Series, series and more damned series!

[Namekuseijin]

too much speculation about speculation to me. I prefer just scifi and fantasy. It's all fiction anyway.

[Apache]

If I like it, I read it. If I don't like it, I don't read it.
Apache

[Pinecone]

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

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.

I find in some cases it is worse. All the boosk, except ONE in the middle of the series are available. But due to some arcane issue, that one book is not available. Richard Herman books are there now. ARRRGGGGHHHHH.

Of course, one could look to the torrents to find that one book.

[Pinecone]

Originally Posted by TCSimpson

I find in fantasy, some writers do write series, not necessarily because of money, but many have spent years building their world from its politics, to its religions, creatures, magic etc etc. Often times, it's easier to jump into that same world and build on familiar characters and concepts and make a compelling story than start a new world. Some already have several stories for their characters outlined or written that may be considered lengthy.

Although some try to jam early books into their later cohesive future universe and make for some VERY strange books and instances.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Philistine.



It's more like "Why are crappily written series so much more prevalent in the <insert desired one-word label that defines the uber-category formerly known as Speculative here>, than they are in other genres (and not so much crappily written, as crappily formatted and divided into separate volumes that are not conducive to telling a proper "story")?

Heh.

To be honest, I think it's sort of The Changing Face Of The Business. We've had a few series do mega-well for themselves -- The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games -- and so in standard business logic, this is the new thing.

And, of course, I think publishers have always liked series in the sense that they're a sort of "guaranteed" income -- I keep buying Deathlands even though they're up to 102 now and I've read only about 30.

Heck, some READERS like series, as long as it's done in the right way. I'm nearer completion of my stand-alone novel right now, and at least 3 of my beta readers have cheerfully demanded spin-off books for the dark-horse characters in the book. Tellingly, they all three demanded different books for different characters.

If their desires were indicative of my hypothetical readership at large, I could have a series there, IF I had the inclination to follow it and did the work to do it properly. Those are tricky, but as a wanna-be self-publisher, I could make that decision with a little more freedom than if I'd signed on a dotted line promising three more books already. So there's that.

But also there's a tendency in the publishing world to shove people into boxes and series do that very handily. It's not just "your first book was sci-fi, now you're a sci-fi author", it's full on "your first book was His Dark Potter Files, now you're that series from now on."

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Heh.

To be honest, I think it's sort of The Changing Face Of The Business. We've had a few series do mega-well for themselves -- The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games -- and so in standard business logic, this is the new thing.

And, of course, I think publishers have always liked series in the sense that they're a sort of "guaranteed" income -- I keep buying Deathlands even though they're up to 102 now and I've read only about 30.

Heck, some READERS like series, as long as it's done in the right way. I'm nearer completion of my stand-alone novel right now, and at least 3 of my beta readers have cheerfully demanded spin-off books for the dark-horse characters in the book. Tellingly, they all three demanded different books for different characters.

If their desires were indicative of my hypothetical readership at large, I could have a series there, IF I had the inclination to follow it and did the work to do it properly. Those are tricky, but as a wanna-be self-publisher, I could make that decision with a little more freedom than if I'd signed on a dotted line promising three more books already. So there's that.

But also there's a tendency in the publishing world to shove people into boxes and series do that very handily. It's not just "your first book was sci-fi, now you're a sci-fi author", it's full on "your first book was His Dark Potter Files, now you're that series from now on."

And I think that sucks. I would be more for stand alone novels within the same world that is somewhat like a series.

Andre Norton's Witch World is great for this. She used a great deal of an entire world...not in a "quest" but in multiple different stories and characters on different continents - some of whom know absolutely nothing about the other people, lands, etc.

Mercedes Lackey used to do this but seems to have started to go the route of others now.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Heh.

To be honest, I think it's sort of The Changing Face Of The Business. We've had a few series do mega-well for themselves -- The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games -- and so in standard business logic, this is the new thing.

I don't think it is the changing face of the business, but rather the face that the business has had for a long time. I mean, Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, etc? They've had long dragging series for decades.

[stonetools]

There really have been series for a long time. Often they start as stand alone novels that because of fan interest in the characters that prompt publishers and authors in writing series. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a standalone novel called a "A study in Scarlet" and people liked the main character so much that he began writing other Sherlock Holmes stories. When he grew tired of the character and killed him off, fans demanded that he come back and so the series revived and continued. ACD then had a complete other series with Professor Challenger.
Isaac Asimov did conceive his Foundation Series as a series of stories but then he extended it beyond its original end due to fan demand as well.

[Kevin8or]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's simply an umbrella classification. Many works blur the lines of science fiction, fantasy, horror, magical realism... and it's just easier to say/type "speculative fiction" when talking about all those clearly related "outside the realm of reality (currently)" works. [...] It's just an uber-label. So how about we move past it and back to the topic at hand?

You and pdurrant have convinced me.

[Liselle]

Hello, this is my first post so I will make this brief. I am a sucker for series...good series that is. I blame all of this on David Eddings who was my first great literary love with his 10 book epic Opus of the Belgariad and Mallorean. That being said a lot of the newer ones I think they could tell in one book without having to drag the plot out so long.

[BaenSidhe]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

One great example for me would be the Mercedes Lackey series Collegium Chronicles. All of the major story arcs are only going to be tied into the final book. All of the items tied up in books 1 & 2 are not made clear as to why they are important or as to their meaning. The characters were only reacting to situations...sooooo....you have to read the last book to get any type of satisfaction in the trilogy, period. It's rather annoying because this is the first time she's done this.

I've been really unhappy with this series - and since she's with an Agency6 pub I paid $14 for the ebook form of book 2. When the final book is released I'm buying a used HB for a couple of dollars. She turned me into a lost sale...and I usually buy everything of hers.

FYI, the third book in the series (Changes) came out about two months ago. No idea how long this series is going to be, but it's not a trilogy. Things still aren't resolved and I still have questions about the history of the main character. I'd recommend checking the book out from your library.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by BaenSidhe

FYI, the third book in the series (Changes) came out about two months ago. No idea how long this series is going to be, but it's not a trilogy. Things still aren't resolved and I still have questions about the history of the main character. I'd recommend checking the book out from your library.

Thanks, that's good to know.

I'll get that one from the library.

[greencat]

The most annoying things about series for me are local libraries. Row after row of books on the shelf in genre fiction are book 3 or 13 of a series. The first is never in - sometimes the library doesn't actually have it at all.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

I don't think it is the changing face of the business, but rather the face that the business has had for a long time. I mean, Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, etc? They've had long dragging series for decades.

The difference is, it's getting hard to find new science fiction or fantasy novels that are not part of a series. Series were once the exception, but they're becoming more and more the rule in every genre and even gaining ground in general fiction.

I'm with the OP; I don't mind a series here and there, but I've been feeling series fatigue for a while now.

[babyfebruary82]

I love discovering a series I like and realizing I don't have to wait for the next 5 books to be released because they are already available.
On the other hand..Sometimes I find myself finishing a series I have lost interest in because I have to know how it ends!