MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Libra 2 Is it possible to add [series] without number?

Quoth · 05-17-2023, 07:50 PM

On Narnia, the newer chronological order is against what Lewis wanted. He deliberately held back some books and The Magician's Nephew is part spoilers and part ret-cons. It was meant to be 6.

But Joan Aiken wrote the Wolves alternate history series between 1961 and 2004. She wrote that the last one is short because I don't want to die before it's done (see Elwin Drood etc). The "first" in her reading order was written in about 1968, published six years after the first one. She wanted later readers to read in chronological order rather than publication date.
There are a few continuity glitches, but hardly noticeable.

4. Nightbirds on Nantucket (Dido Twite) (1966)
5. The Stolen Lake (Dido Twite) (1981)
6. Limbo Lodge (U.S. title: Dangerous Games) (Dido Twite) (1999)
7. The Cuckoo Tree (Dido Twite) (1971)

Midnight Is a Place (1976) has none of the characters in the other books, yet is obviously in the same storyverse. It's hard to exactly time-line it,

Spoiler:

.

There are many other cases where we don't know what the author wanted, or the author's opinion seems crazy.

If in doubt I go by publication date, but you need to make your own decision.

By maybe 1965, two years after Lewis's death (same day as President Kennedy) the box sets had Lewis's order, which was publication order because he certainly held back the the polished "The Horse and His Boy" till after the "Silver Chair" (my favourite).

The Recluse Novels are complicated.

IMO, there isn't an issue with Dune as the later published ones are less good and he didn't write the prequels.

Make up your own mind unless you are a big fan of the author and the author clearly gave an order.

I'm reading a series at the minute out of any order except the order the ebooks have been cheap and fortunately the order isn't critical (Rabbi Small Mysteries). Same might be true of many Agatha Christie series. But the Campion detective series perhaps benefits from reading in chronological order, which may be publication order.

There is no simple answer, except the publisher of the Narnia books obviously hasn't read them properly and forgotten company history!

05-17-2023, 07:50 PM	#10
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,379 Karma: 107076273 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	On Narnia, the newer chronological order is against what Lewis wanted. He deliberately held back some books and The Magician's Nephew is part spoilers and part ret-cons. It was meant to be 6. But Joan Aiken wrote the Wolves alternate history series between 1961 and 2004. She wrote that the last one is short because I don't want to die before it's done (see Elwin Drood etc). The "first" in her reading order was written in about 1968, published six years after the first one. She wanted later readers to read in chronological order rather than publication date. There are a few continuity glitches, but hardly noticeable. 4. Nightbirds on Nantucket (Dido Twite) (1966) 5. The Stolen Lake (Dido Twite) (1981) 6. Limbo Lodge (U.S. title: Dangerous Games) (Dido Twite) (1999) 7. The Cuckoo Tree (Dido Twite) (1971) Midnight Is a Place (1976) has none of the characters in the other books, yet is obviously in the same storyverse. It's hard to exactly time-line it, Spoiler: except that city is destroyed in another book . There are many other cases where we don't know what the author wanted, or the author's opinion seems crazy. If in doubt I go by publication date, but you need to make your own decision. By maybe 1965, two years after Lewis's death (same day as President Kennedy) the box sets had Lewis's order, which was publication order because he certainly held back the the polished "The Horse and His Boy" till after the "Silver Chair" (my favourite). The Recluse Novels are complicated. IMO, there isn't an issue with Dune as the later published ones are less good and he didn't write the prequels. Make up your own mind unless you are a big fan of the author and the author clearly gave an order. I'm reading a series at the minute out of any order except the order the ebooks have been cheap and fortunately the order isn't critical (Rabbi Small Mysteries). Same might be true of many Agatha Christie series. But the Campion detective series perhaps benefits from reading in chronological order, which may be publication order. There is no simple answer, except the publisher of the Narnia books obviously hasn't read them properly and forgotten company history! Last edited by Quoth; 05-17-2023 at 07:58 PM.