Gone are days when a book ended as soon as one reached the last page. Thanks to the ongoing craze of franchises and long series, a story can continue over many books and timelines. By now, you must be familiar with terms such as prequels and sequels, but have you heard of midquels and interquels? Don’t worry, here’s ready reckoner that will help you better understand the terms and the sequence of events in your favourite series.
When one follows the next
A sequel (from Latin “sequel”) continues the narrative of a preceding work. Usually, sequels are written for pre-existing works. Originally, the term simply meant “what happens next”; later it took on the additional meaning of” a story whose events take place later in the same imagined history as another story.” C.S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: was followed by four sequels, beginning with “Prince Caspian”.
What happened before
Prequel: A work of literature or film that contains events that precede the existing work. For instance, ‘The Hobbit’ is considered to be a prequel to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The term ‘prequel gained currency from 1999 with the popularity of the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy.
Caught in the middle
Midquel is a term used to refer to works set between two stories. This device is often used to expand a portion of the story only touched upon in other instalments. There are different types of “midquels” such as interquels and intraquels.
Interquels are stories that take place between two preceding stories and serve as a sequel to one, and a prequel to another simultaneously. For example, “Rogue One” of the “Star Wars” saga is an “interquel” since it takes place between “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” and “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New hope”.
Intraquels on the other hand, are worked which focus on events that take place between the events of a single film or book. Examples include “Beauty and Beast: The Enchanted Christmas” which takes place during Christmas between the Beginning and the end of “Beauty and the Beast”.
Still confused?
Well, don’t overthink it! Maybe the king of Hakuna Matata can explain it best. “If it’s not a sequel,” says Pumba in the teaser of 2019’s “The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata”, which was a part sequel, part midquel, “It must be a Behind-the –scene-quel!…Oh, you know, an Inbetween-Quel!!”
Picture Credit : Google
