Series, series and more damned series! - Page 11

anamardoll · 12-06-2011, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afa

Thanks, Paul. A simple description to get across what DD and I were too full of words to describe. (Is it because we read too much speculative fiction??)

I think my problem is that in a Venn diagram of my library Fiction and Speculative Fiction are NEARLY one-to-one. I don't read cozy mysteries, thrillers, or romance, for the most part.

Even when you look at English Major Literature, nearly every piece I have is a dystopia by Atwood or Bradbury or Orwell (Speculative), or magical realism by Rushdie or Marquez (Speculative), or space exploration and the effect on mankind (too many to name, but all Speculative).

So... I guess I'm saying it makes more sense to me for an umbrella term for the NON-speculative stuff since, in my library at least, it's a minority. But I make not the names for things.

MrsJoseph · 12-06-2011, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I think my problem is that in a Venn diagram of my library Fiction and Speculative Fiction are NEARLY one-to-one. I don't read cozy mysteries, thrillers, or romance, for the most part.

Even when you look at English Major Literature, nearly every piece I have is a dystopia by Atwood or Bradbury or Orwell (Speculative), or magical realism by Rushdie or Marquez (Speculative), or space exploration and the effect on mankind (too many to name, but all Speculative).

So... I guess I'm saying it makes more sense to me for an umbrella term for the NON-speculative stuff since, in my library at least, it's a minority. But I make not the names for things.

Whhhaaa?? We've got to work on that, lol.

I'm quite near the same but I have a deep and abiding love for murder mysteries and strange biographies. And for some reason I have a habit of snagging every free book I walk past... I've got to sit down and have a long heart to heart with my OCD to see if we can change that.

DiapDealer · 12-06-2011, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afa

Thanks, Paul. A simple description to get across what DD and I were too full of words to describe. (Is it because we read too much speculative fiction??)

Indeed. Thank you. I fully admit I may be a little too close to the subject.

HappyMartin · 12-06-2011, 03:43 PM

I always avoided series because it has been so difficult for me to find all the books in the correct order. The ereaders changed all that and I have overdone the series thing.

The last one I really enjoyed was Kevin J Parker's Engineer series. I will read that again one day.

DiapDealer · 12-06-2011, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

The last one I really enjoyed was Kevin J Parker's Engineer series. I will read that again one day.

Wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold the phone and just a cotton-pickin' minute!

Kevin J Parker?

What do you know that the rest of the world has been dying to figure out for a long time? Spill it.

The way I figure it, K J Parker is a woman pretending to be a man who's pretending to be a woman hiding behind a pseudonym.

anamardoll · 12-06-2011, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

Whhhaaa?? We've got to work on that, lol.

I'm quite near the same but I have a deep and abiding love for murder mysteries and strange biographies. And for some reason I have a habit of snagging every free book I walk past... I've got to sit down and have a long heart to heart with my OCD to see if we can change that.

Heh. Well, I do love biographies, but for better or worse, I class them as "non-fiction". And my murder mysteries are largely what I would call speculative -- heck, I'd class Sherlock Holmes Original Recipe as "speculative" because he was essentially psychic.

Most recently I've been reading Lovecraft, also speculative.

anamardoll · 12-06-2011, 03:58 PM

I just checked -- went down the list in Calibre of the most recently added books. Row 28 has "The Color Purple".

On the one hand, it's a "real world" fictional account with no supernatural elements. On the other hand, it's about a setting where a woman leaving her husband to live in an openly lesbian relationship with his former mistress in a small conservative community is completely accepted and no one really bats an eye.

So I would call that speculative. Hence my confusion.

But it's NOT A SERIES.

DiapDealer · 12-06-2011, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

So I would call that speculative. Hence my confusion.

You're confusing speculative with unrealistic. Easy mistake.

MrsJoseph · 12-06-2011, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I just checked -- went down the list in Calibre of the most recently added books. Row 28 has "The Color Purple".

On the one hand, it's a "real world" fictional account with no supernatural elements. On the other hand, it's about a setting where a woman leaving her husband to live in an openly lesbian relationship with his former mistress in a small conservative community is completely accepted and no one really bats an eye.

So I would call that speculative. Hence my confusion.

But it's NOT A SERIES.

You know...I put that down to her husband being universally hated, lol.

Speaking of strange spec fic...have you read Bailey's Cafe? http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/394240.Bailey_s_Cafe

anamardoll · 12-06-2011, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You're confusing speculative with unrealistic. Easy mistake.

MY HEAD HURTS.

anamardoll · 12-06-2011, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

You know...I put that down to her husband being universally hated, lol.

Speaking of strange spec fic...have you read Bailey's Cafe? http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/394240.Bailey_s_Cafe

That would make more sense. He really wasn't pleasant to anyone.

No, I haven't. Reviews don't look so hot overall, I see.

MrsJoseph · 12-06-2011, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

That would make more sense. He really wasn't pleasant to anyone.

No, I haven't. Reviews don't look so hot overall, I see.

It's mainly the ending. The ending is weird. But other than that it's pretty decent...esp if you are familiar with the authors work (she focuses on the treatment of women a lot).

pdurrant · 12-06-2011, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamardoll

And my murder mysteries are largely what I would call speculative -- heck, I'd class Sherlock Holmes Original Recipe as "speculative" because he was essentially psychic.

Sherlock Holmes (the Conan-Doyle one) is definitely just fiction. Nothing happens that couldn't happen, even if he is astoundingly good at what he does.

GlenBarrington · 12-06-2011, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quexos

Obviously those authors' only concern is to sell and make money, they probably don't even care about what they write provided it sells. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's all business, nothing more.

Since when has telling stories NOT been a business? And since when has that been a bad thing?

Anna Drake · 12-06-2011, 07:20 PM

Ah, I see what you are protesting. When I think of a series, I think of one stand-alone book with the same sleuth (sorry, I'm a mystery nut) investigating a new crime in each book. Think of Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee series. Each book has its own beginning, middle and end. But today I was given a free download of the first book in a series. Well, to my mind, it was simply the first third of one book. To learn the rest of the story, I'd have to buy probably two or more books.

I can't believe I first read about this practice here and then encountered my first example of it a couple of hours later.

12-06-2011, 07:20 PM	#165
Anna Drake Zealot Posts: 104 Karma: 2175016 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: rural Illinois, USA Device: Kindle	Ah, I see what you are protesting. When I think of a series, I think of one stand-alone book with the same sleuth (sorry, I'm a mystery nut) investigating a new crime in each book. Think of Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee series. Each book has its own beginning, middle and end. But today I was given a free download of the first book in a series. Well, to my mind, it was simply the first third of one book. To learn the rest of the story, I'd have to buy probably two or more books. I can't believe I first read about this practice here and then encountered my first example of it a couple of hours later. Last edited by Anna Drake; 12-06-2011 at 07:31 PM. Reason: I did not want my book cover to show with this post. Sorry. Is there any way to delete this post?

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12-06-2011, 03:43 PM	#154
HappyMartin Martin Kristiansen Posts: 1,546 Karma: 8480958 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Johannesburg Device: Kindle International Ipad 2	I always avoided series because it has been so difficult for me to find all the books in the correct order. The ereaders changed all that and I have overdone the series thing. The last one I really enjoyed was Kevin J Parker's Engineer series. I will read that again one day.

12-06-2011, 03:58 PM	#157
anamardoll Chasing Butterflies Posts: 3,132 Karma: 5074169 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: American Southwest Device: Uses batteries.	I just checked -- went down the list in Calibre of the most recently added books. Row 28 has "The Color Purple". On the one hand, it's a "real world" fictional account with no supernatural elements. On the other hand, it's about a setting where a woman leaving her husband to live in an openly lesbian relationship with his former mistress in a small conservative community is completely accepted and no one really bats an eye. So I would call that speculative. Hence my confusion. But it's NOT A SERIES.