[Catlady]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I take no issue with that. But having no experience with Barclay's works, I have to wonder why--if they share a fictional setting--it's important for you to consider his non-trilogy books as "Stand Alone" rather than Self Contained novels in a shared milieu? Self Contained (but with a shared fictional setting/background) carries no inherent negative connotation and it acknowledges the shared milieu for those to whom it might make a difference (good or bad). I know it's a detail I would like to be made plain.

Because I would have to consider the trilogy as also self-contained--each book was complete in itself but also part of a larger story. There's a clear distinction between those books and his other thrillers that goes beyond the simple marketing strategy of calling them a trilogy. So I'm simply trying to clarify in my own mind what the distinction is.

Suppose a writer sets several novels in, say, Hollywood, and various actual celebrities appear repeatedly as background characters, to lend a sense of place and verisimilitude. But the books are otherwise unrelated and tell independent stories with different protagonists. Wouldn't those be stand-alones despite having the same backdrop?

If so, why would the backdrop being fictional land those same books in your self-contained category?

There have been countless authors over the years who wrote multiple books which shared no fictional components. So why the desire to make books that have clear connections (read "author intent") to other books seem like they don't? That question is not being directed at anyone in particular, by the way. it's almost like some feel that a book is being slighted in some way if its connection (however esoteric) to other books is noticed and/or considered relevant. As if being denied the stand-alone label is punishment or a "strike against" a work.

Because too many books then morph into series books when they really are stand-alones. When the only connection is a location and a handful of minor characters, there's no logical reason to go by publication date. It's actually BECAUSE I am a stickler for reading series books in order that I would make the distinction.