Quote:
Originally Posted by CRussel
It's still find to nominate. We don't require that folks nominate the first in a series, even though some people might hesitate to vote for a book that's not the first if they haven't already read that first. (Maybe even more so if they have, of course.  )
We've had this discussion before, but it's important to reiterate that we don't restrict the nominations, nor do we denigrate ANY nomination. Full stop. Obviously, when a person nominates a book that is outside of the norm, it's useful for everyone if they add a note of explanation. For example, where a book is not the first, a simple "Yes, I know that [bookname] is the second in a series, but really, it reads fine as a standalone so don't sweat it if you haven't read the first" would be an appropriate explanation to reassure folks that they can jump right in at book #2.
A concrete example of this is a series like the Liaden Universe books where there are multiple entry points into the Universe as well as several that are standalone, and the first two books, chronologically, are not the place you want to start. (They're really, in some ways, prequels, and definitely better when you have already read one or more of the later books.) |
But in most cases, books in a series are not standalone except the first one. All it takes is one line to refer back to any earlier book(s), and if anything happens in the book because of what happened before.
The problem I have with this approach of allowing books in a series to be nominated out of order is that we cannot vote given the rules. I will not read book 2 or a series where I have not read book 1. But I cannot vote in case this book 2 wins. It's unfair.