The 6 Most Disappointing Book Sequels of All Time, Ranked

Published Oct 21, 2026, 5:29 PM EDT

Luc Haasbroek is a writer and videographer from Durban, South Africa. He has been writing professionally about pop culture for eight years. Luc's areas of interest are broad: he's just as passionate about psychology and history as he is about movies and TV.  He's especially drawn to the places where these topics overlap. 

Luc is also an avid producer of video essays and looks forward to expanding his writing career. When not writing, he can be found hiking, playing Dungeons & Dragons, hanging out with his cats, and doing deep dives on whatever topic happens to have captured his interest that week.

Writing a great sequel is arguably more difficult than writing a great original novel. Once readers have fallen in love with a fictional world and its characters, their expectations become almost impossibly high. A sequel needs to recapture what made its predecessor special while introducing enough new ideas to justify its existence.

Unsurprisingly, even immensely talented authors don't always manage to strike that balance. However, some sequels are exceptionally disappointing, serving up controversial creative choices or undermining beloved characters. The titles below represent the most egregious offenders.

6 'The Lost Symbol' (2009)

“The secret is how to die.” This was the follow-up to Dan Brown's mega hit The Da Vinci Code, which, while not a literary masterpiece or anything, certainly resonated with the public, selling over 80 million copies. It served up a juicy combo of religious mysteries, historical conspiracies, cryptic puzzles, and breathless pacing. The Lost Symbol, by contrast, struggles to recapture that excitement. It sees Robert Langdon looking into a mystery involving Freemasonry and the hidden symbolism of Washington, D.C., but these elements all feel a little formulaic and lifeless.

There's a general lack of real stakes or danger, and most of the twists or big set pieces can be seen coming from a mile away. The big reveal at the ending is particularly mundane and anticlimactic. As a result, several reviewers panned the book, including eccentric philosopher Slavoj Žižek, who called The Lost Symbol "a candidate for the worst novel ever".

5 'Sandworms of Dune' (2007)

“The universe is full of surprises." Frank Herbert's original Dune books are among the most ambitious in all of sci-fi, nimbly fusing political intrigue, religious philosophy, fantastic characters, and colorful world-building. His sixth novel, Chapterhouse: Dune, concluded with several major plotlines unresolved, leaving readers wondering how the saga might eventually end. More than two decades later, Herbert's son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson attempted to provide that conclusion with Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune.

These novels really squander their potential, feeling more like shallow fan service than true sequels. There's a ton of nostalgia bait here, including clones of iconic characters like Paul Atreides, Lady Jessica, Chani, Leto II, Baron Harkonnen, and Dr. Yueh, but it fails to add anything genuinely new or compelling. Not to mention, the relatively straightforward prose and action-oriented storytelling contrast sharply with the original books' dense, ambiguous approach to sci-fi storytelling.

4 'Allegiant' (2013)

“Life damages us, every one. We can't escape that damage.” Allegiant was the closing chapter in the Divergent trilogy, one of the most popular of the YA dystopian series that cropped up in the late 2000s. The first two books established a futuristic Chicago divided into factions according to personality traits, following teenager Tris Prior as she discovered the sinister forces maintaining that society. The third one takes Tris and Tobias beyond the boundaries of Chicago, where they discover that their society is part of a much larger experiment involving genetic manipulation.

This revelation mostly just muddies the series' mythology and steps on the toes of the earlier installments. Author Veronica Roth also introduces alternating perspectives between Tris and Tobias, a structural decision that many readers hated. Finally, and most controversially, Tris' surprise death was dismissed by many as pointless shock value.

3 'Go Set a Watchman' (2015)

“Every man's island, Jean Louise, every man's watchman, is his conscience.” To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most beloved classics ever, still frequently studied in schools all around the globe. As a result, when it was announced that a new book about the characters, Go Set a Watchman, would be published, expectations were sky-high. Sadly, the finished product fell far short of them. A particular gripe was the ill-fitting way some of the protagonists are portrayed.

The tale is set approximately twenty years after To Kill a Mockingbird, and follows an adult Scout Finch as she returns to Alabama. However, many fans were soon shocked to see that this book depicts Atticus as a supporter of segregationist politics. In the original, he's a paragon of integrity and justice, so this revelation shattered the idealized image many readers had developed of him. It almost felt like a betrayal.

2 'Ready Player Two' (2020)

“Sometimes the only way to find your way home is to get completely lost.” Ready Player One attracted an enormous readership with its mix of virtual reality, elaborate puzzles, underdog protagonist, and affectionate references to 1980s popular culture. The novel's central treasure hunt gave its nostalgia a clear narrative purpose, while the OASIS offered an appealing fantasy of a digital world where virtually anything seemed possible. This sequel is merely a tedious, rather hollow cash-grab.

Naturally, another elaborate quest follows, though it's nowhere near as charming as the first. Likewise, the extended detours into the worlds of '80s icons like Prince and John Hughes feel like references for references' sake rather than organic plot developments. The character of Wade Watts himself is hugely different, now an unlikable, out-of-touch tycoon rather than a scrappy kid up against powerful forces. Just lame all around.

1 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' (2016)

“Those we love never truly leave us, Harry.” It's honestly remarkable just how much worse the Cursed Child play is than the Harry Potter books. Written by Jack Thorne and based on a story developed with J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany, it follows Harry's son Albus and Draco's son Scorpius as they become involved in a dangerous adventure involving time travel. The plot relies heavily on revisiting familiar events from the original series, introducing alternate timelines and revelations that many readers found implausible.

Indeed, much of this actively trashes or invalidates some of the most important moments from the original series, and the revelation about Voldemort's past was deeply divisive. The treatment of certain characters also drew criticism. For example, the adult Harry occasionally behaves in ways that seem inconsistent with the compassionate, fiercely loyal person readers remember. Deathly Hallows ended well; this play was unnecessary and a net negative for the whole saga.