MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Series from the Perspective of Readers and Authors

fjtorres · 02-17-2013, 08:19 PM

There are series and there are series.
Some series (Horatio Hornblower) follow one character over the years while other series are really a single over-sized novel (Zelazny's Amber chronicles).
And other series (Darkover) are just a framework for hosting different stories with different characters and themes.
Sure, some series are purely commercial "variations on a theme" that seek to retell the same story over and over with minor tweaks but it is a big leap to extrapolate from the specific to the general.
The case can be made that series are a narrative form all their own, as distinct from novels as novels are from short stories.

02-17-2013, 08:19 PM	#4
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	There are series and there are series. Some series (Horatio Hornblower) follow one character over the years while other series are really a single over-sized novel (Zelazny's Amber chronicles). And other series (Darkover) are just a framework for hosting different stories with different characters and themes. Sure, some series are purely commercial "variations on a theme" that seek to retell the same story over and over with minor tweaks but it is a big leap to extrapolate from the specific to the general. The case can be made that series are a narrative form all their own, as distinct from novels as novels are from short stories.