Michael: "include a series description where librarians can describe the style of series (e.g., a single multi-part story vs. a set of ordered stories using sequels about the same character(s) vs. a loose collection of books with a common theme/setting)."

Yes, this would be very helpful to know.

Of course, I can already think of one series that's a hybrid. Sub-groups of books are chronological and about the same characters, but what holds the whole series together is the common universe. Kelley Armstrong is the author I was thinking of, if anyone was curious.

Sounds like a good compromise!

I like Michael's suggestion too.

For those who are interested, Elizabeth and I compromised by leaving the series numbering and adding this statement (from de Lint's website) to the end of the book descriptions and somewhere in his author profile:

"The [Newford:] books have all been written in such a way that you should be able to pick up any one and get a full and complete story. However, characters do reoccur, off center stage as it were, and their stories do follow a sequence."

Oh, I also like Michael's suggestion, because it offers so many more options for related but not necessarily dependent series.

I think that the Newford books, while more of a universe than a numbered series, are written in a way that makes sense to read in chronological order. Since most of the characters are recurring, things happen to them that are referenced in later books. While you could certainly pick up The Onion Girl and read it without any background (as I did, when I first discovered de Lint!), the story is certainly richer having read the previously written Newford books.

Or, maybe a more general argument for numbering them it is that if the information weren't available here, I would go to another website to look up where to start and how to proceed. Michael's suggestion in #13 would be a great addition to the series information Otis & Co. are working on.

Given how characters have been implemented, I'm guessing there's a good chance.

I'm hoping that when series are "implemented" on GR that they will include a series description where librarians can describe the style of series (e.g., a single multi-part story vs. a set of ordered stories using sequels about the same character(s) vs. a loose collection of books with a common theme/setting).

This discussion IS now linked to book #11. A post with the others as links will cause this discussion to show up on their pages as well.

I agree that the numbering seems favorable. Perhaps a note could be added to his profile about the nature of the semi-series, or a discussion post could be linked to the books about the series.

Elizabeth wrote: "Also the Newford order was taken from Charles de Lint's website as his suggested reading order."

That's a strong argument in favor of the numbering, IMO.

Hey, it was me who did this, and I'd actually like to hear what other people think as well. Because Newford is kind of like Discworld or the Brian Jacques books, they have a reading order if you want to do that, but they also stand alone, and are numbered, like I did with Newford. Also the Newford order was taken from Charles de Lint's website as his suggested reading order.

I wasn't sure it would work. But I figured it was worth a try!

I see it now. Clever, clever! Thanks, as always, rivka.

I separated out one edition of the book. That made it easier to see the relevant edits.

Thanks, rivka. I just messaged her, so hopefully I'll hear from her soon. Out of curiosity, where did you find that it was her I should be contacting?

I can certainly see both perspectives.

I expect JG and the other librarian can work it out -- both are active librarians who have shown every evidence of being reasonable. ;)

Some people consider loosely connecting books a series.

There's an author I read, Karen Rose, who has written 9 or 10 romantic suspense books all set in the same "universe" with some common settings and recurring characters. They're not labeled as an official series, but the author does talk about how they all loosely connect (some more than others). So I labeled the books here as "book #1", etc.

It helps readers know that there are some similar books.

JG, I figured out which librarian did it. Check your inbox.

Someone has listed Charles de Lint's Newford Books like this: The Onion Girl (Newford Book 11). To me, that implies more of a series than they actually are. They're obviously all set in Newford, and have some recurring characters, but I think, for the most part, each book stands alone. But maybe I'm wrong. I wanted to discuss this or get feedback from others before I started undoing someone else's hard work. I've tried looking at the librarian change log, but I can't figure out who did it to actually ask them personally about it. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?