Series, series and more damned series!

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

It's easier to write about the same characters than to have to come up with new ones for each story

I think that depends on who's story your'e telling. If it's the about the characters you've already got in your mind, then no use making up new people to tell someone else's story.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

Hate to say it cause she's my favorite author but Mercedes Lackey's most recent Valdemar series is not doing it for me.

Which one is that?

I've been kind of avoiding Lackey anyway, having gotten some bad reviews of her stuff, but solid advice on what to avoid is just as good to me as advice on what is a 'must read'.

I appreciate getting a 'Avoid!' warning on any of them. Which is why I always read the negative book reviews first, I guess.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

Which one is that?

I've been kind of avoiding Lackey anyway, having gotten some bad reviews of her stuff, but solid advice on what to avoid is just as good to me as advice on what is a 'must read'.

I appreciate getting a 'Avoid!' warning on any of them. Which is why I always read the negative book reviews first, I guess.

It's the Collegium Chronicles - the characters are all ok but... she's lost something with this series. IMO she created something very like Harry Potter prior to HP but never enjoyed the type of fame for her work that JR did. It feels as if she is cutting some of what made her series beloved in its own way to make it more HP -like. She has even included two different games (in two different book/series in that world) that remind me of Quiddice (sp??) in some way or another.

If you are interested in starting Lackey's better written series I would start with The Last Herald-Mage series or Arrows of the Queen. They are both my intros and I love them. Others in that same world are a case by case basis.

[Kai Winters]

I love "series". I enjoy the writers ability to expand on the content and characters.
I have noticed, however, that some authors are now shortening their offerings. Some books are now only several hundred pages, while previous books in the series were in the 700 plus pages.
The price of the book is still the same but the content is dramatically reduced.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

If you are interested in starting Lackey's better written series I would start with The Last Herald-Mage series or Arrows of the Queen. They are both my intros and I love them. Others in that same world are a case by case basis.

Thanks! I've made a note.

Not that I'd probably get to them soon, but nice to have an idea when I'm in the mood to dive into something.

[MrsJoseph]

Welcome!


And just to \soapbox I really really heart an old GrandMaster: Andre Norton. She wrote both SF and Fantasy. I love her Witch World Series.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

And just to \soapbox I really really heart an old GrandMaster: Andre Norton. She wrote both SF and Fantasy. I love her Witch World Series.

Oh, soapbox away! She was my first Scifi love, I just adored her stuff when I was younger. Reminds me I need to check up on the progress of her backlist. I may be in the mood for a good wallow if I can get enough of them lined up.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

It should always be story first, in a series or stand-alone. Agreement there.

But I can't say I've seen a lot of series come out where they're not complete. (Or I'm just very good at avoiding them the unfinished ones.)

I don't see anything wrong with getting a good start on a series with a character with a larger story-arc and coming out with them all at once. Hopefully, by then the author will have their world building down and have been able to make any adjustments/corrections to the earlier stories so they can be consistent within their own universe.

If the first book tanks, they're not going to sell the others in the series anyway, so see it as more of a risk to the publisher than the customer. And considering how long it can be between books, if I'm into it, I'd rather the second/third/fourth book now than (sometimes years) later. (Or never.)

What would be an example of a series people find annoying to have been released as such?

Again... I'm not saying there's something inherently annoying about a series. I'm simply saying that in my perfect little genre world... there would be more of a balance between stand-alone books and series. There would be more of a balance between debut authors releasing a stand-alone novel and debut authors releasing a "volume one of..." novel.

Instead we have the overwhelming dominance of The Series (in the speculative genre, anyway). The Series is expected while the stand-alone novel is the freak-deaky, red-headed step-child everyone points at and giggles.

Balance. That's all I'm wishing for. Not demanding... just wishing.

[Apache]

I loved reading Andre Norton's books, but I am reluctant to read them again. I am afraid that as an adult they will not be as I remembered them. And I have a lot of fond memories for her works.
I do not mind series. If I read a book that is part of a series and like it, I will continue to read that series. If I dislike it I will not buy another book in the series. I like series because a good author can expand upon the characters and the worlds they inhabit. If the author writes a series in which every book reads the same I will not continue to read then either. It is the same for a musician or band who's music all sounds the same.
Apache

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I agree! Especially those authors who don't tie up any real story arcs by the end of that first book. WTF.

+1 Not to pick on this book or author, it just happens that I decided to read it after listening to an NPR broadcast interviewing Deborah Harkness about the book A Discovery of Witches. That and I was intrigued by the idea of attempting to meld realistic, or at least semi-realistic, science with witches, vampires, etc. Then I read the book and at the end was left thinking what?! Where's the ending? Never mind the science was barely semi-realistic and it was more of a witch falls in love with vampire story anyway.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

Oh, soapbox away! She was my first Scifi love, I just adored her stuff when I was younger. Reminds me I need to check up on the progress of her backlist. I may be in the mood for a good wallow if I can get enough of them lined up.

Originally Posted by Apache

I loved reading Andre Norton's books, but I am reluctant to read them again. I am afraid that as an adult they will not be as I remembered them. And I have a lot of fond memories for her works.
I do not mind series. If I read a book that is part of a series and like it, I will continue to read that series. If I dislike it I will not buy another book in the series. I like series because a good author can expand upon the characters and the worlds they inhabit. If the author writes a series in which every book reads the same I will not continue to read then either. It is the same for a musician or band who's music all sounds the same.
Apache

I found Andre Norton in HS and I have read my way forwards and backwards through the Witch World series. I haven't gone far outside of that series (but that seems to be due to getting stuck with my favorite characters, etc) but what I have read made me pretty excited.

I stared digging up all of the older books in the series and noticed that tone changed a bit from her earlier works in the series to her later works. The earlier works seem to have more symbolism while the later works are more character/story based.

There's not been much of Norton's that I haven't loved...I think the only one I can't finish is The Warded of the Witch World...but the idea of leaving just hurts.

[pidgeon92]

I prefer stand alone novels. This has more to do with my poor memory than to a dislike of series'. That said, I too have noticed this phenomenon is increasing by leaps and bounds, particularly in the young adult fantasy genre.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

I prefer stand alone novels. This has more to do with my poor memory than to a dislike of series'. That said, I too have noticed this phenomenon is increasing by leaps and bounds, particularly in the young adult fantasy genre.

That's probably why I haven't noticed it much, since YA fantasy is something I don't pay much attention to.

One I have noticed in my favorite genre, but without a follow up so far, is "Awakenings" by Edward Lazellari.

(My first link. We'll see if this works...)

Anyway, besides being waaay too expensive in the Kindle edition, even one of the four-star ratings say it's not a complete story.

Seriously? Spend that much money on what's not even a full story? Don't think so! Yet I would have been all on top of it if it'd been complete. Ugh.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

Which one is that?

I've been kind of avoiding Lackey anyway, having gotten some bad reviews of her stuff, but solid advice on what to avoid is just as good to me as advice on what is a 'must read'.

I appreciate getting a 'Avoid!' warning on any of them. Which is why I always read the negative book reviews first, I guess.

I've read most of the Valdemar series and some of her other work such as the 500 Kingdoms and you can ignore the bad reviews.

[FizzyWater]

I always assumed publishers preferred series to hook readers into buying that elusive "more".