Stieg Larsson has a new book coming out: The Girl in the Spider's Web. Problem is, Larsson died in 2004. This will not be the first time a book series has been continued after the author's death; just look at Dune and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But should this happen: why or why not?
Cool article Idea, very cool. It would be interesting to see how this experiment has worked in the past. Relate the genre and reputation of this particular author and series to similar situations e.g. The Bourne series. – Thomas Munday10 years ago
You could explore how this happens in a particular style or genre which can be easily captured, perhaps most obviously, like in James Bond but how it might not make sense with books that have a more authorial voice. You could also relate it to film and TV and how universes continually get extended, like lesser problematic ones like a new director for each Star Wars film but also when a showrunner leaves a show, like in Community. Andddddd, without sounding completely boring, you could even extend it into series which would be fun to continue that haven't been so far. – Marcus Dean10 years ago
Tolkien's son help in the publication of the Silmarillion after his father's death and also published a few books set in Middle Earth as well. George R. R. Martin has also revealed his ending to A Song of Fire and Ice to several writers just in case. Maybe consider these tid-bits as well. – Christina Cady10 years ago
Would be helpful to consider the case of the Wheel of Time series when answering the question posed by the title -- Sanderson took over after Jordan passed. Reading fan blogs and professional articles before and after Sanderson's first book release would reveal fan anxieties and how those concerns were met by the "replacement". – Monique10 years ago
Unless the original author okayed it, the answer should be no, because the story could be used for something the author did not intend, and instead abuse the story idea to fit the current person's own needs thereby destroying the beauty of the original story. – Travis Kane10 years ago
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