MEEOOWW! I've finally come up with a great title for discussions posts! I present to you the
Catty Chat!
So let's talk spin offs on books,
Do you like them?
Do you dislike them? If so why?
Does it work?
Does the author stay true to the world?
How do you feel about Ghostwriters?
There's all sort of questions to consider when reading a series spin off, in my opinion some spin off are great for TV but I don't know about books. I don't actually think I've had read any spin off books . . .
So let's look at the following books that are in spin offs,
Vampire Academy/Bloodlines
Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead, she had taken characters from vampire Academy and given them their own story. Now I haven't pick up either of the series but if you are one of those that read the entire Vampire Academy and follow through with the next series.
Vampire Diaries
I'm sure everyone is pretty familiar with The Vampire Diaries (TV show) but I want to talk about the books, I've only read the first two and then I got onto other books but while I followed the show I ingore the books and come to find out that there were three other spin off!
The Vampire Diaries features The Awakening: Volume I (1991), The Struggle: Volume II (1991), The Fury: Volume III (1991), Dark Reunion: Volume IV (1992).
The Return trilogy featurs The Return: Nightfall (2009), The Return: Shadow Souls (2010), The Return: Midnight (2011) .
The Vampire Diaries features The Awakening: Volume I (1991), The Struggle: Volume II (1991), The Fury: Volume III (1991), Dark Reunion: Volume IV (1992).
The Return trilogy featurs The Return: Nightfall (2009), The Return: Shadow Souls (2010), The Return: Midnight (2011) .
The Hunters trilogy features The Hunters: Phantom (2011) (Written by a ghostwriter), The Hunters: Moonsong (2012) (Written by a ghostwriter), The Hunters: Destiny Rising (2012) (Written by a ghostwriter)
The Salvation trilogy features The Salvation: Unseen (2013) (Written by Aubrey Clark), The Salvation: Unspoken (2013) (Written by Aubrey Clark), The Salvation: Unmasked (2014) (Written by Aubrey Clark).
WOW I'm amazed that readers are still in tuned with the books! Like I don't know if I could read three other spin off books, now have you read any of the other spin off books in The Vampire Diaries world?
Mortal Instrument
Now the Mortal Instruments, I've read all but the last book that just came out in May . . . I really want to read it but I just hadn't had the time! Cassandra Clare wrote the Infernal Devices as well set in 1878. This is a struggling time for the shadowhunters.
She also written The Bane Chronicles all on Bane the most powerful warlock POV, I haven't gotten any of those books but I've always enjoyed reading TMI between Bane and Alec.
Cassandra announce that she was writing a spin off of the Mortal Instrument called The Dark Artifices sets about 5 years later after whatever happens in City of Heavenly Fire. She is bringing new characters and new dangers. I can't wait for it to come out, there a couple other talks she had about even more spin off and here's a message that she share about spins off.
Nightshade
Andrea Creamer have drawn us in her young adult/fantasy world of Nightshade, she spends a great deal about historical influences in her fantasy world. So you know that she would write spin-off that take you back to the past about where everything started that lead up to Calla's story. She also wrote Snakeroot that takes place after Bloodrose which I have not read yet but do have it on my shelf.
Iron Fey
Julie Kagawa have brought the world of Fairies, yes you read that right fairies . . . I have not read the books but I have just about every one of them thank to my friend gifting them to me for Christmas/birthday. Now all I have to do is find a time to read that series as well the spin off. So who like the spin-off? Is the world still true to the first series The Iron Fey?
Others . . . .
So I've heard that Amanda Hocking was going to do a spin off series off the Tyrlle
world, but I had no idea when so I completely forgot all about it until EW
feature the cover of her new book Frostfire. Granted it gained my attention,
however I'm not sure why I feel the way that I do . . . But I have mix feelings
about the spin off. It's been nearly 3 years since Ascend(Trylle #3) been
published.
Am I concern that the world won't be as great as it was when I first read Switched? Or will this spin off be working too hard to match the readers expectations? I don't know I'm just "shrug shoulders" type, how will the spin off go?
But I'm willing to read it and try and keep an open mind, hopefully I can get that same reaction like I did before when I first read the trylle series.
Am I concern that the world won't be as great as it was when I first read Switched? Or will this spin off be working too hard to match the readers expectations? I don't know I'm just "shrug shoulders" type, how will the spin off go?
But I'm willing to read it and try and keep an open mind, hopefully I can get that same reaction like I did before when I first read the trylle series.
I'm not even going to start about the Harry Potter spin off, I mean these books been coming out since I've been in middle school for crying out loud! We just ended the movie in 2011! So just don't go there . . .
So how about you? What do you feel about spin offs and if you have read spin
off books what did you think of them?
Hi Kat! *waves!* I do love a good spin off, but only if the characters doing the spinning are deep enough to be in the spotlight. There's nothing worse than reading a great series, but the spin off falls flat. :/
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth! Thank you for commenting :-) That's one of my concerns when author say they want to writ another character POV. But I'm not opposed to new characters that starts off in spin-offs
DeleteHi Kat! This is a great question and discussion topic. Usually, I happen to like spin-offs. Or, maybe I should say, I enjoy books about different characters set in the same world. I feel that an author spends a lot of time and brain power world building this amazing place that we love, why not go back there again and see it through the eyes of someone else? While I don't mind a scene or book with the same story from another character's POV, I do prefer when it's a new story, new character in the same world. Your example with Cassandra Clare is perfect. I also like romance novelist Lynn Kurland, and she has a lot of cross-over between her characters in the same world. A newer, interesting twist on this is the authors who write multiple worlds with completely different character sets and have the characters meet up. Rick Riordan did this with Percy Jackson and Carter Kane, and Alyson Noel did this with Daire and Ever. Both were short stories.
ReplyDeleteI say Cassandra Clare is a spin-off genius! If she's been able to write inn the Shadowhunters world for so long and use all different characters that she's knows what's she doing and how the world works. I look forward to seeing the new series coming out whenever that may be.
DeleteHey Kay! I have mixed feels about spin offs. If you are able to keep the original storyline intact without changing my views on the characters, then by all means please go on. If you are going to change my outlook on the original story that I loved, then please don't! I am also a big fan of YA's getting NA spinoffs like The Return from Jennifer L. Armentrout being a spinoff of Covenant? That's awesome. There are a few others who have recently decided just to rewrite their YA's as NA's and that really kind of bothers me. That's a whole different issue though. I also like the idea of one series with books for each character, I think that is a nice touch as well. It's interesting that you bring up TVD series because those books are everywhere. Seriously, there are so many spin offs and what not that I never even knew where to start! Sometimes it can be a huge turn off for new readers to see SO MANY books in a new literary "universe". I'm also personally not a fan of authors rewriting the same book from a different POV. I really never feel like it adds anything to the story! That's just me though!
ReplyDeleteI actually haven't read JLA's Covenant series, I just got the first book not too long ago (I had to order it online) but I did hear that The Return was a spin-off of that series so I'm highly curious. I can't imagine JLA writing a spin-off of the Lux series I mean there is so much time dedicating that series as YA that it would be hard to write someone else POV. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThis is an excellent question, and I'm really interested to hear what more readers have to say.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved getting to meet Magnus Bane in The Infernal Devices after having already met him in The Mortal Instruments, but as I'm reading Heavenly Fire, I haven't been able to make up my mind how I feel about Will, aka Brother Zachariah's, re-emergence in this last book. I'm still reading, so i'll let you know.
As the author of The Gatekeeper's Saga (a teen gets entangled with the gods of Mount Olympus when one ft hem falls in love with her), I'm thinking about writing a spin-off after the sixth and final book of the saga. I've already started working on a prequel (The Gatekeeper's Bride, which is a retelling of how Hades and Persephone met and fell in love). So far my fans have been excited about my ideas for spin offs, but I don't want to push it too far.