The Experiences of Other Continuation Novel Series (outside of the sphere of James Bond)?

Dragonpol

I've created this thread as I've been curious for some time as to the experiences, fates and fortunes of other continuation novel series outside of James Bond. I'm of course thinking of the spy or adventure novel primarily here (the same sort of genre as Bond), and by extension the crime or mystery novel. That is probably the best way to approach this; comparing like with like as it were. Sherlock Holmes, as originally created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be but one example of an originating author like Ian Fleming having a continuation series commenced after his death. I'd also extend the remit of this thread to any continuation novel series of a major franchise like James Bond.

What I want to know are how these other continuation novel series fare in comparison to the Bond continuation novels initiated over fifty years ago with Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun (1968) and running up to the most recent with Anthony Horowitz's Forever and a Day (2018)?

Are there authors of equivalence like the literary writers Kingsley Amis, Sebastian Faulks and William Boyd?

Are there authors like the tried and tested thriller writer approach of John Gardner, Jeffrey Deaver and Anthony Horowitz?

Are there authors who have written notable works on the series such as Kingsley Amis and Raymond Benson?

Are there authors who have come from a fandom background primarily such as Raymond Benson and a series continuation represents their first novel?

Are there film novelisations that serve as continuation novels too such as those by Christopher Wood, John Gardner and Raymond Benson?

By the same token, are there other continuation series with novels set in the contemporary time or as period pieces, as is the current approach with the Bond novels of Faulks, Boyd and Horowitz?

How do the marketing, sales figures and critical reception compare or differ from that of the Bond continuation novels?

These sample questions of mine and many other questions can be discussed in this thread as I'm genuinely curious as to how the Bond continuation compares to other continuation series. Not having read any other continuation novels outside of Bond it will be interesting to hear other members' thoughts on this topic.

Pray continue...

4EverBonded

I can contribute very little here. But I will say that I have enjoyed the writer who took over the Frost (detective) series, as well as the writer who is now writing the Dragon Tattoo series.

Gerard

French author Frédéric Lenormand has penned some 19 continuation novels featuring the Chinese sleuth, the Judge Dee. I haven't read them, but having enjoyed the original Van Gulick novels, I'll try to do it one day.

Agent007391

Does the Star Wars EU count? Not the current Disney one, but the 90s novels?

Dragonpol

Agent007391 wrote: »

Does the Star Wars EU count? Not the current Disney one, but the 90s novels?

Yes, certainly. I was thinking about those 90s novels too as I recall a friend at school had one of those featuring Admiral Thrawn (I think) at that time.

I'm not a Star Wars fan, in fact I've not even seen the films, but as a major franchise (like Bond) they can also be discussed in this thread.

Jaggedpulp

The series that spring to mind for me is Jason Bourne. After Robert Ludlum's trilogy Eric Van Lustbader took over and has written 11 more. I enjoyed Ludlum's books but really struggled with Van Lustbader's and have only read a couple of them.

Agent_99

I don't read a lot of continuations because I tend to be disappointed by them (I'm a snobbish old misery, I know). I didn't like Jill Paton Walsh's Lord Peter Wimsey novel Thrones, Dominations at all, for example.

Sebastian Faulks wrote a Jeeves & Wooster continuation as well as taking a crack at Bond.

Then there's Eoin Colfer's Hitch Hiker's continuation, which I haven't read because I can't imagine it would match up.

Tom Holt wrote 3 novels to continue the story of EF Benson's Mapp & Lucia, which were well-received (I liked Lucia In Wartime; haven't tried the others). Looking this up on Wikipedia, it seems several other authors have had a go too, similar to the Bond Inheritance.

Are there film novelisations that serve as continuation novels too such as those by Christopher Wood, John Gardner and Raymond Benson?

...does the novelisation of the 1986 Biggles movie count?

(I'm surprised, actually, that there haven't been Biggles books by other authors. If the WE Johns estate is looking for someone to do that, I'm available!)