Quote:
Originally Posted by DNSB
I've read books in a series out of order when someone whose opinion I trust has recommended a book which turned out to be part of a series and I have been impressed enough to read the series. A half decent author will write the books in a series to allow for them to be enjoyed as a standalone.
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I read a few middle books in a series first back when I had to rely on my local library only, because that was all they had. I then went on to get copies of the previous book(s) (either used or via interlibrary loan) and read/reread in order. It never diminished my enjoyment. I read all of Discworld originally by subseries. I've stated this before, but if I'd
started with the first book, I doubt I'd have read more. The first three or four published books are really rough compared to later ones once Pratchett had perfected his craft and I don't enjoy rereading them. I originally read
Guards!, Guards! because I forgot to send back a card for the Science Fiction Book Club. (Remember those?) I enjoyed it and it piqued my interest, even though I prefer scifi, not fantasy. So that's
40+ novels (41 + four
Science of Discworld books which are half novel, half science education) I'd have never read if I'd followed John's advice. Not to mention I didn't even realize it was part of a larger series until years later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ratinox
David Drake's Hammer's Slammers are mostly collections of short stories. Read those in any order.
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There's not much point reading those in published order. Very, very few reference anything from previous stories/novels. And even if they do it's something subtle like a character returning, but nothing is mentioned about where they came from, even when it's notable. (Like a woman who saved her village but was shunned for it joining the Slammers and showing up later on.) Plus I think he added those bits in later collections of the stories, not in the original versions.