Prequels, Sequels, and Fan Fiction...Oh My

You probably looked at the title of this post and wondered..."What on earth do those things have in common?"  Well, I was talking with a friend this weekend about Pride and Prejudice, and she asked if I'd ever read the story from Darcy's perspective. No, I haven't. Anyway, that got me to thinking...is a book based on a classic, written by someone other than the original author really any more than well-written fan fiction? Should there be a market for such pieces? Should we, as readers or librarians, support such an enterprise?  Is imitation really flattery or just stealing?

None of these questions really matter to me. I'm only concerned with one: "Can anyone other than the creator of a character truly write about that character's thoughts and motivations?"
The only unpublished companion novel I've read by the original author is Stephanie Meyer's Midnight Sun. I thought it was the best book in the series- which isn't saying too much. Of course, we could get a hold of Tolkien's notes which are kind of boring unless you're a LoTR fanatic. I did read The House of Dead Maids by Clare Dunkle last year and never thought about it as being a 'prequel' to Wuthering Heights, though it clearly states that on the cover, just a good read. I guess with a prequel there's some liberty to fill-in what the author did not. Even then, is this character who the creator intended him/ her to be? I enjoyed Dead Maids, but now question the whole premise.

As I started looking into this more, I found a lot of debate and many prequels, sequels and companion novels written by someone other than the original author- published fan fiction. Pride and Prejudice alone boasts 22 such books. Other books in this same category include: Catcher in the Rye (though that one was not given rights in the US), Gone with the Wind, Phantom of the Opera, The Three Musketeers, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Oz Books, Hamlet, and many, many more.

So, you know that terrible feeling you get at the end of a book- like you're best friend is moving away and you'll never see him again (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows); or when you think, "This can't be the end!" (Flash Burnout) Well, never fear. Someone- not the original author- has probably, or will in the future, continue the story. Of course, that person may get it completely wrong- at least in your estimation- and as he/she is not the creator of the character there will always be that niggling feeling that you could really be right...that Elvis didn't really die at 42 but lived out his days in peace with no fans or paparazzi buzzing about- oh sorry, that's rewriting fact, not fiction, (but I suspect there's a lot of that going on as well). And,  remember if you can't find more of your favorite story in published form, you can always rely on fanfic.com:)