TV Tie-In Novels (Part 1)

Over the last three weeks my columns have highlighted some of the books that have been made into TV shows over the last decade (or thereabouts), including – but not limited to – The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars.

Now, my next three columns will focus on what is called TV “tie-in novels” that are based on some of the dramas that have aired over the last decade or so, primarily the countless shows from the former Warner Bros. network, now the CW network.

First of all, we start with the long-running WB now the CW TV series Smallville, which is obviously based on the legend of a young Clark Kent and his hometown. While the show is now finishing its tenth and final season, there have been two series of young adult novels that have been published since the second season of the show began airing.

The first series of “tie-in novels” was released by Aspect Publishing, consisted of 8 books and was released from October 2002 through March 2004. The books in this series, while based on the characters from the TV show did not reflect actual stories from the series, but rather stand-alone stories. Those books included the following:

Strange Visitors (c) Aspect Publishing

Strange Visitors by Roger Stern
Dragon by Alan Grant
Hauntings by Nancy Holder
Whodunit by Dean Wesley Smith
Shadows by Diana G. Gallagher
Silence by Nancy Holder
Curse by Alan Grant
City by Devin K. Grayson

The second series of “tie-in novels” were released by Little, Brown Young Readers from October of 2002 until April of 2004. Much like the books released by Aspect Publishing, this series of young adult novels followed the exploits of the characters from the TV series, but were not based on any actual episodes of the series. The 10 books in this series of novels included:

Arrival by Michael Teitelbaum
See No Evil by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld
Flight by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld
Animal Rage by David and Bobby Weiss
Speed by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld
Buried Secrets by Suzan Colon
Runaway by Suzan Colon
Greed by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld
Temptation by Suzan Colon
Sparks by Cherie Bennett

You can learn more about the series Smallville and the “tie-in novels” here.

Next is the critically acclaimed WB series Everwood, which ran for four season from 2002 to 2006. The series told the story of the Brown family – dad Dr. Andrew Brown; son Ephram and daughter Delia – who moved to the fictional town of Everwood, Colorado after the death of mother and wife Julia Brown and the Brown family’s impact on the town and neighboring family the Abbotts.

The young adult “tie-in novels” to this fan favorite TV series were published between 2004 and 2005 and included the following:

First Impressions (c) Simon Spotlight Entertainment

First Impressions by Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz
Moving On by Emma Harrison
Love Under Wraps by Emma Harrison
Making Choices by Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz
Slipping Away by Emma Harrison
Worlds Apart by Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz
Clouds on the Horizon by Emma Harrison

You can learn more about Everwood the TV series by visiting here.

Then there was the cult-favorite ABC series Alias, which starred Jennifer Garner as CIA agent Sydney Bristow. The series ran on the network for five seasons from September of 2001 to May of 2006. For the first two seasons Sydney worked as a double agent, keeping secrets not only from her family and friends but also the very people for whom she worked. Another major plotline of the show revolved around the search for and recovery of artifacts created by Milo Rambaldi, a Renaissance-era character with similarities to both Leonardo da Vinci and Nostradamus.

Many of the “tie-in novels” to the tseries were actually prequels to stories within the TV show with some of the books focusing on Sydney’s early missions for SD-6 as well as being set in a time before she met CIA agent Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan). While the books were aimed at young readers, the books did tend to take on some serious subject matters.

The first set of books, which were released from 2002 to 2004, included the following:

Recruited (c) Bantom Books

Recruited by Lynn Mason
A Secret Life by Laura Peyton Roberts
Disappeared by Lynn Mason
Sister Spy by Laura Peyton Roberts
The Pursuit by Elizabeth Skurnick
Close Quarters by Emma Harrison
Father Figure by Laura Peyton Roberts
Free Fall by Christa Roberts
Infiltration by Breen Frazier
Vanishing Act by Sean Gerace
Skin Deep by Cathy Hapka
Shadowed by Elizabeth Skurnick

The second set of novels – titled “The APO Series” – focused on the timeframe of the fourth season, were released during 2005 and 2006 and included the following:

Two of a Kind? by Greg Cox
Faina by Rudy Gaborno and Chris Hollier
Collateral Damage by Pierce Askegren
Replaced by Emma Harrison
The Road Not Taken by Greg Cox
Vigilance by Paul Ruditis
Strategic Reserve by Christina F. York
Once Lost by Kirsten Beyer
Namesakes by Greg Cox
Old Friends by Steven Hanna
The Ghost by Brian Studlet
Mind Games by Paul Ruditis
A Touch of Death by Christina York

You can learn more about Alias the TV series as well as the “tie-in novels” by visiting here.

The last series in this segment is the new FOX musicomedy Glee, which focuses on the high school glee club New Directions at William McKinley High in Ohio competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues. The show is currently in its second season and has, thus far, spawned three (out of a planned five) “tie-in novels”. Each book has been developed in collaboration with the show’s producers and writers.

Those three books include:

Glee: The Beginning (c) Poppy

Glee: The Beginning by Sophia Lowell, which was released in August of 2010
Glee: Foreign Exchange by Sophia Lowell, which was released in February of 2011
Glee: Summer Break by Sophia Lowell, which will be released in July of this year

Additionally, there are plans for the character Sue Sylvester (as played by actress Jane Lynch) to write her autobiography with plans for it to be released as a real book for which Lynch will, in the guise as her character, embark on a book tour.

You can read all about Glee by visiting here.

Please watch for part two next week when I take a look at “tie-in novels” for such TV shows as Greek, Charmed and others.