Tag Archives: Sequel

My Most Anticipated Books of 2019

I have an ever-growing list of books I want to read which will be published in 2019, even though it is extremely unlikely I will get round to all of them in the next 12 months and more will inevitably distract me as the year goes on. Here is a selection of some I will be looking out for. All publication dates where known apply to the UK only and may be subject to change.

Spring Ali Smith

Among fiction titles, there are numerous sequels and instalments of series due in 2019. Spring by Ali Smith is the third book in the Scottish author’s seasons cycle following Autumn (2016) and Winter (2017) with Summer presumably following in 2020.

A part of me wonders if The Testaments by Margaret Atwood would ever have been written if the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale hadn’t been so successful. Set 15 years after the original book, the new volume won’t be based on the grim storylines of the second season broadcast last year, but it’s safe to assume that it won’t be a light and cheery read either. Continue reading

26 Comments

Filed under Books

Sequels, Scriptwriting and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child script bookIt was announced on Wednesday that the script of ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ will be published on Sunday 31st July, the day after the world premiere of the new play in London’s West End. The publishers Little, Brown have confirmed that a special rehearsal edition of the script is being printed in response to massive public demand from fans around the world followed by a definitive collector’s edition at a later date. Set nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter is now an “overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic” while his youngest son Albus “must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted”.

Continue reading

6 Comments

Filed under Books

Go Set a Watchman: The Inevitable Disappointment of Literary Sequels?

Go Set a WatchmanUntil last week, the prospect of Harper Lee publishing a new book fifty-five years after ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ seemed about as likely as Donna Tartt churning out novels at the same pace as Stephen King or E. L. James winning the Man Booker Prize. But this is exactly what was announced by her publishers at HarperCollins last Tuesday.

Few details have been revealed so far other than that the book is about Scout Finch returning to Alabama as an adult twenty years after the events in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. ‘Go Set A Watchman’ was written before ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ but Lee was persuaded by her publishers to focus on Scout’s childhood instead. The original novel was subsequently lost before it was rediscovered last autumn.

Continue reading

31 Comments

Filed under Books