I'm a big Michael Crichton fan. Jurassic Park was the first "grown-up" novel I ever read, which I'd been inspired to pick up because I'd fallen completely in love with the movie version when it was released. The "Jurassic Park" movie was the Star Wars of my generation, a film which became a smash-hit primarily because it was absolutely unlike anything we had ever seen before.
I'd been as wowed as the rest of the world by the lifelike "dinosaurs" of the film version. But Crichton's original book enchanted me in a different way: I was captivated by the way Crichton wrote his sci-fi. With stories about time travel and artificial intelligence, it's true that -- at quick glance -- Crichton's sci-fi devices aren't much different from what you'd encounter in a typical episode of Star Trek. What always made Crichton's sci-fi writing unique, to me, was the way he'd take the scientific advancements of the day and push them a few fictional steps forward. There was scientific reasoning behind his cloned dinosaurs -- and, while scientists will point out that his fictionalized scientific process wouldn't quite work, the science of Crichton's work still always holds some basis in reality. It makes for fascinating reading.
So I was crushed when Crichton passed away three years ago at the age of 66. He left behind a completed manuscript hidden in the recesses of his computer hard drive (Pirate Latitudes) -- and an unfinished techno-thriller about microbiology and nanotechnology.
This unfinished novel was about a third of the way completed, with notes, outlines, and extensive research on the rest of the story also left behind. This led to Crichton's publisher approaching author Richard Preston with a request: to finish the last two-thirds of Crichton's final novel according to the notes Crichton had left behind. Which led to the publication of Micro.
Which leaves me, as a Crichton fan, with one very important question: do I read a Crichton book that isn't really by Crichton?
Micro is not the first time that fans of a particular author find themselves trying to decide if they want to read the next chapter in a story when that chapter's been written by someone else. From Douglas Adams to Robert Jordan, from Robert B. Parker to Frank Herbert, dozens of popular authors who have died before penning the official "end" of their current project have had their novels and series finished out or continued on by someone else. (This is a somewhat different phenomenon from the "pastiche," which is a topic we'll be getting to in the next entry.) And, as you might expect, reactions of fans and critics alike can be -- at best -- mixed.
Often, fans find it more reassuring if the new writer picking up the reins of the story has been approved by the original author. Anne McCaffrey had already handpicked her son, Todd, to continue writing her Dragonriders of Pern series before she passed away. Robert Jordan, author of the popular Wheel of Time series, did not choose his successor -- but Harriet, Jordan's wife and editor, did. Having an author-approved (or relative of the author-approved) replacement often goes a long way towards quelling fans' doubts about the newcomer's ability to produce a worthy sequel.
And, of course, as the saying goes, your mileage may vary. Eoin Colfer was already well-known as the author of the hugely popular Artemis Fowl young adult series when he was commissioned to write another book in the classic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Hitchhiker's Guide series -- books best described as being science fiction comedy -- is a cult classic of stories that started life as a radio comedy broadcast that Adams only later turned into a series of novels. (In keeping with typical Hitchhiker's Guide logic, Adams's five-book series is often referred to as the "Hitchhiker's trilogy.")
While it's true that Adams had always intended on writing a sixth book in the series, he hadn't left behind a half-finished manuscript or a pile of notes and outlines for Hitchhiker's Guide. (Adams did leave behind an unfinished manuscript, but it was for the Dirk Gently book The Salmon of Doubt, which was eventually published in its fragmented form.) Contrast that with Robert Jordan, who left behind complete outlines and copious notes for his Wheel of Time series that replacement author Brandon Sanderson could faithfully follow. This might explain why Jordan's fans felt more satisfied with Jordan's replacement than Adams's fans felt towards Adams's own (as measured by reviews left at Amazon.com and Goodreads.com). Jordan's fans at least have the reassurance that Sanderson is taking the story in a direction the original author not only approved of, but came up with himself. While any Hitchhiker's fan, if choosing to read And Another Thing..., is left with the question: "Is this really a Hitchhiker's book?"
So. Should "replacement" authors be brought in to finish a popular series if an author passes away before the books are completed? Or should creative works be left alone once their creator is gone?
The answer, of course, will always vary from fan to fan, both for book series and for stories beyond the printed page. (Plenty of Trekkies will swear that Star Trek actually got better after the passing of original series creator Gene Roddenberry.) Whether it's a good idea to continue the story beyond what the original creator created is a question fans will debate back and forth forever ... or as long as publishers and production studios keep bringing in newcomers to keep the old stories going.
As for me, I tend to be mistrustful of books that have been finished up or continued on by someone other than the original creator. It's more than outlines and plot points that make up my favorite reads -- it's the life and personalities the author breathes into the characters, and the themes each author touches on, and the style of the writing itself. Those are things I don't think can easily be recreated, no matter how much a newcomer-writer may love the original author's work.
Still, all the same -- I may give Micro a try. I'm intrigued enough by the premise to give a whirl. But then again, that particular book isn't so close to my heart. If Richard Preston ever writes another Jurassic Park book, I'm afraid I'll definitely be out.
-- Post by Ms. B
