Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Best Sequels

For more info on this meme go to The Broke and The Bookish
1. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - Since the games already ended and Katniss and Peeta have been declared winners, I thought, well, the excitement might fan down in book 2. But I was mistaken. The Quarter Quell is much more nail-bitingly intense. Plus, it has really great character developments and just as much of an emotional roller coaster as the first. This ended up as my favorite among the trilogy.  

 2. Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner - Book 1, while good, was a bit of a sleeper for me. And then comes Queen of Attolia with amazing political intrigue and a plot that never goes where you think it would. It's like having the rug pulled out from under you, over and over.

 3. Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud - This has just more of everything from the 1st book. More magic, more political intrigue, more mystery, and the characters become more layered too. 

 4. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien - This is a great sequel because it brings much more excitement to Frodo's Quest. Starting with the resurrection of Gandalf. That in itself is just amazing. The book could have ended right there. Just kidding. This book also explored Middle Earth more, with talking trees called the Ents, a spider called Shelob, and see a new land called Rohan, and then get to see more of Gollum driving Sam and Frodo crazy. 

 5. Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan - I enjoyed this sequel because of the new guys, Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang both of whom are great characters with really good back stories and awesome powers. These two, I think made the otherwise usual adventure story much more engaging. Besides they are characters which are interesting enough and would make the readers to follow their journey onto the next books.

 6. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman - As a follow up to book 1, this present a much more complex story than the first.  The whole science-religion dichotomy becomes more prominent this time around and the characters are faced with problems and dilemmas that are larger than life. There are parallel worlds involved, angels, and wiches, and truths and lies.  

 7. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin - A Game of Thrones was great, and A Clash of Kings followed it up with escalating political intrigue and more unexpected plot twists. I don't think I can forget the really epic Battle of Blackwater. 

 Technically the ones below aren't sequels in a sense that they aren't the second books in the series, but they are the third and the fourth sequels respectively   

8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (#3) by J.K. Rowling - I think this is the installment that goes a bit darker than the first two, and I think that is the good route for this series to finally take.  

9. Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire (#4) by J.K. Rowling - I think this is a solid fourth book and one of my favorites because it introduces a variety of new characters from other magical schools and then thrown in a puzzle-oriented competition that ties itself to the Voldemort hoopla and I'm sold. 

 That'a about it. How about you? Do tell me about what you consider as the best sequels in the comments section. 

Comments

  1. lillylilacSeptember 24, 2013 at 2:25 PM

    Great list, I loved The Son of Neptune due in large part because I loved Hazel and Frank as well and I also love A Clash of Kings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TinSeptember 24, 2013 at 7:42 PM

      Hi lillylilac! I am glad to know that you love Hazel and Frank too! Too few people do, when they all should. Hihi. And yes A Clash of Kings is amazing! I am currently reading A Storm of Swords which I think is even more amazing. :)

      Delete
  2. LynaiSeptember 26, 2013 at 12:27 AM

    That Philip Pullman series has long been waiting for me to read it. Might as well bump it higher on my to-read shelf. :) And yay to Clash of Kings! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TinSeptember 26, 2013 at 7:54 PM

      Yes Lynai, definitely bump it up. It's really different from other series that I've read because it's not only a purely straight up fantasy but it's a bit steampunk, and a bit sci-fi.

      And ACOK! But as we plow through ASOS now, I think it's even better! :D

      Delete

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