[Timboli]

While I agree that some, perhaps many to some degree, do milk a series, I still admit to respect for someone who has the skill and talent to churn out a story.

So while you can say, that someone becomes lazy in their story telling, it is not laziness overall, but hard work, that results in a story, good or bad.

Often, a story is only considered bad or less, due to comparison.

Often an author, will have no idea why one story is liked more than another. A good percentage of a winning story, is not about hard work, so much as inspiration. And it seems to me from what I have read, that inspiration doesn't occur at the flick of a switch, and it can occur in a variety of ways ... sometimes through hard work, but often seemingly out of the blue.

So I judge a book, by not only how inspired it is, but also about how interesting and informative it may be. Sometimes a good book, can be a bit thin on the ground, and I really appreciate, like many others, when more detail is subsequently fleshed out. I sometimes love a book, because it takes me back to a world I love or that sets my imagination alive, and allows me to see more of that world.

In some ways you can equate it to the difference between a sunset and drama or action.

Take the Lord Of The Rings. For many, it is bogged down in too much detail, while for others, it is the detail that gives the story its depth and true brilliance.

At the end of the day, certainly for me, I grade a story on various aspects. If everything is there, then it is a brilliant story. But if it doesn't deliver on every aspect, it can still be a good or great story, and well worth the read.

Not every book I read, has to be brilliant, and it is often the contrast with such lesser stories if you like, that helps me appreciate to the full, when a story is indeed brilliant.

Further to that, time sometimes gives you a different appreciation of what you once thought was lesser. I have certainly found that in books, music and movies.