine Benares, a minor sorceress whose main ability is 'finding' things. It was published by Ace and after the 4th book came out a couple years ago, I was worried that it was turning into an open-ended 'endless quest' series. On the other hand, the books all stayed as peppy 200-300 page stories instead of turning into paperbound doorstops. And when the 6th one came out last month, I discovered that it actually wrapped everything up and ended the series. It was rather a refreshing change.