Long running series

[usuallee]

I usually get bored and don't read an entire series (i.e. Game of Thrones Series) The long running series I stick with tend to be in the mystery genre:

Lee Child - Jack Reacher series
C.J. Box - Joe Pickett series
Jo Nesbo - Harry Hole Series
Arnaldur Indridason - Inspector Erlendur series
Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch series
and the aforementioned Poirot series by the great Agatha Christie

On a side note, I find myself shying away from other mystery series that I've wanted to try until I've completed the ones above.I guess I'm afraid of losing track of or mixing up the characters and what happened in past books. I've only been reading mysteries for a few years and read a variety of genres, so haven't finished any of these series yet (plus, with the exception of Christie, they are ongoing). Anyone else experience that, where you feel like you're maxed out on long running series and are hesitant to start any more?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

JD Robb's "Eve Dallas" futuristic police-procedural is on book 34, I think. (Some people refer to them as the "In Death" books).

Only 2-3 years have passed in the characters' lives, though. So it's not going to be like the Harrington books in terms of character development, but quite a bit is revealed about her as time goes by.

The series is called In Death, not Eve Dallas. Even the author says so. On her website is the following link... Chonological list of In Death Series(PDF) comes from her site.

Now, the series are quite good and there is a lot of character building going on. I highly recommend the In Death series.

[JSWolf]

Star Trek... Very good at character building. Especially since the 24 century novels are now connected. Have a look at the following chart to see what order to read the books.

http://www.thetrekcollective.com/p/t...ing-order.html

[DiapDealer]

I love endings. So much so that I'd like a solid, definitive one for every single book I read. I feel slightly cheated when I only get one ending every three to five novels.

[JSWolf]

Womem's Murder Club - James Patterson
The Hollows - Kim Harrison
Discworld - Terry Pratchett

All very good series.

[owly]

Terry Goodkind's fantasy series "Sword of Truth" is long-running and even became a two'-season TV-series not long ago. The first book is "Wizard's First Rule".

[AnemicOak]

The Liaden series by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Currently at 14 books, 19 chapbooks and various short stories.

The Sharon McCone series by Marcia Muller
The Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow
The Malazan series by Steven Erikson & Ian Cameron Esslemont

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

The Wheel of Time series is not the same as most of the other series mentioned here. It is a serial - a single story told in 14 volumes - rather than a series of stand-alone stories featuring the same characters.

I can't off-hand think of any other serial of comparable length, although there are plenty of much longer series.

One that immediately springs to mind is Patrick O'Brian's "Aubrey/Maturin" naval series, which is often described as a single novel in 20 (plus one unfinished) volumes.

[AnemicOak]

Horatio Hornblower by C.S. Forester eleven novels (one unfinished) and five short stories (& a TV miniseries)

The Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell 21(?) novels and 3 shorts (plus a TV series)

The 87th Precinct by Ed McBain 55 novels & some shorts (and a TV series)

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by HarryT

One that immediately springs to mind is Patrick O'Brian's "Aubrey/Maturin" naval series, which is often described as a single novel in 20 (plus one unfinished) volumes.

I don't think I'd agree. All the Aubrey/Maturin novels stand alone as complete stories, with the possible exception of one pair which followed on fairly directly, that I can't quite remember (around Reverse of the Medal?)

It can be hard to draw the series/serial distinction, though. Although Wheel of Time is always building up towards an identifiable finale, the early novels are kind of complete in themselves. And there is normally some kind of character development across a series. I guess the issue is whether a thing feels unfinished or not. Is another book necessary or just nice?

While I was sad there were to be no more Aubrey/Maturin novels, I don't see what they would have been building towards, and what we have is still great. Whereas if there's never an ending to Song of Ice and Fire it will kind of damage the whole thing.

[IcecreamLtDan]

Clive Cussler has several long running series, some of which are done with other authors co-writing. There's the Dirk Pitt adventures with 22 books currently, The NUMA files with Kurt Austin currently at 11 books, The Oregon Files, currently at 9 books, the Isaac Bell adventures, currently at 6 books, and the Fargo Adventures currently at 4 books. He's also done some non-fiction books and even a pair of childrens books.

My personal favorites are the Dirk Pitt books, I started reading them as a teenager and remember well when "Raise the Titanic" was made into a movie. While the movie itself bombed, the score from that movie is a favorite of mine and there are many memorable scenes that have stuck in my head. Additionally, "Sahara" was turned into a movie that was relatively popular and I enjoyed it myself.



A lot of the other series exist in the same universe and it's not unusual for crossovers to occur. The Isaac Bell adventures take place in the early 20th century, but the others occur during modern times. I've enjoyed the Isaac Bell books and the Oregon files books, but the others that I've read haven't caught my attention as well. I've read his non-fiction books and found them interesting as well.

[Apache]

Alexander Kent's (Douglas Reeman) Richard Bolitho Series. 30 books so far.
Apache

[JSWolf]

Anne & Todd McCaffrey's Pern series

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

The Wheel of Time series is not the same as most of the other series mentioned here. It is a serial - a single story told in 14 volumes - rather than a series of stand-alone stories featuring the same characters.

Ah but made all the longer by the excessive eBook release date.

[Geralt]

The Elric saga by Michael Moorcock.
This saga division is so complicated, I myself am not sure when to read what.
See description under link for details.
But it does fit with demand of continuous story I think.

The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King.

Beginning with a short story appearing in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1978, the publication of Stephen King's epic work of fantasy -- what he considers to be a single long novel and his magnum opus -- has spanned a quarter of a century.

The Saga of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Individual stories novel, but longer series.