Quote:
Originally Posted by murg
My problem with the current 'serials' is that they aren't clearly marked as such. Even using terms such as 'episode' and 'part' don't clearly mark what you are purchasing as a 'chapter' that will eventually be part of a single book.
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Agreed. The one I gave a one star to was marked in the description with a list that said part one--title, part two-title, three and four. I took "part" to mean "book 1" of a series--NOT: This is a serial released book, all the same story.
Perhaps that was my bad, but I don't care. Each "part" had a "title" and it was long enough I assumed it was a novella or a novel on the short side based on the information provided.
I have yet to purposely buy or read a serial released novel. I read Cleansweep (after it was out as a complete novel) and it was a very good novel, but I felt it suffered from being serially released. The authors had already shared each chapter so there was less editing--going back and filling in IMO. In this case that mean some lack of development of the story/characters. There's a second one in the works, I think, but I may not read it. I like Ilona Andrews' work, but I'm just not sure about the whole way the novel comes into being and if it ends up being the best it can be. Who knows. Maybe it's BETTER than it would be without serially releasing chapters, but I felt there was just a tiny something missing, that magical attention to a few scenes.
(And don't get me wrong--the worst Ilona Andrews is probably better than a good many books out there. There was nothing wrong with Cleansweep overall...but something was missing for me.)