Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
Why does everybody always go straight to a series when someone is looking for a good intro to the fantasy/sci-fi genres? I'm just curious about the phenomenon more than anything... no rancor intended. I would think that someone who is admittedly a noob when it comes to the genre would be looking for something with very little overall investment (time/money/sanity). So I always tend to recommend stand-alone novels. You know... see if you like the milk before you start buying herds of dairy cows.  |
I think the tendency to recommend a series is natural. First, because most of us find that if we like a book, we want more of it. And a series gives you that. Plus a series already tells you that there was enough success to get the publisher and author to write more. (Note here: I'm talking series, NOT "trilogies" where the story doesn't finish in a single book. )
So, for example, Asimov's
Foundation? Yes, it's a series, but it's also very much standalone. Or any of the books in the Liaden(r) Universe. Or the Cheryh Foreigner books. Each one is complete unto itself, and in most cases doesn't really require an earlier book in the series to be understood. (The Foreigner books less so, perhaps.)