TIE

   A term used in this encyclopedia to designate a work whose subject matter is tied to a previous work or concept. In some respects, therefore, a tie clearly resembles a sequel. However, ties can be differentiated from sequels in two ways: first, a tie is generally written to occupy a different format or genre than the work which inspires it - novelizations are, for instance, often spun off from films, an example being The Sensitives * (1968), Louis CHARBONNEAU's novelization of a script writtenby Deane ROMANO - and, second, a tie is almost always written by some person other than the author or creator of the original work or concept. Ties can be spun off, therefore, from almost any kind of source: fromstories, novels, series, comics, films, tv series, BRAIDS and other SHARED-WORLD enterprises, GAMES AND TOYS, or concepts put out for hire bypackagers like Byron PREISS.The first ties were almost certainly shared-world anthologies like Mugby Junction * (anth 1866 chap), ed Charles DICKENS as a special Christmas Number of his journal All the YearRound; and film novelizations can be found from before WWI, though most books-of-the-film, until at least 1950, were in fact simple reprintings of the original novel, sometimes with movie stills inserted. With the increasing commodification of sf in the 1980s, ties suddenly became very common, and were often found in conjunction with sharecropping activities. Ties can be distinguished from SHARECROPS by the fact that ties aredefined by their relationship to the source of their inspiration, while sharecrops - though they usually involve ties-are, strictly speaking, works of any sort written for hire.The most interesting tied enterprises in the 1980s and 1990s are probably shared-world anthologies like George R.R. MARTIN's WILD CARDS sequence from 1987 and the War World books edfrom 1988 by Jerry POURNELLE, John F. CARR and Roland J. GREEN; but works of interest can be found through the whole range of the phenomenon.In this encyclopedia ties are signalled by an asterisk placed between the title and the date of the work.

   JC