Day 14: The Original is Never as good as its sequels and here’s why
I understand the argument that a sequel is never as good as the original. I find the point to be outdated though. Think of modern movies. A lot of times the original movie is an origin story setting up the rest of the would be franchise. Therefore, the first movie, while important to the series, is not always the best. In fact, it rarely ever is. Sure, we can sight a million examples as to this being untrue, but nowadays a series of films is written to act as one, and for that reason it works.
Often we end up with a lesser quality trilogy than we would have back in the day… Take the Matrix for example. It in no way is as good as the original Indiana Jones trilogy. BUT Look at the individual movies. With the Matrix, it was the first movie that was great and the other two were subpar for the trilogy. Indiana Jones on the other hand (for me at least) is opposite. I feel that Raiders (while still one of my favorite movies of all time) was no way near as good as the next 2. Let’s not get into the most recent one.
I do realize my argument could go either way, but let’s face it. I’m a fan of characters. They are a lot of the time what makes a movie. If I like a character I’d like to see them in another adventure again, even if they have a bad one in between. It’s like that music artist that you really like, but they have one bad album. Do you give up on them? No because you know they will be back with something better.
Why is this a topic for my 31 days of Halloween? Because that’s the mindset I have with writing. I designed the FLESH AND LEFTOVERS series to be a ten book series in all. I ALSO know that not being caught up with a series may prevent some people from wanting to buy the next novel in fears that they don’t know what is going on.
That is not the case here. Yes, FLESH AND LEFTOVERS is my weakest book in the series, but it has also gained a huge audience. It is the weakest because it is an origin story. The characters are just building up here, and by the end of the book you really know what is going on.
My goal was to make each one top the prior, not just because I knew my writing would be better with experience, but also because you expect more as the audience. Think of it as the Star Wars of horror. The prequel trilogy is geared for one audience, while the second and third are geared for not just the first, but other audiences as well. Start with book 4 and read that trilogy. Then you can go back and find out what got them to that point, or move forward. Book 10 will be a bookends of sorts. It will be a sequel and prequel to the series, yet stand alone in its entirety.
So if you are a stand alone story type of person, or are like me and enjoy an epic saga, or if you just like a good trilogy, then it is all here for you through the links on the right of the page.
What do you think? What sequels do you think don’t stand up to the original? What sequels surpass the originals? I’m curious as to what you think, so please share in your comments.
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