Why there's no HUNTRESS sequel

Paperback cover for the novel "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
Paperback cover for the novel "Huntress" by Malinda Lo

Lately I've been asked several times about the possibility of a Huntress sequel, and while I've answered that question before, I guess it's time for an update. So today, I present you with The Definitive Answer to the Question of Whether There Will Be a Sequel to Huntress: Probably not.

More specifically:

Right now, no, I don’t have any plans to write more in that world. But never say never! Honestly, I know what happens after Huntress: a lot of stuff! But beyond the fact that I have different projects in the pipeline now, and I don’t have a lot of time to write about that stuff, I also have the problem that Huntress was published as YA, but the stuff that happens after Huntress is probably not YA. It’s hard for one book to be published as YA and the sequel to be published as regular adult fantasy. That might not be a problem if Huntress was a giant breakout success, but it wasn’t. (Which is why I especially treasure readers who loved Huntress!)

Also, in 2012, I wrote this:

With Huntress, I also started out planning to write a standalone. It was all plotted out and everything, with a clear arc for the characters and it came to the ending that I eventually wrote. But along the way, I did realize that the story could be bigger. And … yeah I have an idea for a sequel. BUT! It is not about Kaede or Taisin. They are in the story, but it’s not about them.

Yes, this is one of the things that I know could happen after the end of Huntress, but I'm not working on this book right now, or maybe ever. I get a lot of ideas, and some of them come to fruition and some of them don't. This particular idea has sort of faded from my interests. I probably should never have posted about it, but hey, the Internet: it's forever.

So for now…no sequels. But I hope that you might enjoy the other things I’m working on. The thing is, as a reader you always want more of something you enjoyed, which I totally get. But it’s the writer/creator’s job to figure out what else you might like that you never expected. You can’t know you’ll like it until you try it. It’s true that what I’m writing now is very different, but it still comes out of my brain. Hopefully that means there will be some similarities!

And there you have it. I'm not going to say no sequel ever absolutely not! because I can't predict the future. But please don't sit around waiting for a sequel. If it happens, it's years away at minimum, and right now it's very unlikely. I hope you will try some of the other stuff I've written in the meantime.