The Story Beside the Story: 6 of the Best SFF and Horror Sidequels
A sidequel (also called a paraquel) is a type of spinoff set in the same world as the original fictional work. Unlike a sequel, which happens after the main story, sidequels happen at approximately the same time.
Because sidequel is a relatively new term, the definition is loose. Sidequels can have characters or settings that are the same as, or different from, the original, if they take place in the same fictional world at around the same time. Suzanne Collins’ spinoff novels to her Hunger Games series, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping, are definitely prequels, not sidequels. Yes, they explore side characters, but they are set decades before Katniss’s story. Sarah J. Maas’s sidequel novel Tower of Dawn takes place at the same time as another book in her Throne of Glass series, Empire of Storms, but follows a supporting character from the series.
Many retellings take the form of sidequels. If you’ve ever wondered what a secondary character was thinking or doing during the main narrative, sidequels may intrigue you. March by Geraldine Brooks is a historical novel about Robert March’s experiences as a chaplain in the Union Army during the Civil War. His wife and daughters are the main characters in Little Women. Sidequels can also offer new perspectives on characters who are usually vilified. Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror have great potential for sidequels because they often have rich world-building, and readers can explore new lore and places within the main setting.
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Elizabeth is Victor Frankenstein’s bride, whom the Creature murders on her wedding night. White’s innovations in this retelling include making Victor a serial murderer, not merely a grave robber. It might not have been obvious in Shelley’s time, but it makes sense that Victor Frankenstein would use fresh corpses for his experiments. From the cover blurb, I was afraid this novel would use the ableist “descent into madness” trope, but it subverts it in surprising ways.
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
In the ancient Hindu epic the Ramayana, Kaikeyi is a queen who banishes her husband’s son, the god Rama. Because of this, many readers interpret her as evil in the original text. In a 2023 interview, Patel explained her fascination with Kaikeyi, who’s much more complicated than some people think. She’s strong and is treated unfairly. Because Kaikeyi’s husband had several wives, her story doesn’t quite fit the European “evil stepmother” type. Narendra Modi’s government banned the novel’s publication in India.
Hera by Jennifer Saint
Hera, Zeus’s wife in the ancient Greek pantheon, is often characterized as jealous. In ancient myths, Zeus frequently transformed himself into animals and raped human women. In this novel, Hera isn’t jealous of Zeus’s victims but furious and humiliated by Zeus’s behavior. She thinks it’s hypocritical that she’s the patron goddess of marriage while Zeus is a sexual predator. The novel incorporates figures like Hercules and asks whether gods need mortals more than the reverse.
Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch
In Arthurian legends, Morgan le Fay is King Arthur’s half-sister. Here, like in the legends, Morgan is educated in a convent and later becomes a powerful witch. Morgan is traditionally depicted as a villain. Instead, this series makes it clear that Merlin is a villain and rapist, not a benign mentor. Le Fay is the second book of Keetch’s ongoing, excellent Morgan le Fay trilogy. King Arthur comes to power during the timeline of Keetch’s novels, but he’s not the focus.
Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong
This historical fantasy takes place a few years after Gong’s These Violent Delights duology and follows a side character. Foul Lady Fortune’s protagonist, Rosalind Lang, is a cousin of Juliette Cai, a main character in These Violent Delights. Rosalind can’t die and doesn’t need to sleep. These magical traits make her an ideal spy and assassin. The novel is set in a fantasy version of 1930s Shanghai, when Japan invaded China.
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
This fantasy novel reimagines Jordan Baker, the socialite and star golfer from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby, as the adopted Vietnamese daughter of white parents. The story is unique while brilliantly incorporating F. Scott Fitzgerald’s themes, characters, and style. It adds magic to the allure and danger of the era of Prohibition.
More SFF and Horror Retellings and Remixes
Can’t get enough speculative reinventions of familiar stories? Check out these Dark and Twisted Fairy Tale Retellings, Horror Retellings To Scare You All Over Again, and 8 of the Best Frankenstein Retellings.
The following comes to you from the Editorial Desk.
We love a good cover, and this week, we’re highlighting a list of the best short story covers. Trust us when we say that these will look so demure on your bookshelves!
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In the course of writing about great book covers, there’s one thing that I’ve noted several times: short story collections have some of the most innovative, memorable, and eye-catching covers of them all. Why is that? Perhaps part of it is because short story collections are a harder sell to the average reader, so the first line of marketing has to be for the bookshop browser, whether they’re perusing on or off line. Perhaps part of it is that many great short story collections are coming from smaller presses, so pushing boundaries with design is part of what’s possible because there are fewer stakeholders to please in the process. Perhaps it’s also simply that short story collections, by nature of their diversity, invite more creativity into the cover design process.
Whatever the reason or reasons, I suspect anyone who appreciates a good book cover is here for it.
Let’s take a look at some of the banging short story book covers that have hit shelves this year, as well as look at some of the upcoming covers of collections you’ll want to pop on your TBR ASAP. If you’re reading this when the piece publishes in mid-May, know you’ll be reading it in time to partake in Short Story Month, too. Any month can be short story month, of course, but May gives extra reason to dive into bite-sized fiction.
As always, caveats abound here. It is still unnecessarily difficult to track down cover designers and artists for book covers, especially if you don’t have the book in your hand to double-check. Many publishers still don’t put this information on the landing pages for these books, so it takes good Googling and a lot of luck to dig up names to credit.
Autocorrect by Etgar Keret, translated by Jessica Cohen and Sondra Silverston (May 27)
If you’re looking for a collection of darkly funny stories, this cover is not going to steer you in the wrong direction. It’s a squirrel that’s clearly been launched right into the book title, and he looks completely unfazed by it all. There’s a lot of nice movement in this design, especially as it is very simplistic.
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