#0, WALKING DRUM Sequel?
Posted by Paul J ODell on 09-07-05 at 11:25 PM
Throughout his career Louis wrote several different series or cycles of stories and sequels. The first were about the South Seas adventures of Ponga Jim Mayo, then came Chick Bowdrie, Ward McQueen, Kilkenny, the Sackett’s, Chantry’s, and Talons. As he did not like to write them in order and also tended to write other material in between there were quite a few stories that he did not live long enough to tell. Most of these stood on their own so while his death left holes in the greater, historical, sweep of the series it did not make anyone feel unfulfilled or that the immediate story was incomplete. The exception to this was “The Walking Drum.” Although Kerbouchard’s quest to find and free his father was complete at the end of the novel Louis ended the story with his hero starting off after the woman with whom he had fallen in love, thus beginning what was to have been the next installment in a three book series. Alas, those sequels were never written. Book Two was to have been called “A Woman Worth Having” and, if it had been written, been set in India. The details of Book Three remain a mystery.
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