Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.
This week’s theme is Top Ten Best Sequels Ever. According to the nice folks at Dictionary.com, a sequel is:
a literary work, movie, etc., that is complete in itself but continues the narrative of a preceding work
Well, that makes it tough. Do books in an ongoing series count? Some would, I suppose, although there are many that I wouldn’t call complete in themselves. I had originally thought to write a list of two book duos (duologies), but my brain came up short. So… giving it my best shot, here are my choices for the top 10 books that “continue the narrative of a preceding work” yet are complete in themselves as well. Or something along those lines.
1) Doctor Sleep by Stephen King: Cheating a bit here! I haven’t read it, obviously, since today (Tuesday) is the release date… but I’m excited to read this sequel to The Shining — and I’m so sure that it’ll be awesome, I’m making it #1 on my list!
2) You Suck and Bite Me by Christopher Moore. Well, I’ve never read a Christopher Moore book that I haven’t enjoyed (yup, I even like Island of the Sequined Love Nun!), but these two follow-ups to Bloodsucking Fiends are both funny and take the original story in all sorts of goofy directions.
3) War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. On a more serious note, Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War is powerful on its own, but put it together with its sequel, War and Remembrance, and you have a devastating pair of novels that convey the terror and sorrow of the Holocaust through the experiences of one family. Unforgettable.
4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling. I love the entire series, but I’ve always felt that GoF has its own powerful adventure/thriller story to tell that makes it a tremendous read on its own. The TriWizard Tournament gives GoF a framework that functions beautifully in a way that makes this book less episodic than some of the others and more of a unified whole.
5) The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. Published nine years after Interview With The Vampire, The Vampire Lestat brought vampires back into pop culture in a big way, and kickstarted Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series. By shifting the focus from Louis to Lestat, Rice added an element of fun — and rock-star glamour — that made The Vampire Lestat a must-read and really took the lead in making vampires sexy once again.
6) The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. When I read Oryx and Crake, I never expected the story to continue… so I was thrilled when I found out about The Year of the Flood, which is both sequel and companion to Oryx and Crake. Likewise, when I read The Year of the Flood, I had no idea that a 3rd book was in the works… and now I have MaddAddam waiting to be read!
7) Changes by Jim Butcher. The Dresden Files series is huge at this point (14 books and counting), so it’s hard to pick any one volume to single out as a great sequel. But, I’m including Changes here because it really is one of the most memorable of the series, an incredibly suspenseful and thrilling installment that lives up to its title completely by serving as a total game-changer for all of the major characters. For me, Changes breathed fresh life into the series just when it needed it most, making it exciting and shocking all over again.
8) Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan. This sequel to The Last Werewolf shifts the story to a new narrator in a continuation that’s just as gory, thoughtful, and mind-boggling as the first book.
9) Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox. I am so fond of this duology, which does not appear to be as well known as it should be. Dream Hunters introduces us to a world in which dreams are performed by super-stars in lavish opera halls. In Dreamquake, we learn more about the origins of these dreams and find the keys to understanding how and why this all came about. This is a powerful story, masterfully told in two compelling novels.
10) Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. Parable of the Sower introduces us to a not-too-distant future that’s horribly familiar, and Parable of the Talents takes that world and makes it even more awful. The characters are unforgettable, and in Parable of the Talents, we get a sequel just as moving and painful as the first book — if not more so.
What are your favorite sequels? Which are the best of the best?
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Bookshelf Fantasies 
Great choices! I picked The Prisoner of Azkaban as my favourite Harry Potter read. It’s the one that really got me into Harry Potter.
I love Prisoner of Azkaban too! When I meet adults who are hesitant to start HP because it’s a “kid’s book”, I always tell them to at least get to #3 before they decide. I feel like that’s the book that really deepened the series and made it much more complex and compelling. (I admit, I love ’em all!)
#3 is my favorite book of the series. Between time travel, and the introduction of Sirius, and a GOOD Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, and finally getting to learn more about what happened with Harry’s parents… it’s like the perfect storm of HP-ness for me!
I kept HP off my list this week but I hear ya about book 4. I really liked books 1-3. I thought they were cute and kept me reading, but the Goblet of Fire is what made a die-hard, omg-when-is-the-next-book-coming-out fan! I would also like to read Dr. Sleep, though I haven’t actually read The Shining, and I want to read that first. I’ve seen the film and know the story, of course, but haven’t actually read the book. Great list! 😀
My TTT
I just re-read The Shining a couple of weeks ago, and I’m so glad I did! I would definitely recommend reading it — it’s different than the movie in some big ways, and really stands on its own as a terrific book. Thanks for stopping by!
Haha. You so cheated with Doctor Sleep. 😉 Lestat made my list, too! I only did books that were #2 in the series otherwise my Harry Potter book of choice would have been Azkaban.
Yup, I cheated, and I’m not ashamed! 🙂
I have heard many good things about You Suck. I should really give Christopher Moore a try. Great list!
Definitely! It depends on your tastes, of course, but my very favorite Christopher Moore book is Lamb… but every single one of his books makes me laugh, so you really can’t go wrong, so long as you don’t mind your humor a bit on the twisted side.
I included The Vampire Lestat also- those books were so much fun!
Have you read all of them? I stopped after the Body Thief. It’s been years since I’ve read an Anne Rice book!
Goblet of Fire is my favorite of the Harry Potter books too. I love the TriWizard Tournament.
I guess it’s not surprising that the 4th movie is my favorite too — minus a few bits that I have issues with. Still, I love the 2nd challenge in the movie so, so much!
Ha! I love your #1. (Don’t forget to check out our readalong of Doctor Sleep, starting next week… come join in the discussions even if you can’t wait to read it!)
I will definitely be checking it out, Charleen! But no, I won’t be waiting… Sitting at work right now, waiting for the nice UPS person to arrive with my Amazon box!
I won’t be getting mine till Sunday… but I can’t guarantee I can stretch out my reading for three weeks!
The Year of the Flood was a fantastic follow-up. And you’ve already read Doctor Sleep?!?! EEEeeeeee I’m waiting for my copy today. Goblet of Fire is one of my favorite Harry Potter’s. 🙂 So many others I need to read still… I think I’d really love The Dresden Files. Great list!
No, I haven’t read Doctor Sleep (waiting for mine today too!) — I just put it on the list because (a) I’m sure it’ll be great! and (b) I’m getting a bit obsessed waiting for it to arrive. 🙂 Definitely, you should give Dresden a try — so clever, so much fun!
Love your list. Aww Harry Potter ❤ My favorite ❤
I had book 6 of HP on my list!
I love The Vampire Lestat, I really should re-read it not that I’ve re-read Interview. I read the Vampire Chronicles all the way up to Blood and Gold, but I think you stopped at the right time with Body Thief. I’m only planning to reread the first three books, and they are the only ones I own.
I’ve yet to read any Butler or Atwood! My favorite Harry Potter book is Prisoner of Azkaban – Remus, Sirius, the history of the Marauders, Dementors, time travel, good stuff! And I’m sorry to say that I didn’t like Changes! I’m still waiting for the new direction to win me over…
I really should re-read Interview too. It’s been so long! I love PoA too, especially because Sirius is my not-so-secret book crush. Introducing the backstory of the Marauders and Snape really deepened the story, and that’s when I truly fell in love with the series as a whole. Sorry to hear you didn’t like Changes. The one I didn’t like was Ghost Story, and I was afraid that that was it for me with the series — but Cold Days sucked me right back in!
I’m glad to see Harry Potter on that list 🙂
I seem to find a reason (or excuse) to include HP on just about every top 10 list!