Best method to implement multiple series for 1 book

[LostOnTheLine]

So it looks like there is no real way to do this, but I just wanted to lay out valid reasons for wanting multiple series for a book that aren't exactly filled by just using 1 series with both in it or deciding how you want to read it & sort it there or using a custom column that is visible in your library.

The series Fablehaven (Soon to be a Movie) has a sequel series Dragonwatch & a spinoff series Newel & Doren
For my audiobooks I have them in multiple series

• Fablehaven

1. Fablehaven 1
2. Fablehaven 2
3. Fablehaven 3
4. Fablehaven 4
5. Fablehaven 5

• Dragonwatch

1. Dragonwatch 1
2. Dragonwatch 2
3. Dragonwatch 3
4. Dragonwatch 4
5. Dragonwatch 5

• Newel & Doren

1. Newel & Doren 1

But also have then in an overarching series

• Fablehaven Universe

• 1.1: Fablehaven 1
• 1.2: Fabelhaven 2
• etc
• 2.1: Dragonwatch 1
• etc
• 3.1: Newel & Doren 1

This could easily, though less nicely, just be left as separate series that you just need to know you read in order, but it's nice to have an overarching series as well

Then there's another series, I won't name because it deals with hot topics that could annoy or offend, but lets call it the "Tea Adventures"
It has a mostly unrelated series that we'll call the "Hemlock Incident" that shares a mechanic of the story, but each have their own story & characters.
There is a crossover that happens in 2 of the books, but if you are reading either series you can read them without reading the other, there's a mysterious other characters that you don't know who they are, your adventures collide, you know only what your characters know about them, but it gives more to the story if you read both. If you are reading both you need to know which order they are in.

• Tea Adventures

1. Tea Adventures 1
2. Tea Adventures 2
3. Tea Adventures 3
4. Tea Adventures 4
5. Tea Adventures 5
6. Tea Adventures 6
7. Tea Adventures 7
8. Tea Adventures 8
9. Tea Adventures 9
10. Tea Adventures 10
11. Tea Adventures 11
12. Tea Adventures 12
13. Tea Adventures 13
14. Tea Adventures 14
15. Tea Adventures 15

• Hemlock Incident

1. Hemlock Incident 1
2. Hemlock Incident 2

This one you can't just 1.# & 2.#
So, for the audiobooks, I have

• Tea Saga

1: Tea Adventures 1
2: Tea Adventures 2
3: Tea Adventures 3
4: Tea Adventures 4
5: Tea Adventures 5
6: Tea Adventures 6
7: Tea Adventures 7
8: Tea Adventures 8
8.5: Hemlock Incident 1
9: Tea Adventures 9
10: Tea Adventures 10
11: Tea Adventures 11
11.5: Hemlock Incident 2
12: Tea Adventures 12

In my family, who has access to my books, Most prefer the Tea Saga, while 1 read all the Hemlock books before reading the Tea books & quite enjoyed the mysterious character & then reading the Tea Books after (initially turned off by the length of the series) wished they had read them in the other order, all Tea then all Hemlock, because there are some slight spoilers that gave away things the way they read it that would not have the other way. They think they would have still gotten the mysterious bit, without the spoilers.

So different people want to read them in different orders, none of which are invalid.

Then there's series like Chronicles of Narnia.
C.S. Lewis thinks the best reading order is NOT the publication order. I personally agree ONLY IF you are familiar with The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe though other means; movies, cartoons, etc.
If you had 2 series for the same books, you could have

• Chronicles of Narnia (Publication Order)

1. The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian (1951)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse & His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)

as well as

• Chronicles of Narnia (Chronological Order)

1. The Magician's Nephew (55)
2. The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe (50)
3. The Horse & His Boy (54)
4. Prince Caspian (51)
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (52)
6. The Silver Chair (53)
7. The Last Battle (56)

Both are valid read orders, some will want to read one way, some the other.

[theducks]

I use a Parent.child hierarchical series
For the spinoff I still use the Parent.spinoff
One limit is You only can set the index for the child. Usually I don't find the need to read based upon when/where it was released in relation to the parent.

Then there is the case where 2 independent series interact.
eg . J. A. Jance has (at least) 3 series that from time to time share a case
For those I use a custom series type column to document the placement (index) in each
AND
I configure Preferences Searching: Grouped Searches to look at both
The reason is the alt series could be either as THIS story might be primarily (start with) {series} and then {#altseries} comes to play.
I never try and fully series document a 'collection' /'box set'. If that matters: EPUBSPLIT it

[LostOnTheLine]

Originally Posted by theducks

I use a Parent.child hierarchical series
For the spinoff I still use the Parent.spinoff
One limit is You only can set the index for the child. Usually I don't find the need to read based upon when/where it was released in relation to the parent.

How does that work? That doesn't make sense. So if a spinoff happens after book 12 that series is all 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, etc?
That also makes it so it can't be independent, it only exists within the main series, & the spinoff series can't have it's own series name.
ePub supports having multiple series in the ePub, Calibre imports data from the ePub OPF & then uses the same format to create it's own OPF file for the book, I don't understand why we can't use something that is literally a part of the ePub spec & the format it already uses...
Audiobookshelf uses it's own metadata.json metadta file, & it's a great format, & they support multiple series, even recognizing multiple series in an ePub's OPF if it's present. I don't understand why calibre, which uses this established format even for non-epub books, doesn't support things that the format supports.

Originally Posted by theducks

Then there is the case where 2 independent series interact.
eg . J. A. Jance has (at least) 3 series that from time to time share a case
For those I use a custom series type column to document the placement (index) in each
AND
I configure Preferences Searching: Grouped Searches to look at both
The reason is the alt series could be either as THIS story might be primarily (start with) {series} and then {#altseries} comes to play.
I never try and fully series document a 'collection' /'box set'. If that matters: EPUBSPLIT it

That's doing a lot to make something that will only work on your setup...
I think I'm going to try to create a plugin that will use a 2nd series.

My plan is, open to suggestions, use an Extra Metadata Column named World Series or something like that, see if I can get it to be populated by a series in the metadata that is NOT the main series, Ideally I'll format it like Audiobookshelf uses for the display `${Series Name} #${Series Index#}` so it'll look like Fablehaven Universe #2.3 for

    <meta property="belongs-to-collection" id="series">Dragonwatch</meta>
    <meta refines="#series" property="collection-type">series</meta>
    <meta refines="#series" property="group-position">3</meta>
    <meta property="belongs-to-collection" id="series2">Fablehaven Universe</meta>
    <meta refines="#series2" property="collection-type">series</meta>
    <meta refines="#series2" property="group-position">2.3</meta>

If possible I'll make it so that it can show a marked version of the main series if there is only 1 series present. I'd have it start with a `*` or something, but that would defeat the purpose of having the general series present for sorting.

The biggest concern, what actually led me to this thread, was if there's a standard ePub format. I have seen `#series2`, `#series-2`, `#series-other`but can't find any normalized standard aside from a different `id=""` than the primary series. I think that will be the biggest challenge.