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Which SF writer has made us wait the longest for a sequel?
C.J. Cherryh's Regenesis, the sequel to her Hugo-Award-winning Cyteen, was released this month to the delight of her patient fans. We've been waiting for this book since 1988—a span of time during which potential readers could have been born and nearly earned their college degrees!
But Cherryh is not alone among SF authors in keeping her audience waiting on tenterhooks many years for the further adventures of a favorite character—or even for the resolution of a cliffhanger!
To learn who had the longest gap between a book and its follow-up, check out this list of the Top 10 Longest-Delayed Sequels.
1) Jack Vance's The Palace of Love (1967) and The Face (1979)
Kirth Gersen's quest to kill the five Demon Princes who destroyed his world took a break of 12 years. But he caught up with villain Lens Larque at last, before moving on to Howard Alan Treesong in the final volume.
2) Philip Jose Farmer's The Lavalite World (1977) and More Than Fire (1993)
Sixteen years separated the penultimate and final adventures of Kickaha in the World of Tiers. But the concluding volume in the series did pay off with answers to the various mysteries of this strange cosmos.
3) Jack Vance's The Eyes of the Overworld (1966) and Cugel's Saga (1983)
The Dying Earth's chief rogue, Cugel, disappeared for 17 years. That is, if one does not count Michael Shea's intervening authorized excursion, A Quest for Simbilis (1974).
4) Tanith Lee's The Silver Metal Lover (1981) and Metallic Love (2005)
Readers had to wait 24 years to learn more about the love affair between Jane and her android partner Silver. That's undying love!
5) Isaac Asimov's Second Foundation (1953) and Foundation's Edge (1982)
It took 29 years for Asimov to return to the fan favorite Foundation saga. Winning SFWA's Grandmaster Award in 1986 coincided with a fifth book in the series.
6) E.E. Smith's Skylark of Valeron (1934) and Skylark DuQuesne (1965)
The 31 years separating the third and fourth Skylark books saw huge changes in the nature of SF. Old-timer Smith reportedly needed the aid of editor Fred Pohl to get his sequel up to modern standards.
7) Robert Heinlein's Gulf (1949) and Friday (1982)
The mysterious recurring figure of Hartley M. "Kettle Belly" Baldwin is the link between these two works. Naturally, after 33 years, the "Boss" is seen as much older when he instructs heroine and "artificial person" Friday.
8) A.E. van Vogt's The Players of Null-A (1948) and Null-A Three (1984)
Maybe it was critic Damon Knight's famous demolition of van Vogt's writing that caused the author to wait 36 years before taking Gilbert Gosseyn on another outing. But the third book is deemed almost non-canonical by John Wright, who penned Null-A Continuum (2008).
9) Walter M. Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) and Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman (1997)
One of the most anticipated sequels in SF languished for 38 years due to Walter Miller's writing block. It took the talents of co-author Terry Bisson to complete the tale.
10) Jack Williamson's One Against the Legion (1939) and The Queen of the Legion (1983)
Our winner? Jack Williamson, who went from a stripling of 31 to a graybeard of 75 in the 44 years that intervened in the adventures of Giles Habibula, Jay Kalam and Hal Samdu. But his youthful enthusiasm changed not a whit.
By Rickster at 6:43 AM ON 01/21/09
Great list, but I'd like to add Larry Niven's "The Mote in God's Eye" (1974) and its sequel "The Gripping Hand" (1993). With a 19-year gap, that beats a few of these.
By smgalliand at 6:53 AM ON 01/21/09
It was mentioned in your top ten list under the Robert Heinlein entry that the heroine of Friday was an andriod. That is incorrect. The heroine is an "artificial person" or "living artifact" as the stated in the book. She was a being created by artificial insemination who was identical to normal human beings except for genetic changes to induce special talents. The heroine is human and fully-functional enough to have an human child at the end of the book.
By John Duncan Yoyo at 6:57 AM ON 01/21/09
Niven and Pournelle have another long delayed sequel coming to _Inferno_ (1976). _Escape from Hell_ comes out in February. That one is thirty years.
By Lucien21 at 7:56 AM ON 01/21/09
David Gerrold wrote the War against Chtorr novels in the late 80's early 90's with the last one being 1993.
Still waiting for the sequels so that's 16 years and counting.
By ericlklein at 8:28 AM ON 01/21/09
Article would hold up better if author knew the material. Friday was a gene spliced human not an android.
By Kobiashi Maru at 9:41 AM ON 01/21/09
Let us not forget the "Grandfather" of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Ray Bradbury, who made us wait 50 years for FAREWELL SUMMER, the sequel to DANDELION WINE
By adamafan at 9:51 AM ON 01/21/09
And lets not forget Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune, the 2 part finale to Chapterhouse: Dune by Frank Herbert (Granted they were finished by his son, but they used his notes and outlines, so it still counts) 1986-2006,07. thats 20-21 years
By Slipperytrick at 10:10 AM ON 01/21/09
What about Dark Tower? I think that falls into this category...people were writing to Stephen King from death row begging for the end...before the end :P
By Josh Man at 10:27 AM ON 01/21/09
This list makes me feel a little better about the wait I've endured for the new Song of Ice and Fire book from George R.R. Martin
By UnRiel at 10:48 AM ON 01/21/09
Steven R. Boyett has anounced a sequel to 1983 novel Ariel called Elegy Beach due in November, for a span of 26 years. Now if we can get him to finish the Architect of Sleep trilogy.
By Reddist at 11:15 AM ON 01/21/09
While not _precisely_ sequels, I'd like to see another novel w/ the Jack and Felix characters, from John Steakley.
By Dean Stow at 11:54 AM ON 01/21/09
Don't forget Robert Heinlein's Methuselah's Children (1941) followed by Time Enough For Love (1973). This comes to 32 years.
By agsb at 12:16 PM ON 01/21/09
I wish your list would extend to TV-MOVIE sequels. I also wish they would leave Classic TV-MOVIES alone.
By Matt at 12:51 PM ON 01/21/09
A.E. van Vogt is the winner for the 61 year gap between Slan (1946) and Slan Hunter (2007). The 2nd book while written by his widow and Kevin Anderson,was based on an unfinished draft by van Vogt.
By Kevin at 1:28 PM ON 01/21/09
While "Friday" was not an android, as several have pointed out, the main character in Charlie Stross' "Saturn's Children" is an android who sometimes uses the alias "F----- Baldwin."
"Saturn's Children" very much reads like a sequel to "Friday" and has numerous references back to Heinlein's work.
By Jim at 2:01 PM ON 01/21/09
"The Last Dangerous Visions" is at 36 years and counting...
By SCI FI Wire Staff at 2:05 PM ON 01/21/09
While "android" is a very slippery term which covers a lot of territory, as Heinlein did indeed use the words "artificial person," we've made that correction. Thanks for pointing it out!
By Roadking at 7:58 PM ON 01/21/09
To Lucien21: Indeed I'm still holding out for a finish to the Chtorr series...It's been long enough that I should be a master of Mode Training by now (now watch Mr. Gerrold grit his teeth if he reads that!!)
By bormandg at 7:07 AM ON 01/22/09
One must separate some necessary sequels (for example the fifth Gersen episode), when the book had an unfinished part, left some unanswered questions on which the writer himself would need a time to think, and useless sequels, returns on closed stories for editorial or money reasons (e.g. the Foundation and Robots sequels).
Not forgetting that readers may have different opinions about in which category some book must be placed. For one case, until I have read it, I do not have an a priori opinion about Regenesis .
By TroyB at 3:12 PM ON 01/22/09
I'm with Lucien21 here. Been waiting for the next Chtorr novel from David Gerrold for way too long. What makes it worse...according to his website, it's been completed for several years.
By ctcraig at 9:01 PM ON 01/22/09
I also have to go with David Gerrold... Still waiting
By King Rat at 2:18 AM ON 01/23/09
a) I don't think "sequels" by other people should count.
b) While it doesn't yet make this list, Card and Kidd's Lovelock sequel is now 15 years from its progenitor. I suspect it will eventually make the list, as I doubt it will ever get published.
By Blaze at 12:22 PM ON 01/24/09
I have to call shenanigans on some of these waiting periods. A "sequel" is when the book does not end. It may have a cliff-hanger or just unfinished business, but we need the next book to continue the tale.
Many of the books on your list are... "continuations". "Revisits". Some mix of: "The fans have been pestering me for years and I can't take it any more." and/or "The temptation of a fat cheque is too great to resist any longer."
By StJack at 5:18 AM ON 01/25/09
Melanie Rawn...Six great books in her Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogies in fairly rapid order, then two more in a new trilogy followed. And I've been waiting 13 freaking years for book three. Adding insult to injury she's been writing a completely new series and shows no signs of finishing the cliffhanger she left all her fans on more than a decade ago.
By lmurp02 at 11:20 AM ON 01/30/09
I'm still waiting for Samuel R. Delany's "The Splendor and Misery of Bodies, of Cities", the followup to "Stars In My Pocket Like Grains of Sand". Right now, 24 years and counting.
By Lady Bluehawk at 12:09 AM ON 02/03/09
Eighteen years between Barry Hughart's _Eight Skilled Gentlemen_ and another book in the incomparable _Chronicles of Master Li_ series (_Bridge of Birds_, _Story of the Stone_, ESG, and four more that should've been written already, but Barry's publishers screwed with him so much he quit in disgust). Hmm, since it's a series, I guess it wouldn't fit your definitions of "sequels" at all, but it would be appreciated...still waiting, BH!
By John Wright at 12:54 PM ON 03/06/09
John Crowley, who is one of our field thanks to his success with LITTLE, BIG, deserves a mention for the long wait between Aegypt (renamed 'The Solitudes') published in 1987, Love & Sleep in 1994, Dæmonomania in 2000, and Endless Things in 2007. It is one self-contained story in four volumes. That is a twenty year gap, which is respectable.
JCW
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John Wright:
John Crowley, who is one of our field thanks to his success with LITTLE, BIG, deserves a mention for the long wait ...More »