The best standalone sequels you can read out of order

It’s hard to call any David Mitchell book a “sequel” since he writes in one big interconnected universe spanning multiple time periods, but Slade House was my entry point into his wonderful world, and I haven’t looked back.

Short and eerie, the five interconnected short stories (each set 9 years apart) making up his seventh novel serve as a perfect standalone primer to Mitchell’s special brand of magical realism and recurring characters.

Like many kids, I devoured The Chronicles of Narnia in grade school.

I loved each story equally, but The Magician’s Nephew blew my pre-teen mind while introducing me to the concept of a prequel. It comes both after and before the other books?!?!?

Years later, a change in publisher controversially re-sequenced the series chronologically and “officially” moved this novel from sixth to first. I’m not going to definitively say you should read this one before the rest, but under the spirit of this list’s theme, you certainly can do so without ruining your enjoyment of the rest of the series.

(This is also the chronicle I’ve re-read the most.)

I loved how this sequel to tech startup workplace culture parody The Circle is a lot like starting any new job in real life.

Your coworkers may know legends of a corporate past you aren’t yet privy to. In time, these stories will emerge as a prequel from your point of view, whereas your own presence on the payroll is a sequel for those who have more tenure.

How’d this person get promoted? What was the company like in the scrappy startup days before the merger? You don’t know about the second annual holiday party scandal? Have I got a story for you…

Yes, I’m suggesting reading the fourth volume of the epic Dark Tower saga first.

Typically, medieval-ish fantasy isn’t my thing, but in Stephen King’s hands, the world simply sucks you in. It’s commonly cited as one of King’s best works for a reason.

Caveat: While this book is largely a standalone 700-page flashback to the main character’s younger days, you could skip the first 70 pages, resolving the previous book’s cliffhanger before the story within a story kicks in. But it might also be fun to arrive en medias res to read the resolution and spend a three-book flashback figuring out how you got there.

You can’t read all 7.5 Dark Tower books out of order, but dropping out of the timeline for this one is worthwhile.

I’d never heard the term “epistolary novel” prior to reading Michael Kun’s The Locklear Letters, but was immediately smitten with the concept of telling a story solely through a series of letters and/or emails sent by the narrator.

This sequel follows the same template and the same protagonist a decade down the line. I liken it to finding a boxful of letters and using them to piece together a hilarious comedy of errors. Maybe you’ll keep digging and find an older box later, or maybe the archivist kept orderly annals, allowing you to move forward through the years.

Sequencing doesn’t matter, but the written words will leave you in stitches.