Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
I find that even when someone says a book can be read out of order it's usually wrong. If there is even one sentence that mentions anything in a previous book or a character acts in a way not like previously, then it's not stand alone.
|
I think that's a little ridiculous. Most Stephen King books are standalone. But he has fun dropping references to previous work: In Misery, Annie Wilkes lives miles down the road from the burned remains of the Overlook Hotel. In The Tommyknockers, a couple of hallucinating characters drive through Derry and know they are hallucinating because they see a clown's face staring at them from a storm drain. In each case (and there's others) it boils down to, literally, a sentence. Does that make Misery and The Tommyknockers part of a series? I'd say no.
I've not read Discworld, just not interested. But if I understand right, there are subseries withink the series, with different characters and actions not directly tied to previous books. I'd say that makes them stand alone (or at least a standalone subseries).
Do you have to watch all nine Star Wars 'main' movies to watch The Mandalorian or Rogue One?