Top Ten Tuesdays is an original and weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
I like series. I like that I can enjoy a book and then come back to the same world and the same characters and continue to follow their adventures; erego, I also love sequels... when done well. I don't like cliffhangers as much as I like a well-rounded ending to a first book in a series that concludes the story, but still leaves room to contemplate a sequel. Of course, that can't always be helped.
And so, in doing such a thing, I'm stuck with anticipating the sequel to a book until I go crazy. Just like everyone else out there who fell in love with a book, found out that the author intends to continue or extend the story, but said extension will come out sometime next year.
I'm sure we all would love for authors to just write their entire series in advance and release the sequel the very next day after we've finished reading the first book. That would be an ideal world setting, no?
But I guess there's some sort of appeal to anticipating the release of a sequel--the excitement of having something to look forward to and obsess about.
I've spent a good portion of 2014 trying not to start a new series if I can help it--at least until I know that the series is coming to a close soon so that I can just sit down and read the whole thing in one go. Since trilogies are all the rave nowadays, at least it's not hard to know how long to wait before starting a new "First book".
It doesn't always mean I'm successful, but at the very least, I've been quite disciplined.
So I've managed not to accumulate too many book sequels that I am waiting at the edge of my seat to get my hands on. Instead of a bunch of second book sequels, I have more third and last book sequels that I am anticipating.
Technically, a sequel is just a "follow-up" that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In literal terms, a sequel is the second story to follow the first, which can lead into a series; a third story is usually known as a third installment, or the last book in a trilogy. So on and so forth would be a "fourth installment", "fifth book", "sixth book/installment", and so on.
So my list is actually a combination of sequels, third installments, and last books. All of which will be included in this week's Top Ten Tuesdays: Top Ten Sequels I Can't Wait to Get.
1. In the Afterlight -- Book 3 (finale) of The Darkest Minds
-- Written by Alexandra Bracken
The Darkest Minds isn't the best dystopian series out there. In fact, if not for certain elements that caught my attention and clicked well with me, I probably would just brush this series off as "just another trilogy banking on the YA dystopian trend", (which it probably is just that). But I've been enjoying the series and loving the character interactions, and so I'm eager to finish the series. I just need to motivate myself into wanting to finish this last book; my own barrier is just that it's the last book and I'm afraid it won't end ideally and so I'm reluctant to dive into it just yet.
My reading list plans DOES include this book for the next coming week or two, though.
2. The Silkworm -- Book 2 of Cormoran Strike
-- Written by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling)
I think the name J.K. Rowling speaks for itself. When I found out that Robert Galbraith was her pseudonym for a crime mystery series, I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Cuckoo's Calling last year and immediately put my name on a waiting list at the library. This year is no different. I quite enjoy Cormoran Strike and his over-eager receptionist slash partner in P.I., Robin, even if the story seemed pretty mediocre for a murder mystery. I am currently on a library waiting list to read this book; there are two e-book copies; eventually it'll be my turn.
3. The Perilous Sea -- Book 2 of The Elemental Trilogy
-- Written by Sherry Thomas
I very much enjoyed the first book despite some of it's faults, and so am eagerly anticipating the reading of this second book (of which I have yet to purchase due to money and time constraints), and am also eagerly anticipating the release of the last book in 2015. Titus and Iolanthe were quite the pair to be reckoned with as both are strong, witty, and resourceful main characters with excellent friendship chemistry and potential for a great romance.
For some reason, this is one series I'm eager to allow myself the highly anticipated waiting period between books. It just makes the inevitable procurement of said books feel so much more exciting. I plan on reading this book by the end of this month, pending splurging habits and other TBR books on my reading list.
4. Cress and Winter -- Books 3 and 4 of The Lunar Chronicles
-- Written by Marissa Meyer
I have technically not read the second book, Scarlet, yet. I own it; bought it at a nice discounted price via Amazon. But this is one of those series that I am keeping myself restrained from reading until I'm close enough to the release of the last book so that I'm not going too crazy with wait. I just have a feeling I'll be falling apart if either books 2 or 3 happen to have a heart-breaking cliffhanger.
I love fairy tale retellings and Cinder was an amazing book that had enough positives to balance out the few flaws I might have found; it had FEELS up the wazoo that got me hooked! I don't know when it will be, but when the right time comes, I will be purchasing the last two books whether or not they cost a few arms and legs.
5. Shadow Scale -- Book 2 of Seraphina
-- Written by Rachel Hartman
So I read Seraphina in 2013 (it was a 2012 publication), and then gladly sat back to await the release of the sequel that had been listed as 2013, which is typical for most series (one book release each year). I like high fantasies and this one was written well with a great world and lots of potential and a capable female lead. And then the publication date of the second book changed to 2014. I told myself the wait wouldn't hurt too much more--I had a lot of other books to read anyway.
But then the release date got pushed back once more to 2015. And even the title of the book changed from Drachomachia to the current one, Shadow Scale. At this point in time, I am starting to wonder if I am merely anticipating the wait because I've been anticipating it for so long already; or if I'm really that eager to read the sequel. I might have to reread the first book, but nonetheless, I continue to anticipate the release of the sequel.
6. Hidden Huntress -- Book 2 of The Malediction Trilogy
-- Written by Danielle L. Jensen
I just finished reading the first book, Stolen Songbird. I loved it. Now I desperately want to read the second book and see where the rest of the adventure and the conflict leads. The story is still fresh in my mind. I may or may not feel different in another two or three months--and with the whole Angry Robot-Strange Chemistry shutting its doors, the publication of the second book seems to be hanging in the abyss somewhere. Of course, with news from Danielle L. Jensen, herself, Hidden Huntress should be getting a new publication date and a cover reveal soon now that she's been situated under a new company.
Nonetheless, I loved the characters and the world built in Stolen Songbird and hope to see the sequel soon.
7. Untitled third book of The Archived
-- Written by Victoria Schwab (also known as V.E. Schwab)
The Archived is a book I loved very much with it's hidden world and it's urban fantasy setting and a strong female lead paired with an adorable, non-standard, non-broody, weird-ful male love interest.
If anyone is wondering, yes, I am so in love with Wesley Ayers. In fact, having found that there will be a novella written in Wesley's POV has gotten my squee-ing going--I'm not kidding. It's called Leave the Window Open--having read The Unbound already, the title of this novella feels pretty meaningful and I'm anticipating it. And no, this probably has nothing to do with this Top Ten Tuesday post about sequels, but I felt like bringing it up anyway.
Moving along now...
The first book focused very little on the romance and had a lot going for it involving self-conflict and tragedy and the choices our heroine had to make as well as emotional obstacles she had to fight through. It had so much heart that I had no words to describe how much I loved it. The second book, however, got a little mopey and took up some of that typical YA non-conflict conflicts, though it eventually drew itself back on track and managed to hook me into the world again. I might have squealed when Wesley finally appeared in person. I am definitely anticipating a third book, though there isn't a definitive publication date yet, nor do we know whether this will be the last book or if the series will continue on--it definitely has potential to be a long-running series though.
8. Quicksilver -- Book 2 (finale) of Ultraviolet duology
-- Written by R.J. Anderson
I know this book has been out for at least two years now and I could pick it up whenever I want to. I just haven't been motivated enough to spend more money yet. But I definitely would love to finish the series and read the sequel. I loved the first book and I like how unique the main character of Quicksilver is described as. If the first book is any indication, Tori Beaugrand would be quite the force to be reckoned with as the main character of her story.
9. Kinslayer and Endsinger -- Books 2 and 3 of The Lotus War trilogy
-- Written by Jay Kristoff
I can't say that I loved the first book unconditionally like many others. In fact, the book was great, but I DID have trouble getting into it until after the first 20%; then the book flew by with exciting adventures. I DO like the characters and the action though. So I'm going to finish this series, though I will wait until the last book is released so I can just finish the trilogy in one go without too much wait time.
Admittedly, the covers for these books are pretty badass though, and may have contributed to my excitement at wanting to read the last two books of this series.
10. Untitled fourth (and last) book of The Raven Cycle
-- Written by Maggie Stiefvater
If it is any indication of how much I love this series and how much I continually anticipated the release of each book after I first got my hands on The Raven Boys, you might see my reviews here, here, and here. Maggie Stiefvater is magic; The Raven Cycle is FEELS; and Gansey is just so much awesome LOVES!
But... Man. I am both looking forward to AND dreading the last book! I can already feel my heart breaking wondering how everything will end.
And then finding this (even though I don't Twitter):
/whimpering
***
I know it doesn't sound like I'm too excited about a lot of these sequels since I haven't exactly tackled the time-space continuum to get my hands on them. Even now when several of them are already available, I haven't gone out of my way to buy them yet. But there is no doubt that I DO very much want to read each and every one of the books I've listed here. It's just a matter of time, money, and well... time.