{"id":48361,"date":"2025-08-06T01:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T01:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/48361\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T01:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T01:38:10","slug":"louis-sachar-wont-write-a-holes-sequel-but-he-just-released-a-new-book-for-grown-ups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/48361\/","title":{"rendered":"Louis Sachar won’t write a \u2018Holes\u2019 sequel, but he just released a new book for grown-ups"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t expect a “Holes” sequel from Louis Sachar<\/a>. The bestselling author behind the popular children’s novel and its 2003 movie adaptation starring Shia LaBeouf is adamant the world of Stanley Yelnats is closed. But, he has a new story for longtime fans \u2013 his first novel for adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Magician of Tiger Castle<\/a>\u201d (out now from Penguin Random House) is a cozy fantasy<\/a> set long ago somewhere south of France that follows a tea-obsessed magician who must save the royal wedding after a princess falls in love with a lowly scribe rather than her betrothed.<\/p>\n

He didn’t originally set out to write an adult novel. Talking with USA TODAY ahead of the release, Sachar shares how “The Magician of Tiger Castle” unfolded naturally and what he thinks of the enduring \u201cHoles\u201d fandom.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Princess Bride\u2019 inspired Louis Sachar\u2019s first adult novel<\/p>\n

Sachar took inspiration from \u201cThe Princess Bride\u201d by William Goldman<\/a> \u2013 the book that made him want to be a writer. He wanted to try his hand at a similar story.<\/p>\n

This was during the early days of the pandemic, and Sachar\u2019s COVID hobby of choice was online courses about life during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. He was fascinated by humanity\u2019s limited scientific knowledge and the blurred lines between magic and medicine.<\/p>\n

\"Louis<\/p>\n

Louis Sachar, best known for his beloved children’s book “Holes,” has published his first adult novel.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how he created his protagonist, Anatole \u2013 kingdom magician, physician and unlikely hero. Once Sachar started writing him, he couldn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d taken over the story,\u201d Sachar says. \u201cI liked that. I liked him, but you can\u2019t have a 40-year-old man usually be the protagonist of a kid\u2019s book. So I said, \u2018OK, I\u2019ll make it an adult book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anatole is a sort of \u201cMiracle Max\u201d<\/a> type, but more rounded out than Billy Crystal\u2019s short movie scenes. He\u2019s up to his elbows in quirky, dungeon experiments. He\u2019s a tea snob. He\u2019s a father figure to both Princess Tullia and Pito, her forbidden love. He\u2019s got a plan to save the kingdom, impress his employers, deal with a rather annoying prince and avoid death by tiger.<\/p>\n

Though Sachar says writing an adult novel wasn\u2019t too different from a kid\u2019s book (\u201cI wasn\u2019t trying to spice it up<\/a> or anything,\u201d he says), he was able to inhabit a more adult mindset with this protagonist. When he\u2019s writing a novel, it becomes his \u201creason for getting up every morning,\u201d he says. He found himself becoming Anatole, drinking his daily tea out of a cast-iron pot adorned with dragonflies. On vacation, he spotted a hand-carved mortar and pestle that seemed to jump from the pages. He bought it \u201cfor\u201d Anatole, he says. <\/p>\n

\""The<\/p>\n

“The Magician of Tiger Castle” is out now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seemed like something he would like,\u201d Sachar says.<\/p>\n

Anatole and the world of Esquaveta, a fictional 16th-century European kingdom, is Sachar to a tee \u2013 he likes books that teach him something (in this case, Medieval living), and he\u2019s not a fan of high fantasy with intense world-building and battle-hardened heroes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get bored with stories about wars and superheroes,\u201d Sachar says. \u201cI think it’s more suspenseful to actually have someone who’s kind of a klutz and kind of a coward have to suddenly be brave, because then you don’t know how it’s going to come out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Louis Sachar thanks \u2018Holes\u2019 fans, but still won\u2019t write a sequel<\/p>\n

The magic of a novel like \u201cTiger Castle\u201d lies in the cozy afterglow \u2013 this feel-good fairytale is packed with whimsy and humor that reads like the grown-up version of \u201cHoles\u201d or the \u201cWayside School\u201d series.<\/p>\n

Sachar is hoping that nostalgia brings in fans of those books, both of which remain beloved. \u201cHoles,\u201d especially, has enjoyed long-lasting acclaim. On BookTok<\/a>, readers rave about it as their favorite book as a kid<\/a> or encourage a reread<\/a> as an adult. Sachar says he feels \u201cmore famous\u201d now than he did when he first wrote \u201cHoles\u201d because of that enduring fandom.<\/p>\n

But though readers keep asking whether he\u2019ll write a \u201cHoles\u201d sequel, he\u2019s confident that world is finished: \u201cI’m not sure I can get into Stanley’s head anymore,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote my first children\u2019s book when \u2026 I was 22 or 23 years old. I worked with kids while I was going to college, I wasn\u2019t that far removed from being a kid myself,\u201d Sachar says. \u201cAnd now I\u2019m 71 and I\u2019m not sure how well I can relate to kids anymore, so I\u2019d much rather relate to those same kids who grew up reading my books.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY\u2019s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram<\/a>, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter<\/a> or tell her what you\u2019re reading at cmulroy@usatoday.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Holes’ author Louis Sachar pens first adult novel, a cozy fantasy<\/a><\/p>\n