:Parallel novel

{{Category see also|Parallel literature}}

{{Distinguish|Metafiction|Parallel text|Parallel universes in fiction}}

{{Short description|Pastiche novel with in-universe continuity}}

File:Pride & Prejudice-fictions.JPG|thumb]]

A parallel novel is an in-universe (but often non-canonical) pastiche (or sometimes sequel) piece of literature written within, derived from, or taking place during the framework of another work of fiction by the same or another author with respect to continuity.{{cite news|last=Patrick|first=Bethanne|title='Neither prequel, nor sequel, it's parallel novel'|url=http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/neither-prequel-nor-sequel-its-parallel-novel|access-date=29 November 2013|newspaper=Washington Post|date=November 25, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131129045229/http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/neither-prequel-nor-sequel-its-parallel-novel|archive-date=29 November 2013}}

Parallel novels or "reimagined classics" are works of fiction that "borrow a character and fill in his story, mirror an 'old' plot, or blend the characters of one book with those of another".{{cite web|last=Cellier-Smart |first=Catherine |title=Parallel Novels |url=http://www.wmtl.org/content/parallel-novels |access-date=29 July 2016 |work=West Milford Township Library |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224015/http://www.wmtl.org/content/parallel-novels |archive-date=2 December 2013 }} These stories further the works of already well-known novels by focusing on a minor character and making them the major character. The revised stories may have the same setting and time frame and even the same characters.

Goodreads maintains a list of its readers' ratings of the most popular parallel novels; as of 2022, these included Wide Sargasso Sea, Wicked, The Penelopiad, and Telemachus and Homer.{{cite web |url=https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/43967.The_Best_Parallel_Novels_or_Reimagined_Classics |title=The Best Parallel Novels or Reimagined Classics |author= |date=1 October 2013 |website=Goodreads |publisher=Amazon |access-date=2022-06-23}}

Creating parallel novels can have significant legal implications when the copyright of the original author's work has not expired, and a later author makes a parallel novel derived from the original author's work.{{cite journal |last1=Locke |first1=Scott D. |date=2018 |title=Parallel Novels and the Reimagining of Literary Notables by Follow-On Authors: Copyrights Issues When Characters Are First Created by Others

|url=https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/ckjip/vol17/iss2/3/ |journal=Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=271 |access-date=2019-09-17 }}