making the 2nd or later book in a series free

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Apache

I have read series where the second was better than the first book.
Apache

Same with #3. Then... things went downhill .

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

My entire book collection is pretty much series books. I've have gotten freebie 2nd books and then gone back and gotten the first book, or sometimes I drop them all together. Most stories are stand alones within the series. I NEVER buy TBC books!

Most are not stand alone.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Most are not stand alone.

How would you know what is in cfrizz's book collection?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

How would you know what is in cfrizz's book collection?

Because most books in most series are not standalone.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Because most books in most series are not standalone.

Talk about painting with a Garden Sprayer

I will say that SOME books are better with knowing the back story, but only serialized books tend to not hold their own.

More than once, I have come into a Series 'in the middle' and later went and back filled (yep, there were spoilers in what I read, but it was still enjoyable. Just as a re-read of a series book is )

[Sirtel]

I've almost never read a series out of order. Maybe once or twice in my life, and that includes my paper book days. I don't care if the individual books are standalones or not. I'd rather not read at all than read out of order, and I thought so even back when books weren't as instantly available as they are now. I remember abandoning paper books when I realized they were not the first book in the series, and it happened more than once that I never managed to acquire the first book; I still refused to read the second/third/fourth book without reading the first.

But I realize most people aren't that anal about series order.

[DNSB]

I've read at least one book in a series out of order on multiple occasions. Easier to do back in the days when pbooks were all that was available.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I've read at least one book in a series out of order on multiple occasions. Easier to do back in the days when pbooks were all that was available.

There were times I would pick up a book that was in the middle of a series and sounded interesting. If it was, I would then try to pick up the older books too.
Apache

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by theducks

I will say that SOME books are better with knowing the back story, but only serialized books tend to not hold their own.

I think that the vast majority of series could be read in any order. If you binge read a series in order, it's easy to see how often each book has enough backstory to catch you up. At times, it can become annoying, like "previously on" for TV shows you are bingeing.

Most detective/cop/lawyer/secret agent figures out the crime/evil plan series don't really have a hard ordering. Even when there was some joining story, you often didn't need to know that Joe Cop is now married to (instead of dating) Jane Lawyer.

I'm not saying that reading out of order is better, but there's few problems with most series if you miss a book or get a couple out of order.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

I think that the vast majority of series could be read in any order.

That depends on the genre. Murder mysteries and thrillers, with a separate story in each book, yes (although personally I never read even those out of order); in fantasy and (to a lesser extent) science fiction, where most series have a continuous story, not so much.

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Most are not stand alone.

All of the mysteries I've read have been standalone as far as solving the mystery goes. There's nothing from a previous book that's needed for the detective to solve the current book's mystery. Of course there's character development stuff about the recurring characters around the detective that may be missing, but nothing that's necessary for solving the mystery.

Whereas with fantasy it's almost always necessary to have read the preceding books. One exception I can think of is Lois McMaster Bujold's World of the Five Gods series where each book is set in the same world but at different times with different characters (although the second book has a brief cameo appearance of the main character from the first book).

[Dazrin]

Tombs of Atuan by Ursula LeGuin is a sequel, but I don't think you need to know anything about the previous book to enjoy it. Going back to the first book would feel like it was a prequel if you didn't know the original publication order. Very different but very enjoyable books on their own or together.

Book 3 is different to me though, you need to have read both books 1 and 2 to get the full experience for it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

I think that the vast majority of series could be read in any order. If you binge read a series in order, it's easy to see how often each book has enough backstory to catch you up. At times, it can become annoying, like "previously on" for TV shows you are bingeing.

Most detective/cop/lawyer/secret agent figures out the crime/evil plan series don't really have a hard ordering. Even when there was some joining story, you often didn't need to know that Joe Cop is now married to (instead of dating) Jane Lawyer.

I'm not saying that reading out of order is better, but there's few problems with most series if you miss a book or get a couple out of order.

I've read enough detective/cop/lawyer/secret agent where they do talk of previous cases in previous books. So that would be a spoiler for sure.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by hobnail

All of the mysteries I've read have been standalone as far as solving the mystery goes. There's nothing from a previous book that's needed for the detective to solve the current book's mystery. Of course there's character development stuff about the recurring characters around the detective that may be missing, but nothing that's necessary for solving the mystery.

Whereas with fantasy it's almost always necessary to have read the preceding books. One exception I can think of is Lois McMaster Bujold's World of the Five Gods series where each book is set in the same world but at different times with different characters (although the second book has a brief cameo appearance of the main character from the first book).

Even if the mystery/crime might be standalone, the background stuff is not and that to me makes it not standalone.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by issybird

How would you know what is in cfrizz's book collection?

Thank you!!!!