If three is a trilogy...

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

The unnecessary fourth book in a trilogy.



Don

The trilogy with a prequel (if the 4th book is a prequel to the trilogy).

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by orlok

A "Quartet". For example, Lawrence Durrell's "Alexandria Quartet".

I was just coming back to suggest that. The Earthsea books by Ursula K Le Guin are also collected as the Earthsea Quartet.

All of these, though, surely suggest that the sequence is more-or-less complete. If you're adding more books, I'd suggest just adding Omnibus Volume 1 to the series title.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I was just coming back to suggest that. The Earthsea books by Ursula K Le Guin are also collected as the Earthsea Quartet.

All of these, though, surely suggest that the sequence is more-or-less complete. If you're adding more books, I'd suggest just adding Omnibus Volume 1 to the series title.

Agreed. Quartet suggests that there will only be four books in the series. As does Trilogy suggest only three (unless you are Douglas Adams ).

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I was just coming back to suggest that. The Earthsea books by Ursula K Le Guin are also collected as the Earthsea Quartet.

All of these, though, surely suggest that the sequence is more-or-less complete. If you're adding more books, I'd suggest just adding Omnibus Volume 1 to the series title.

Well I was thinking adding the word "First" so "The First Quartet," That work?

[orlok]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Well I was thinking adding the word "First" so "The First Quartet," That work?

That works. It does suggest there will be a second quartet, of course, so as long as you plan to do at least 4 more...

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by orlok

That works. It does suggest there will be a second quartet, of course, so as long as you plan to do at least 4 more...

Maybe the second quartet will be books 2,3,4,5!

[ApK]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

Douglas Adams stuck with trilogy - even with the fourth book in the series. He introduced it as "the fourth book in the trilogy".

"The increasingly inaccurately named" trilogy is how it actually appeared on some editions.

[Format C:]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

If they were humor / satire I would so do that... but they are not. *pout*




That is how I saw it, till now. I want to release a collection of the first four books in the series and was wondering what that would be called.

Omnibus.

The generic term is polylogy, as long as Greek prefixes are used:

Monology
Duology
Trilogy
Tetralogy
Pentalogy
Hexalogy
Heptalogy
Oktalogy
Ennealogy (not sure about that)
Decalogy (in some languages a "k" replaces the "c", not sure on how it is in English)
Endecalogy
Dodecalogy

... and so on.

[Dr. Drib]

An Omnibus is merely a collection of stories or novels.

If an author wants to show a closer narrative relationship between a developing story-line, then a better connection needs to be made, in my opinion.

--- Ah, well: Give me the entertainingly harmless fantasies of Lin Carter, rather than the obscene bricks/tomes that currently dominate in the marketplace. However, things run in cycles.....



Don

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

If an author wants to show closer narrative relationship between a developing story-line, then a better connection needs to be made, in my opinion.
Don

Not sure what you mean here...

[ApK]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Not sure what you mean here...

He means an omnibus is just a collection of separate works in a single volume.
It doesn't mean all those works are a series of any kind, or even are necessarily related, beyond whatever reason someone decided to publish them together.

So while a "Collection of the first four works", if published as a single volume, and not, say, a box set of the four separate volumes, would indeed be an omnibus edition, it doesn't seem to address the original question.

The term does not convey the connection between the works that "trilogy" does.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Not sure what you mean here...

Sorry.

The connection referred to would be some of the words we've discussed, which would be somewhat better choices, in my opinion, rather than the word 'Omnibus.'

ApK said it a lot better than I did.



Don

[VydorScope]

Ah! OK

Well I am thinking "The First Quartet" and then maybe a subtitle of something and the concept of foundations, beginnings, or even dawn.

The first arc in the series pretty much builds the universe and sets all major long running characters in place. That is why I want to release it as a set. The connection between say book 6 and 7 might be much looser, but both of them will be firmly planted in the world created in 1-4.

[frahse]

As indicated previously I personally believe that simplicity is best for many reasons, so I typically apply KISS.

Ex. "3rd in the Moon Walking series." The "Moon Rise" volume or group of the "Planet Series."

Also you can group within a series or across series and not necessarily in printing order. Once you decide on what the group is, then the next task is to name the group in a way that will be easily remembered.

I think the point is to give the customer a quick easy way to understand what could be complicated. Groupings should occur as the author sets forth a relationship for the story and eventually the reader.