Quote:
Originally Posted by calvin-c
I've yet to hear a convincing argument why I would want to read books in publication order. If the books are tied together closely enough to make the order in which I read them matter at all then I want to read them in the internal order which may or may not match the publication order. And if they aren't tied that closely together then it seems a matter of supreme indifference to me what order I do read them in. At least it seems that way until somebody gives me a convincing reason otherwise.
BTW I read for enjoyment, not as a critic. I really don't care about how the author 'develops' as a writer. Either I enjoy their work, or I don't.
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It's certainly a matter of opinion; there's really no right or wrong answer.
To me, the publication order is not about the author developing as a writer, it's about the series developing as, well, a series. Prequels build on previous books just like sequels do. If you read a prequel first, you may miss why certain details are significant.
A perfect example is Belgarath the Sorcerer, by David Eddings. It is a prequel to the Belgariad. If you were to read it before reading the Belgariad, you would spend the entire book asking yourself why you care and feeling like you're missing something (because you are).
The history that gets outlined in the book is not meant to introduce you to the world of the story; it's meant to give you the reasons behind some of the details that you already know, i.e. the "snapshot" of the world at the time of the Belgariad/Malloreon. Likewise, learning the history of the characters is more interesting if you are already familiar with the characters from the previous (future) stories. And let's not forget that the whole thing is wrapped in a frame story that makes no sense at all unless you've read the Belgariad and the Malloreon.
You could make the argument that if you read the Belgariad first you're missing the details of the history that could make the story richer, but part of the fun is learning about the world through Garion's eyes, seeing it revealed bit by bit. Knowing all about it ahead of time does not enhance the experience, it detracts from it.
That said, in many cases it doesn't matter. Some series work just fine read in internal chronological order. A good example is the Chronicles of Narnia. I still prefer the published order, but many people prefer to read The Magician's Nephew first.