Win the following bundle of books by leaving a comment and giving us the honest scoop on how you feel about all the sequels to classics.  Good, bad?  Okay but overdone.  Tell us how you feel and why!  US only, one winner.

DARCY’S STORY by Janet Aylmer,
PORTRAIT OF AN UNKNOWN WOMAN by Janet Aylmer
AND ONLY TO DECEIVE by Tasha Alexander
THE SIXTH WIFE by Suzannah Dunn
CASSANDRA AND JANE by Jill Pitkeathley

I don’t really care for the sequels.  The Classics are Classics for a reason.  Now…the parodies, those I really like. 

Great BBAW this year!

I like some of them, but only if they maintain the spirit of the author. BBAW was incredible!

Honestly, I’m really not a fan on sequels to classics, particularly the ones that are overdone.  Jane Austen sequels are like the equivalent of Tudor fiction, even if they are good there are just too darn many of them.

I admit I struggle a bit with the sequels to classics.  I mean, the classics have earned their spots in history and I strive to read as many of them as I can… I want to be able to talk about the great ones.

Then these sequels come along and while some look as thought they could be fun (I also admit that some draw me in) I feel that the classic should stand alone.

Sequels to classics tend to be a double-edged sword.  We have all wanted to find out the rest of the story to some of our favorite stories and learn what happens to our favorite characters.  Unfortunately, our expectations are so high that any sequel is bound to fall below them, leaving us disappointed and wishing that a sequel had never been written.  Sometimes, the best story is one left alone, where each reader can imagine their own ending which leaves them satisfied.

Hmm…I seem to be in the minority here, but I just love them.  Sequels, rewrites, adaptations and manipulations, parodies, any way to keep the classics alive is alright by me.  I don’t like every sequel I read any more than I like every classic I read or every mystery, romance, YAL, and so on, but I do enjoy the opportunity to look at classic stories and characters in a new way.

I didn’t really take them seriously and now there are just way to many.  Overkill.  Classics are in there own category.

At first glance I was sick of the Darcy sequels. But they are all focusing on different characters from the myriad if different Regency characters, plus adding their own. While I am not a fan of the Zombies genre or sea monsters from Quirk Publishing, I would have an open mind to all the others .
Although they seem to focus on Mr Darcy because of their titles, the Darcy & Anne book focused on Anne, a cousin of Darcy. The Other Mr Darcy focuses on Caroline Bingley, whom we met as a stuffy character in P& P.

The classics will always be classics. Those who wish to continue to revel in a good clean story with romance & humor will not go wrong reading a spinoff. When someone enjoys genres like Tudor fiction or Regency, we cannot get enough of them even though they are not a favorite for others.

I don’t mind them, I just think the idea has gotten a bit overblown.  Some of them are wonderful and well worth the time…others not so much. 

There are some fabulous titles in this package!  Please enter me!

thetometraveller *at* yahoo (dot) com

I am not sure how to answer this. I haven’t read as many Classics as I would like to get a definitive opinion on this.  I don’t like a sequel if it is an ill attempt to just make a name for yourself off a classic. I am always more than willing to give one a try if I love the first one though.

What do I think of sequels to classics? I guess I am ok with them if that is what you like. I have not read many of the classics either but I do know the stories, as I prefered to watch the BBC or PBS movies.  I did read a couple sequels and they were ok.
I thought i would try and change my mind on them so this week I purchased Pride and Prejudice and Zombies… yikes. I know this is not the typical sequel, I have to say that it is probly the worse book I have read in awhile. I am going to have a heck of a time finishing this novel. I will though. I should have know though with zombies in the title…

Well I just now found out that they made sequels to classics..lol. I haven’t read any but I have a few of Jane Austen sequels, etc to read. Though I must admit now that I have found them they seem to be in abundance which could get old real fast. To much of a good thing.

I’m mixed on them.  Some I’ve liked, some I haven’t.  Terrific giveaway though.  Please enter me!!

I will read them if it seems the angle is unique.  Classics are classics, but that doesn’t mean that others can’t add to them.  They won’t be the same quality or even be considered as ‘sequels,’ but they could still be fun.

I love sequels! Just can’t get enough of them. I always wonder about what comes next and love to read what other people’s visions entail. How can you go wrong (as long as the book it well written)? Great giveaway!

Most sequels to classics are bad, but some authors manage to pull them off.

So far, I’ve enjoyed them.  I recently read The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy by Maya Slater and I really liked it (reviewed on my blog).  I won two books last week from a fellow book blogger’s giveaway that are sequels to P & P…The Pemberley Chronicles and My Cousin Caroline by Rebecca Ann Collins.  Looking forward to reading them!

Even though they are being written as sequels, I try to read the books as their own entities.  And usually when I can do that I can then evaluate them the way I would any book.  I don’t know that it’s fair to judge a writer based on your expectations of the original author.  On true sequels I will do that, but when a new writer comes in to play, I just try to imagine the book as a whole new entity.

As long as they are well written and interesting, I’ll read it, even if they are really really different from the original.  Mr. Darcy as a vampire, for instance, was something fun that I hadn’t considered prior to reading Amanda Grange’s book.

I think that authors who write sequels to classics are very brave.  It’s hard for any book to live up to the original classic, but I have read a few that are enjoyable.  I do think that I read them with lower expectations than I read the original.

For the most part I don’t like sequels, but I have read one or two that weren’t a complete disappointment

Some are really fun—actually I like the modern takes (like Bridget Jones, Confessions of Jane Austen Addict) better than the sequels. Some work, some don’t. The Jasper Fforde Jane Erye book was another one I liked.

I’m not sure I love sequels, but if there are original spin-offs, about non-main characters (really, I wouldn’t mess with Mr. Darcy) I think they might be fun.  I really don’t want to hear about the after-married lives of Austen’s characters anyway.  And I don’t particularly like the Austen with supernatural elements either.  But, some can be fun.

I enjoy reading sequels to classics, although I’ve never found one that was equal to the origina.  They’re fun and give me options of what happened to the characters.

To be honest I don’t think I have read any sequels to the classics!  But what made them classics?  Some because they were new, unusual, progressive for their time?  So why not sequels that give them an up to day push? 
Thanks for the contest!