Can you stop buying a series?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by philandjan

I have to admit that I am a bit of a sucker for series, even though I may think that they sometimes seem to lose the plot somewhere along the line.

Thankfully, the next year or so should see the end of the Wheel Of Time series and Thomas Covenant's chronicles.

I have invested so much time and effort in both of these series that I deserve to know how they end up!

Thomas Covenant is still ongoing?
Perfect example for this thread: first trilogy went from decent/good to tolerable. Second trilogy bored me. Without the central premise of the first trilogy it didn't work for me. (And even that frayed early.) (As is, I found Marion Zimmer Bradley's HOUSE BETWEEN THE WORLDS a more interesting take on the same conceit.)
Anyway, I'd heard Donalson had gone back to the well for a third time but I wasn't even faintly interested.

Still, out of curiosity (and nostalgia: they were some of the first fantasies I read way back when), how many is the series up to?

[orlok]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Thomas Covenant is still ongoing?

I had no idea. I read the first series what must be 30 years ago .

Spoiler:

Does he still suffer from leprosy?

[Sweetpea]

It depends. If it's an ending series, I will probably complete it. If it's an unending series (author isn't dead yet and still writing and writing and writing...) and I like the books less and less, I'll stop.

[DiapDealer]

Thomas Covenant is still ongoing?

Unfortunately, yes. I love the series and Donaldson's work in general, but he never should have pulled this one out of mothballs. The final book of the second series (regardless of how you felt about the quality) had a solid, definite ending. It should have stayed The Ending. So while I love Donaldson and Thomas Covenant, I dropped this "'Final' Chronicles" series after about a book-and-a-half. I would have rather seen him do something along the lines of his "Gap Cycle" SciFi series—his finest writing in my opinion.

He's such a versatile writer and he should have known better than to try to reclaim past glory.

[The Redbaron]

OP - can't believe the Xanth series went for over 30 novels! Was one of the first series I read when I started high school... even by the time I finished they were only up to part 10! Absolutely loved it, but could see how it would go downhill after so many...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by The Redbaron

OP - can't believe the Xanth series went for over 30 novels! Was one of the first series I read when I started high school... even by the time I finished they were only up to part 10! Absolutely loved it, but could see how it would go downhill after so many...

It's hard to say it went downhill because the stuff continued to sell well and even increased its sales as he went (in his own words) from a trilogy to a trilogy of trilogies to a trilogy of trilogy trilogies.
Some formulas wear well.
Plus, Xanth books for the most part are standalone or short arcs, so somebody picking one up at random isn't lost or compelled to read previous or even succeeding volumes. In that respect, it's not the same as other series that create an overarching narrative.
Me, I generally favored the stories dealing with Bink and his descendants and the rest, while amusing, didn't quite strike a chord.

What strikes me most odd is that nobody's tried to adapt Xanth to the movies; its right up Tim Burton's alley, after all. (Helena Bonham Carter could easily do Iris.)

[anamardoll]

The Xanth stuff has gone downhill because of the dang puns. A bunch of fanatic fans and trolls send Piers Anthony hundreds of thousands of puns between books and he always devotes at least 1-3 chapters to jamming in as many fan puns as possible.

Used to, you could just SKIP those chapters, but the latest ones in the 20s really became all about the puns, strung together with "excuse plots" that just got more and more out there. "Fawn and Games", IIRC, was about planet hoping through, like, 4 different miniature planets that kept circling around one princess' head. It was completely dull and forgettable, imho.

[twowheels]

Worse, I feel compelled to read a series back to back, and often feel like I really should be reading something different rather than sticking with the same author and subject for so darn long.

That said, I can often give up a series if they're well enough isolated... for example, I loved the Foundation trilogy, but there's no way that I'll read EVERY SINGLE Foundation book, especially those not written by Asimov himself. I was happy to stop with the three
originals.

Science fiction series' in particular seem to go on forever. Another series that I've been stuck with, though do enjoy, is Bova's Grand Tour novels. I finally just had to say "ENOUGH!" and start reading other authors!

[PeterT]

Years ago I fell into the trap on the Thomas Covenant books.

I think I made it through the first trilogy, and most of the second, gritting my teeth more and more as I went. I do think I finally gave up!

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

Did anyone mention the Amelia Peabody books? I loved that series so much... then Ramses turned into a douche and I had to walk away. I know, I know, lots of people love the series... but the appeal for me was the fact that Amelia was so flighty while thinking she was this strong independent kind of woman. Then things went from Ramses point of view and I completely lost all interest because the magic was gone.

I forgot about that one. I used to love the Amelia Peabody books, but that's one series that should have ended several books ago. I wish Elizabeth Peters would get back on track and write some of her non-series books.

How about Anita Blake, by Laurell K. Hamilton? I liked the idea of a bad ass vampire executioner, then around/after Obsidian Butterfly it turned into straight up erotica and I was like "Do not want." The last book of the series I read, I had to flip past like 200 pages to find 5 pages of plot, then it went back to the same sex scenes repeated dozens of times with just a change in hair color and guy. At least LKH was honest about what Meredith Gentry was going to be before she started.

Boy, the AB series was one that really took a radical nosedive, wasn't it? That was a train wreck those of us who were really into the series watched happen in real time. Too bad, because the books up through Obsidian Butterfly were really interesting and enjoyable urban fantasy. But once LKH divorced her first husband and married the president of her fan club, everything went to hell in a handbasket with her series.

[Harper Kingsley]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

Boy, the AB series was one that really took a radical nosedive, wasn't it? That was a train wreck those of us who were really into the series watched happen in real time. Too bad, because the books up through Obsidian Butterfly were really interesting and enjoyable urban fantasy. But once LKH divorced her first husband and married the president of her fan club, everything went to hell in a handbasket with her series.

I was there at the time, you know? That whole big blow up on the internet and everything. I even read her crazy letter to her fans on her website and was like WTF? It was totally a case of an author's real life getting in the way of being a, well, an author.

She's turned into a lesson on what not to do once you become a bestseller. Like, don't buy into your own hype and turn on your fans like a rabid mongoose going down on a viper.

At least Frank Herbert had the excuse that he had debilitating cancer for his series to go downhill.

Which makes me think, I haven't bought the latest Terry Pratchett books. I have nearly the complete series, but I have no interest in the Hat Full of Sky books. I guess I'm just too old for that kid stuf It just doesn't appeal.

[JimKal]

While I participated in the poll, I think my real answer is that sometimes I loose interest in a series. I read quite a few books by Lindsey Davis set in ancient Rome and enjoyed them all but reached a point where I just didn't want to continue. Yes, I am compelled by my own OCD to read a series in order but as I've aged, I have been able to make a decision to stop a series.

An earlier post addressed the issue of an author and cited Tom Clancy. I guess I feel the same way about James Patterson. My wife and I read a number of books by him and both reached the conclusion that we were no longer interested in James Patterson Inc. Of course, he continues to be wonderfully successful despite our decision.

[Frida Fantastic]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

But once LKH divorced her first husband and married the president of her fan club, everything went to hell in a handbasket with her series.

Man, that sounds like such a dramabomb. What's the speculation on how that affected the direction of the Anita Blake books? No force of sombre second thought?

[mikegetz]

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

Ooh, the GRRM, Robert Jordan thing made me think... Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I *loved* Wizard's First Rule. Then each succeeding book just turned me off more and more until I didn't want anymore.

When i read Wizards First Rule, it was a life-changing experience. I read it in print, then my mom got the audio (on tapes, unabridged! 30 tapes ...) and i listened to it again maybe 3 months later. Stone of tears was also excellent. maybe not a "new" as WFR was. Blood of the fold went kind of weird about 1/2 way through - the bad guy's odd collection was frankly quite disturbing.

still, i forced myself to endure the torture that was the 4th book. the last 100 pages, i kept asking "what?" "why?" out loud while reading. i think i suffered thought 2 or 3 more. the final straw was the endless diatribe on the merits of communism vs. capitalism, punctuated by a horribly thin, ragged story about carving a statue?

WTF?

Aspirin's actual Myth books are some of my favorites. the latter collaboration books are very hit - or - miss. usually miss. the last couple took a lot longer to get through.

I have not read the last half of the Xanth books yet, and from what i am hearing here, they might be sliding down the list quick.

I was not really disappointed by the last harris Sookie book - but i wondered when i was done, "what was the point?" The beginning of the book, there was a definite place you expected the book to go, but it never got there. I felt that there was a distraction somewhere in her personal life, and it affected her writing.

I noticed with the Percy Jackson books, that i flew through the first 3. the 4th one kind of dragged a little. I totally struggled to finish the 5th one. like i kept picking up other books, and then going back to it. and once it was over, it was good that it was over. there was closure, and i really did not long for more. I just wish it could have been 100 pages shorter.

Currently, i am re-reading the Sookie books from the first - and i am flying through them this time, and picking up a lot more than i did the first time around. and, we just re-watched the first 3 seasons of the show to prepare for the new season, and i am starting to understand a lot of the changes that Alan Ball made to make the show last. Some blatant, some very very subtle. things that seemed horrible the first time around, are starting to make sense.

ok, enough with the ranting. lunchtime, time to go read

[TonyR]

Another choice may be needed -- something along the lines of "series is still good and you have no real complaints about it, but you're just deciding to use the reading time on other titles now."

I stopped reading Spenser about 8 books back -- no complaints and the books were still a lot of fun and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, but I was just becoming less inclined to read series. Same story with the 87th Precinct. Read all of Zelazny's Amber novels, but didn't keep them even though I enjoyed them (you'd have to shoot me to take my NESFA set of his short fiction). The only series I'll still buy is Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series. Have read a number of Lee Child's and they're fun too. But.

It's possible that if every title in the Spenser and 87th Precinct books were available for Kindle, I'd grab them all and dive back in because shelf space was also an issue in my decision to cut back on series titles (I was always one to grab the hardcover rather than wait for the paperback). But it's iffy. These days, paper or ebook, I tend not to pick up a book at all if I know it's the start of a series.