Does 'Ask For Andrea' Have A Sequel?

Re-reading Feed this past week, the end still feels like it’s permanently sealed. Wendy and Anderson are just not novelists to write traditional sequels to works. Instead, the author continues to craft alternate universes full of thought-provoking themes, where there are no guarantees that even primary characters will be returned to in future works. Rather, the majority of Anderson’s novels, including Feed, serve as perfect stand-alone examples of his innovative work. For a critique of extreme consumerism through the lens of extreme technology, Feed is absolute perfection, a thematic capsule that would only begin to suffer were Anderson to proceed to write a direct sequel to follow the remaining lives of Titus and Violet. Though thought-provoking in its own right, other novels by the author are equally excellent in terms of scope, alternative historical settings and engaging thematic commentary. Octavian Nothing, for example, is comprised of two novels: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Tale #1: The Poes(es), and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Tale #2: The Bride of Book ‘T’. To acquire exposure to more of Anderson’s tremendously incisive writing, look to those. This is a book that needs to be a capsule of an idea – a specific, perfect moment in time to convey a particular message. Adding more to Feed would somehow dilute the perfectness of the ending, explain away the ambiguity that has lingered so hauntingly with me ever since.

He might be gay and trying to figure out if you’re in a relationship with someone who is too, or if you know someone who is single and cute. Or he might be interested in one of your guy friends! I’ve asked female friends about their guy friends in the past because I had a crush on one of their friends, not them. This is a way to get information about someone without being too forward. The landscape of possibilities is so much wider than ‘he likes you’ or ‘he’s just making talk’. Consider his social circle for starters. Does he have lots of female friends? Is he generally inquiring as to the relationships of the people around him? His whole personality, not just that one question, is more relevant here.

'The Wish' is a complete and perfect story. But if I had to write a sequel, I would want it to be a prequel to the first person who ever made a wish. How did the rules of the entity come to be? Did it always twist the wishes of the desire-less, or did it become more bitter over the centuries? That could make for a really interesting book and leave 'The Wish' intact.

I’ve come up with a chart of clues which outline the plot in a sense. The dying man asks a question, a photograph on a dead man leads to the Bassington-ffrenchs, a suspicious car accident that killed a man named Savage, a frantic, drugged young man searching for something at the Grange, and the connection to the psychic society (which is really just a front to gather information to manipulate people). Each clue basically leads the reader further into the story. The only mistake the villains made was killing the wrong brother first. The good brother, the brother who asked questions, died falling off the cliff. If they had killed the greedy brother first, then the rest of the plot would have worked. But because of his greed, he kept the other brother with him to impersonate the good brother later. Full of ironic, character-driven flaws.

No. I'm good with that. The movie exists and is fun to watch. So, there is no need for the movie to be expanded. Not every story needs to be developed into a long, sprawling film. The need for more in our culture is exhausting. Let this fun and simple comedy be what it is: a short and sweet film that is a complete package in and of itself. It is a complete film, in the sense that you get to see it, laugh at it, and feel good about it. And sometimes that is enough. You don’t need to be sat down and forced to think about other films in order to get the most out of it. It is a cinematic snack. Most people go to the cinema to see films as ‘snacks’ rather than as seven-course meals. You don’t need a sequel to your bag of chips.

I'm unaware of any sequel to this book. I looked on Goodreads and major book retailers, but there is no listing for “Book 2” under this title. This novel is a standalone. If you enjoyed this book, you might look into the rest of the YA mystery/thriller novels by authors like Maureen Johnson, Caleb Roehrig, and Kara Thomas. These books are similarly tense and character-driven, and might scratch that same itch as this novel. The hunt for another good book can be almost as enjoyable as the book itself, and can even lead to new favorite authors. So branch out a bit!

That looks and sounds like a pretty intense storyline – way out of my area of expertise, especially considering I mostly read science fiction. This looks like a pretty hardcore action-packed story. I may have to read this one.

I also read somewhere that Radcliffe was going to do a sequel from the landlady's point of view but couldn't write it because then she would be too human. He said that he couldn’t give her an internal monologue because then she would be less of a force of nature and less of a monster. There are a few interesting interview clips online where Radcliffe discusses this conundrum.

Ever since I managed to get my hands on my old CD for “Heretic” I’ve been doing some reading up on the game’s legacy. The sequels to “Heretic” are “Hexen: Beyond Heretic” and “Hexen II” and essentially they are darker, meatier versions of the original with much more lore to the world of the game as well as much more difficult and creepy bosses. There’s also “Heretic II” which is an oddball third-person Isometric POV game that even to this day causes a large divide in the fans of the series. My personal favorite in the Heretic-series of games is “Hexen” due to the very dark, very twisted and very, very long and winding levels that snaked about in very unique and moody ways. I wish Raven Software would make a new game set in this very dark world.

The film adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs was a perfect storm of good writing and amazing performances that caught the public’s consciousness at the right time. Lecter was solidified in the public’s minds as ‘real’ in a way that the book had not alone managed to do. Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of the character was so specific and complete that people forgot he was an actor playing a role. In fact, many people, to this day, confuse him with the character. It was that performance that led to the first serious looking into the ‘is he real?’ questions in earnest. His portrayal was so real that it created its own reality, independent of the material that inspired it.