A Magic 8-Ball Reviews 15 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Prequels

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Outcome: Reply hazy, try again
Suzanne Collins just surprised everyone with the announcement that a new novel in her incredibly successful, movie-spawning, subgenre-defining Hunger Games series will be hit shelves in May 2020. Information is thin on the ground at this point, but we know the prequel will be set about 64 years before the original series, during the the 10th Hunger Games, and will dig into the period of rebuilding after the rebellion referred to as the Dark Days. More Hunger Games action is always welcome, and while it is the doom of ill-advised prequels to overexplain, we have a lot of confidence in Collins as a writer. The challenge will be in crafting an ending to the prequel that satisfies despite the fact that we all know that it will be decades before real change comes to the bread and circuses dystopia of Panem.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by J.K. Rowling
Potterheads the world over rejoiced at the news that J.K. Rowling was returning to the Wizarding World to write the screenplay for a film trilogy set decades before the start of the Harry Potter saga, telling the largely unrelated (we thought) story of a hapless young wizard named Newt Scamander, who we all knew would eventually go on to write the in-universe textbook on sale at Flourish & Blotts. But the ending of the first movie revealed closer ties to Harry’s story than we might’ve expected—and after the first film did big business, the studio behind them announced that the trilogy was suddenly going to be five films, which is a lot of Newt Scamander. Reaction to the second movie, The Crimes of Grindelwald, was decidedly mixed, as many fans felt Rowling had muddled the worldbuilding by answering questions no one had asked with answers no one liked (the problematic identity of Voldemort’s beloved snake Nagini being a chief example). Time will tell whether all five films will actually be made, meaning at this point, the outlook for this prequel remains as hazy as a foggy night in the Forbidden FOrest.

When the Tripods Came, by John Christopher
Outcome: My reply is no
John Christopher’s original Tripods trilogy is classic of proto-YA science fiction, beloved by generations for its combination of grim horror and simple spirit of adventure. It’s got everything, from rebellious teens, to mind control, to a desperate underground resistance, to truly horrifying aliens (the Masters) who keep human beings as something akin to draft animals—or pets. Two decades after the release of the final book in the original trio, Christopher published this prequel, partly in response to criticisms (most notably levied by Brian Aldiss) that the aliens’ technology didn’t seem robust enough to conquer a world that had recently invented things like radar and atomic weaponry. While it’s a well-written book, and certainly entertaining in its own right, the explanation of how the Masters used mind control to conquer the world is underwhelming (and a bit silly), and ultimately it all just feels kind of ancillary.

Prelude to Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
Outcome: Outlook good
Asimov’s sprawling Foundation series didn’t exactly require a prequel offering a detailed account of Hari Seldon’s early life, but the author pulled it off with panache, and used the opportunity to link his most popular series with his second most popular series—the I, Robot novels—by revealing a crucial character in the former is in fact R. Daneel Olivaw, a primary character from the latter. In one fell swoop, the Foundation and Empire universe grew even larger than it already was—and it was pretty darn huge to begin with. While Seldon as a character can’t quite live up to  his lofty status as established in the original series, that actually aligns well with Asimov’s theme of how history becomes legend, and allows him to demonstrate how Seldon actually came to hatch his epic Foundation scheme in the first place. If Seldon were a flawless genius from page one, it would have been a pretty dull story.

Prelude to Dune, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Outcome: Outlook hazy
If there’s one thing Dune fans love to argue about, its whether the prequels published by Frank Herbert’s son Brian and co-author Kevin J. Anderson do too much to explore the backstory of one of sci-fi’s most iconic settings. Drawing from notes left behind by the elder Herbert, Brian Herbert and Anderson have spun out prequels in the double-digits, with entire trilogies exploring conflicts and historical periods that were only fleetingly mentioned in the original series. There’s nothing wrong with the stories they tell, or even the writing—it’s just that, while they are set in his universe, the books often don’t feel anything like Herbert’s originals. The settings and characters are the same, but the pacing is faster and the tone less formal and weighty. To be fair, Brian Herbert and Anderson are their own people and any attempt to mimic Frank Herbert’s epic-poem-by-way-of-space-opera style would likely not work at all—but the dichotomy between the two makes them just the sort of books fans will argue about forever.

The Star Wars Prequels
Outcome: My sources say no
Perhaps the most infamous prequels in history, the story of Anakin Skywalker’s devolution into Darth Vader and the concurrent fall of the Galactic Republic should have been an easy win for George Lucas. Instead we got stiff dialog, plodding plot work, and whatever the heck midichlorians were supposed to be. While the prequel movies have their pleasures—especially for the generation of fans who grew up alongside them—they remain first and foremost a missed opportunity, failing to expand the universe much beyond what fans already knew (though they did provide excellent fodder for internet memes… or have you not heard the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?). This entry does come with a caveat, however: if we expand the definition of prequels a bit to include, say, the Clone Wars and Rebels animated series, not to mention the excellent Rogue One and the… well, ok, less excellent Solo, the outlook for the prequels improves a great deal.

Belgarath the Sorcerer, by David and Leigh Eddings
Outcome: Signs point to yes
The Belgariad and The Mallorean are absolutely huge epics, but like most outsized series in epic fantasy, they hint at and refer to an equally epic back story spanning seven-and-a-half centuries of fictional history lived personally by the sorcerer Belgarath, first disciple of the god Aldur; and his daughter Polgara. The prequel novel Belgarath the Sorcerer and a second prequel, Polgara the Sorceress, are told as memoirs written by the title characters, and as such, they work well as extensions of the story we already know. Not only are these two characters a lot of fun to spend time with, but the choice to deliver their backstories via first person accounts injects a lot of personality and fun into the proceedings. It puts less weight on the grand import of the events we already sort of know about, and simply makes them feel… real.

The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, by Philip Pullman
Outcome: Most likely
Fans have been waiting for Pullman’s full-throated return to the universe of His Dark Materials since 2005, when he first announced he was working on a new series. La Belle Sauvage arrived in 2017 and surprised everyone by being a prequel telling the story of the efforts to protect an infant Lyra as she was pursued by various nefarious forces (the other books in the Book of Dust trilogy will apparently not be prequels—he’s suggested the books be collectively described as a “quel”). As with all of Pullman’s work, this isn’t a random decision or simply the path of least resistance—he always has a reason for his literary decisions, and the general theme the new trilogy is exploring is consciousness, why we are who we are, which makes exploring origins an ideal plot on which to hang his fantastic storytelling. And it certainly is a great read—we can’t wait to see how he follows it up this fall in The Secret Commonwealth.

The Magician’s Nephew, by C.S. Lewis
Outcome: It is certain
Prequels are hardly a new phenomenon. While younger readers might encounter this book as the first in the Chronicles of Narnia series (some boxed sets number them chronologically), it was actually published sixth, and Lewis intended it to be read sixth. Telling the story of Narnia’s creation and the foundation of its original dynamic and features (including how a lamppost from a London street turned up in the middle of a Narnian forest), what’s masterful about the story is that it’s not reliant on being a prequel—the main adventure stands alone perfectly well, and only connects directly to the beginnings of Narnia at the end, and the scene of Narnia being brought into existence is, in a word, awesome.

Four: A Divergent Collection, by Veronica Roth
Outcome: Reply hazy, try again
These shorts stories are really more of a novella with an episodic structure, telling the story of Tobias Eaton’s journey from abused boy to being Four, member of Dauntless and eventual love of Tris’ life. The thing is, while a fine adventure, this prequel is largely what we on the internet call fan service: it adds very little to the Divergent universe and removes some great mystery from Four’s character—several scenes were even taken from the original series but rewritten from new perspectives. The story is interesting, and Four’s evolution is compelling, but the best prequels shed new light on what’s come before (or is that after?), and this one doesn’t..

The Genesis Fleet series, by Jack Campbell
Outcome: It is certain
Jack Campbell is very good at military sci-fi, and is one of the best writers of epic space battles in the genre. What’s surprising about his prequel to his Lost Fleet series is the change in stakes: where the original series dealt with a mature navy and battles involving a lot of ships and the complex tactics and strategies necessitated by such huge forces, going back to the beginnings of the formation of an interstellar Alliance means starting the story with, well, just one ship. That instantly changes the dynamics of the story Campbell is telling, allowing the prequels to feel fresh and compelling, revealing new aspects of the universe and giving fans a whole different reading experience.

The Kharkanas trilogy, by Steven Erikson
Outcome: You may rely on it.
Steven Erikson’s prequel series to the fantastic, unbelievably epic Malazan Book of the Fallen might seem unnecessary at first, because the backstory it’s telling—the split of the Tiste into the Andii, Liosan and Edur, the Jaghut war on Death—are actually pretty well covered in the original books. But Erikson’s a special kind of a genius, and he uses the prequels to explicitly explore how events turn into myths and legends and are corrupted in the process. This means that no matter how well you think you know Erikson’s universe, there are delightful surprises throughout—and the prequels, constructed as a story being told in person, are as well-written and deeply imagined as the originals.

The Kill Order, by James Dashner
Outcome: You may rely on it
Dashner’s Maze Runner series combined a puzzle-box structure with post-apocalyptic zombie insanity, layering multiple mysteries on top of one another. The prequel is in some ways a better story, even though it’s treading on slightly more familiar ground, in the sense that it’s yet another story about the end of the world and the rise of the zombie hordes. The secret is the grim, nonstop action Dashner infuses into the narrative; he does a great job of making the reader feel the exhausted terror his characters experience as flares take down civilization, a virus is unleashed, and day-to-day living becomes an endless grind of fight and flight. This is one of the rare moments when reading the prequel first might actually be a good idea, as it leads directly into the original series, perfectly setting the table for what’s to come.

The First King of Shannara, by Terry Brooks
Outcome: Reply hazy, try again
Even by epic fantasy standards, Shannara is a bit extra, comprising a breathtaking number of novels (nearly forty, with more scheduled), plus a TV series. It’s a deeply-imagined science fantasy universe—sure, it started off as a pretty flagrant Tolkien riff, but it quickly evolves into something unique. The problem with the prequel novel The First King of Shannara is a classic one: No matter how good a job Brooks does with the story, there is a complete lack of surprise at every turn of its plot, because all of the major outcomes are predetermined. This makes reading the book a study in pushing through battles and conflicts that you know can only end one way. In other words, it’s totally worth reading if you’re a fan, but not likely to show up on anyone’s list of Shannara essentials.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Fire & Blood: A Targaryen History, by George R.R. Martin
Outcome: You may rely on it
The year 1998 was a more optimistic time for fans of A Song of Ice and Fire. A Clash of Kings had just arrived, solidifying Martin’s literary comeback as one of the greatest ever, and confirming that the still-unfolding series was something special. Published that year, The Hedge Knight was a prequel novella (the first of three eventually collected in this book, along with The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight) following the adventures of knight-for-hire Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire (and future king) Aegon “Egg” Targaryen in a time roughly 90 years before the events of the main series. The duo’s adventures are a kind of platonic ideal for prequels—they expand the universe, fill in a lot of extra information, and are a lot of fun to read. They can be enjoyed even if you’ve never read the main series (but, seriously, don’t do that). Last year’s Fire & Blood is a dicier proposition: at a time when readers were desperate for The Winds of Winter, the idea of 700 pages of backstory about the dynasty of the dragon-riding Targaryens—written as in-universe history no less—it felt something like a gift no one asked for. But if you actually read it, you’ll find it’s full of the kind of rich detail, unexpected humor, and vast scope that makes A Song of Ice and Fire so addictive. We’ll happily absorb the second volume when it comes out—which will hopefully be after A Dream of Spring.

New Spring, by Robert Jordan
Outcome: Reply hazy, try again
Robert Jordan’s prequel to the mammoth Wheel of Time series appeared at exactly the wrong time, just when fans were in a boil over the impression—not too far off the mark—that time had actually stopped (or even reversed itself) in the WoT narrative, which increasingly seemed to take hundreds of pages to describe even minor plot progressions. So the author taking time to put out a prequel that didn’t add much to the main story wasn’t greeted with excitement; Jordan apparently planned two more but scrapped the idea to concentrate on the main series when the reception wasn’t what he’d hoped for. Now that the whole thing is over and done with (even if it was finished by a different author), where does New Spring stand? It’s a good read, to be honest, and far more tightly plotted than the main series even at its best—but its additions the the narrative are inessential. (We’d recommend reading it anyway—if you’ve read four million words, what’s another hundred thousand?)