Are Some Series Better Off Read Separately?

[murg]

I'm currently reading the RCN series by David Drake, thanks to having gotten all eleven of them either free or in a monthly bundle from Baen (yea Baen!).

I had a thought that these would be much better if they had been read as they came out, that is, with a year or two between them. I'm noticing a bit of sameness in the books.

Have any of you noticed this, and which series are better read separately and which are better binge read?

[Cinisajoy]

JD Robb tends to have a lot of sameness.

[theducks]

Too much of anything at once, and it stops being ...
Even Chocolate

J. D. Robb (J. A. Jance ...) is sorta the same, but enough different that I keep coming back (after a break) for another installment. Mysteries seem to survive my burnout threshold better than others.

RCN was one of many that I gave up on, believing it 'wore out', at about book 3 ( maybe that is why there are so many Trilogies)



Series that at least Survived further than 3:

Saga of Recluse
Foreigner
Solar Clipper Trader Tales
Kate Daniels
Hollows
Pern Trilogies (the ones by Ann )

[issybird]

Originally Posted by theducks

Too much of anything at once, and it stops being ...
Even Chocolate

Yep. Some series stand up to a binge better than others, but all series are improved by pacing yourself. I've mentioned this (to death!) in the audiobook forum, but I only let myself listen to Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin books in the summer, and I always break them up with something else. Not only do I appreciate the individual books more, I have a few more years of pleasure to anticipate.

I'll compare this to another series set in the Napoleonic War, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books. Lots of fun but fairly formulaic, and I'd be sick of them if I didn't let 'em lie fallow between reads.

Originally Posted by theducks

RCN was one of many that I gave up on, believing it 'wore out', at about book 3 ( maybe that is why there are so many Trilogies)

Three is my magic number, too. Even Harry Potter and Game of Thrones (heresy in both cases, I know, perhaps slightly less in the second) were never as good after the third book. A book to set up the situation, one in which it's realized, and one to wrap things up. Done! I got a sense in both of the series I mentioned of the author's losing control and worse, where continuity was seriously abrogated by the demands of newly spun plot threads.

Series where the books are comprised of relatively discrete situations and where there's less overarching plot fair much better. They also don't have the problem where the reader forgets plot points over time, as they're not as important.

[Plumadona]

I'm currently reading the Poldark Saga (but with other books in between), and it's still interesting at book 8 of 12. I heartily agree about the Pern series and McCaffery's other series as well. However, the Wheel of Time series just dragged for me by the 2/3 point and I abandoned ship. Guess it's a matter of how well done a series is.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Plumadona

I'm currently reading the Poldark Saga (but with other books in between), and it's still interesting at book 8 of 12. I heartily agree about the Pern series and McCaffery's other series as well. However, the Wheel of Time series just dragged for me by the 2/3 point and I abandoned ship. Guess it's a matter of how well done a series is.

WOT (Is it time to go home , yet?)

Some folk confuse 'Well Written' and 'Well Planned Out' (And sometimes a book that was not Planned as a Series or Character, takes on a life of its own )

I have run into various kinds of failures: .
A great story lost in lousy writing.
Boring or plodding stories that would make a Grammar Teacher proud.
Serious failures of Continuity (when there should be)

[fjtorres]

Well, it really depends on the nature of the series. Some series are really mega-novels serialized, with a unifying narrative spanning multiple volumes and a steadily evolving status quo. Others are really a collection of sequential standalone adventures. The former benefits from binge reading and often benefits from it while the latter may or not benefit but doesn't suffer from intermittent reader.

I've binge read the RCN series a couple times and it is something of a tweener: there is an evolving narrative but it is about the characters themselves. The adventures are stand-alone and, given the characters role in their universe, there really isn't much room for variation in their scope. I don't particularly care because I read those books precisely to see what Mundy and Leary are up to, in that order.

On the other hand, stories like LENSMEN and AMBER are more about the evolving conflict than about the protagonist personal evolution.

And then, sometimes a series itself evolves: The Honor Harrington series started out following her personal and career growth and then pivoted to focus on the bigger conflict in which she is now a major (but not only) player. Without that pivot, we would probably be talking about the limited variation in the stories. As Weber himself said, there's only so many deathrides he can credibly send a fleet Admiral on. Which is why he originally intended to kill her off and continue a couple decades later with her kids. (Then he let Eric Flint into his sandbox and discovered he didn't have to.)

In contrast, Xanth started out with a unifying narrative--the evolution of Xanth under Bink and his heirs--and later moved to the variations format.

In general, the greater the narrative progression in the series, the better it stands up to binge reading.

You can binge the "variations on a theme" stories (I once binge read the entire Tarzan canon in three weeks) but you might not want to repeat the experience. I can binge the first six Xanth books but the not the rest. Even the Dolph and Ivy arc can use some "palate cleansing" in between reads.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by theducks

Too much of anything at once, and it stops being ...
Even Chocolate

J. D. Robb (J. A. Jance ...) is sorta the same, but enough different that I keep coming back (after a break) for another installment. Mysteries seem to survive my burnout threshold better than others.

I think this is because there is always a new case. So, even though you have the same main characters, there is a very different scenario going on (or should be). However, I find that I have to give myself a break every 3 books and it doesn't matter what mystery/crime series I'm reading.

I also thought the Pern series was good read right through. For Shannara, each trilogy can be taken by itself, so I think best separated by other stuff. Dresden Files really picked up at book 3 and while I think one of the books was a bit of a drag, it's a good read through.

[Cinisajoy]

My problem with Robb is I have read 4 so far and 3 of the victims were assaulted in the exact same way.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

My problem with Robb is I have read 4 so far and 3 of the victims were assaulted in the exact same way.

Well, perhaps, as I've read more than thirty, I don't remember so much details Really, it's one of the few series (with Psy & Changeling, and Shelly Laurenston's Pride when she wrote it) that I follow.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Well, perhaps, as I've read more than thirty, I don't remember so much details Really, it's one of the few series (with Psy & Changeling, and Shelly Laurenston's Pride when she wrote it) that I follow.

It could be I just grabbed random ones in no particular order.

[Terisa de morgan]

Perhaps, I've read them from the beginning (they're the reason I began to read in English).

[JSWolf]

the In Death series should be read in published order.

[Terisa de morgan]

No "should" at all. You won't enjoy characters and relationships in the same way, but mysteries are good on their own.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

the In Death series should be read in published order.

I have an aversion to reading any series out of order. Even when the author says the books "stand alone" I find that to get the full richness that series reading can bring that I have to read them in order.

That said I know plenty of people who read series, especially Mystery/Thriller series, in what ever random order they run across the books. I can't do it, but it seems to work for them.