Free Neil Gaiman & Brandon Sanderson Books

Neil Gaiman gives a link in his blog (here) to a site where you can download an electronic version of Neverwhere (1996). This eBook has a shelf life so you have until a set date to read it after you have downloaded it. If you haven't read it, and you don't have access to a library for whatever reason, this is a great way to sample without buying.

Until September 30, 2008 you can also go here on the Fantasy Book Critic's blog to enter win copy of Gaiman's forthcoming The Graveyard Book (2008).

While you are on the Fantasy Book Critic's blog, you can enter to win several other books, including Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy until October 14. (Here is a direct link to the form for the trilogy)

Both of the Neverwhere and Mistborn stories are well written and set in refreshingly (and increasingly hard-to-find) original fantasy worlds. Let me know if you win one of the drawings or what you think about any of the books if you read them.

And now, the rest of the story ... (part II)

(a continuation of part I from the previous post, looking at continued works of authors after they have passed away, starting with the list)

• While various authors have written novels with Ian Fleming's James Bond, Sebastian Faulks was commissioned to write Devil May Care (2008)
• Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have written several prequels and a couple of sequels to Frank Herbert's Dune novels
• Roger Zelazny's estate authorized John Betancourt to write a five-prequel series to Zelazny's ten Chronicles of Amber books (this Dawn of Amber series was cancelled after the four books)
• Robert Ludlum's estate gave permission to Eric Van Lustbader to write new Jason Bourne stories (and three have been published)
• Robert Jordan's widow selected Brandon Sanderson to finish the last book in Jordan's Wheel of Time series (which is still in progress and unpublished)

Honestly, I have only read one series of these authorized continuation books in this list, so I can't comment on most of them specifically.

I did have the misfortune of listening to the Legends of Dune trilogy [The Butlerian Jihad (2002), The Machine Crusade (2003), The Battle of Corrin (2004)] This trilogy takes place thousands of years before Dune (1965), to explain how the technology, social structure (including ruling families and other organizations) and culture in the Dune universive began. If I had other audio books to listen to at the time I probably wouldn't have finished these.

Some of it could have been the reader, but beyond that I found the stories to be cliche ridden and void of the plot complexity, thought provoking themes and ideas, and realistic characters and character development that Frank Herbert had in his Dune novels (well, OK, most of his Dune novels - at least the original trilogy and the fourth). With these I felt like I was listening to the first attempt of an author from the 1950's to write a space opera. I kept hoping that each book in the Legends trilogy would get better than the previous, but they didn't. (If I had to recommend one of the three to read upon pain of death, it would be the middle one though. But you have been warned.)

As you might guess, I doubt I will read or listen to any more Dune books by these two. I have read and enjoyed other books by Brian. Perhaps the collaboration of these two authors actually produces something a minuscule of a fraction of the work as their individual and independent worked combined. I assume Brian Herbert worked from notes or outlines his father created at some point, but I started to wonder more and more how much Brian, or Kevin Anderson, followed or modified those notes. I would have preferred an original timeline with notes to these bloated doorstops.

Where am I going with all of this? I would guess that it boils down to if the new author manages to continue with the characters, worlds, or ideas in a way you would feel the original author would, you will like the book. And this is going to vary from author to author, and story to story. With stories that are your favorites, I would guess you are going to be less likely to enjoy the new versions.

I wish Colfer the best of luck with his book (even though I think Terry Prachett might have been a better choice). As Colfer has written six Artemis Fowl books I would imagine he is use to getting both criticism and praise for each new book in that series, which should prepare him for the response from Adam's Hitchhiker fans.

Regardless of what you think about a non-Adams Hitchhiker book, or about Colfer as the choice, I hope that this exposes the Hitchhiker universe (and everything) to more people so they can experience the original books themselves where they might not have otherwise.

What are some other official, authorized or commissioned sequels or prequels of contemporary authors would you add to the list? How do you feel they did with the characters, worlds and ideas they were working with? I am interested to find out.

Take that Harry Potter!

Before I jump in to what I want to talk about, let me be upfront and let you know I recommend the Harry Potter series and I believe it will become a classic. This being said, I also realize that J.K. Rowling didn't invent fantasy and that many elements in her books have been around for years if not centuries.

You can't open a collection of fairy tales or myths without encountering stories of young men and women discovering they have special abilities, or parentage, or they are the subjects of prophecies.

In the five Earthsea novels, starting with A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) Ursula Le Guin created the School of Magic, where wizards could learn their crafts and their specialties. This was published when Rowling was around 3 years old.

Jane Yolen's Wizard's Hall (1991), came out years before Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) and it shares many similar story elements including a boy who doesn't know his own power, a wizard school full of whimsical magic (including paintings that move and talk), and the threat of an evil wizard.

What Rowling did was combine the classic and contemporary fantasy components in a unique way creating an original work that resonated at a previously unheard of level in the history of publishing. I doubt we will see another phenomenon like this for years.

With that being said, publishers and writers are still eager to tout they have the next Harry Potter, and/or make digs and Harry Potter and Rowling's wizarding world. Unless the author specifically says so, you can't know if some of these are done on purpose or not.

Here are some that I have read in the past few years. Again, I am not pointing these out to disparage the world Rowling created, or these author's or their stories. I enjoyed all these books in different ways and if you like the Harry Potter books, you could enjoy these as well. Please note that some of these comments are spoilers of sorts, so read the full comparisons at your own risk:

In The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud [The Amulet of Samarkand (2003), The Golem's Eye (2004), and Ptolemy's Gate (2005)] wizards are paranoid, self-serving and ego driven. They are taught one-on-one through an apprentice system. It is pointed out that in this world a school for wizards could not exist as wizards hoard their knowledge and don't even share all that they know with their apprentice, if they take one. Also, the magic in this world is actually performed by demons - wizards just learn how to bind and command demons to perform their will. The stronger the demon, the more powerful acts the wizard can accomplish.

In the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, Perseus "Percy" Jackson discovers that the Greek myths are not only real stories, but that the creatures, gods, etc. still exist and that he is the son of Poseidon. He learns this gives him special abilities and enemies. He also hears other characters refer to a prophecy that might involve him. I have read the first book, The Lightning Thief (2005), and am currently in the middle of The Sea of Monsters (2006), the second one, so I don't yet know things play out in any of the subsequent books (there are two more so far).

At the point I am at in the series I have noticed the following similarities with Rowling's books. Whereas Harry Potter went to Hogwarts during the school year and he feels his true home is there, and he stayed in the "real" world during the summers; Percy stays in the "real" world during the school year and goes to Camp Half-Blood with other demigods during the summer and he feels more at home at the Camp. Those who are invited to the camp are broken out into one of 12 cabins, as opposed to the four Hogwart Houses. Each of these cabins is named after a god (Ares, Hermes, Athena, etc.), and in most cases the characters belong to the cabin based on their divine parentage. These cabins compete with each other for annual prizes in various Greek events.

Brandon Sanderson published the young adult novel Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians (2007). In this, the first book of a series, the orphaned and perpetually clumsy Alcatraz Smedry discovers his parents were actually part of the Free Kingdomers group fighting against the Librarians and that his clumsiness is really a powerful ability which he must learn to control. The real dig at Rowling's world comes at the end where Alcatraz is allowed to go back to his foster parent's house and he is told the Free Kingdomers will come back to get him. Alcatraz assumes that he will have to stay with them for the summer (I guess he either read Harry Potter himself or saw the movies). They then show up within a few hours and lovingly chastise him that they just wanted to give him some time to gather his things and say goodbye, that it would be ridiculous to leave him where their enemies knew he was, especially as they had so much to do in their fight against the Librarians.

Those are just a few I have read and recognized. I would be interested to hear about any other books you know of that were written before the Potter series that have similar story elements, or of any stories published afterwards that appear to borrow but possibly twist elements from Harry Potter.