chabot@miles.DEC (05/09/85)
Er, I have a feeling that when _The_Secret_Country_ was printed, the details about the sequel hadn't been hashed out. Since this is a first novel, it's possible a publisher would be VERY hesitant about admitting/committing to further novels. Last time I asked, my source said probably January. I know people who won't buy the first book in a series unless all the books are available. This is so STUPID!! If the first book doesn't sell, who says there's going to be any more, especially if it's a first novel. And, by the time the sequel is out, the first book is almost definitely out of print--*sooo* much for collecting the whole series. Okay, _Chanur's_Venture_ is even worse of a cliff-hanger, and it's not announced either (Spike at Science Fantasy Bookstore had the courtesy to warn me). At least we know the characters are ALIVE and well in _The_Secret_Country_. Zelazny's _Jack_of_Shadows_ ends FALLING OFF A CLIFF (none of this measly hanging business), and, no, there's no sequel. Hell, there's no sequel to _Gone_with_the_Wind_, really. I've read uncountable ( == >4 ) books in series that had no indication that they had prequels or sequels; first publications of the first book in a series often have this problem. I've read serials that the magazine goes out of business before the next month. Life is risky. "Only the mockingbird sings at the edge of the woods," L S Chabot ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabot chabot%amber.dec@decwrl.arpa