4 Things You Didn't Know Had Sequels

#4 Lola by The Kinks

This is arguably the Kinks’ most famous song.  It’s a first person story about a nervous protagonist with no experience with women who, at a “club down in North SoHo” is picked up by the eponymous Lola, who is a transvestite.  Ray Davies, who wrote the song (released in 1970), says that it was based on an actual encounter between the band manager and a transvestite.

The Sequel: Destroyer by The Kinks

Released in 1981, Destroyer picks up where Lola left off, as the protagonist is wracked with paranoia upon bringing Lola back to his place.

#3 The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Published in chapters in 1844, The Three Musketeers is one the most famous novels of the Romantic Period.  Even people who know nothing about the book's story, characters, or background, know the famous line, “All for one, one for all!”

The Sequels: Twenty Years After, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Vallière, and The Man in the Iron Mask.

Published one year after The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After takes place (spoiler) twenty years after the events of the first book.  The series is often considered a trilogy, because the last three books were published serially (1847-1850) as one volume, despite each part being a similar length to the original novel.

#2 Space Oddity by David Bowie

Released in 1969, Space Oddity is one of Bowie’s biggest hits, and the success of the single led to his second album being titled Space Oddity.  Simply put, it tells the story of an astronaut (Major Tom) who loses contact with ground control and control of his ship.

The Sequel: Major Tom (Coming Home) by Peter Schilling

Originally released only in German (1983), it was recorded and released in English about ten months later.  A quintessential ‘80s song, Major Tom (Coming Home) tells the story of (spoiler) Major Tom coming home. As an interesting side-note, both Space Oddity and Major Tom (Coming Home) were covered for Lincoln commercials.

#1 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

First published in 1884, Huckleberry Finn is considered by many (including myself) to be one of the greatest pieces of American literature.  The sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn follows the fate of the titular character, a child from the pre-civil war deep south, as he flees from his abusive father with the help of Jim, a runaway slave.

The Sequels: Tom Sawyer Abroad; Tom Sawyer, Detective

Published in 1894 and 1896, respectively, Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective, were widely considered to be far inferior to the original two books.  The first takes place just after the conclusion of Huckleberry Finn, and features Huck, Tom, and Jim, sent to Africa in a bizarre hot-air balloon, where they have many confusing adventures.  Tom Sawyer, Detective has Huck Finn playing Watson to Sawyer’s Sherlock Holmes, as he narrates Tom Sawyer (spoiler) being a detective.