So, What Do You Think About Series Books?
I’ve been thinking about series. I recently read six books in a series, but I read the last five because it was a series, not because the first book was fantastic. They were fine books, but they’re not anything I’ll read again, and the first one wasn’t great enough to make me seek out the author–perfectly good but not great. So it had to be that I just wanted to see that community again.
Is that why most people read series?
Of course, there are series where the individual books are so good, you’d read them anyway (like Discworld, for example) but even then, there are duds (nobody’s excellent all the time) and I read them, too. Of course, I’d read Vimes doing almost anything (including reading a book to his kid), so it’s also character, but I really think it’s the community that brings me back.
As to why people write them, I can see the lure for writers–one set of world building, reusable–but I can also see the pitfall. If a great story is about the most important event in the protagonist’s life, then the sequel is about the second most important event, and the third book is . . . . Declining stakes, is what I’m saying. People have asked for sequels, but my stuff really isn’t set up for sequels, so I’m pretty sure anything from the past would land with a resounding thud. But in the future, there’s the Paradise Park/Monday Street books, and I have this three novella idea that starts with “Hot Toy,” and the Liz Danger books were always planned to be a four-book series, so it’s not that I’m averse to the idea. It’s just keeping reader interest. And my interest. (Very short attention span here.)
So what I’m trying to figure out is, (1) why do people keep reading sequels, and (b) is that something I want to mess with in 2020? Not for any of my previous books, although come to think of it, the Alice and Nadine books are kind of sequels (but not really). I really want to write outside the box in 2020, since I have no knowledge of the current box (dating in 2020) and I’m a lot more interested in the stuff around the romance in these books–magic (the prestidigitation kind), butterflies, art crime, writing romance novels (that’s Liz), painting, magic (witches), ghosts . . . my research shelves are full of amazing books.
As you can tell, this post is not organized or well thought out, it’s just me wondering about series in general and as an option for me in particular (I have a VERY short attention span). The odd things is that I’m thinking in series now, like I have ideas for a second Nita book. Change is good.
What do you think? About series, I mean. Well, about anything. It’s that kind of day. I’m making shrimp and penne for lunch. How’s by you?
The post So, What Do You Think About Series Books? appeared first on Argh Ink.
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I like a good series. I like getting to know characters and being swept up in their world. However, each book needs to have at least one major story line resolved. I deserve closure! Make me happy, sad, warm, fuzzy but don’t make me frustrated. Nothing ticks me off more than reading an entire book, only to learn its sole purpose was to make you buy the next book. I just did a 14 hour audiobook where none of the umpteen storylines were resolved. I now have serious trust issues with this author.
The first book in a series has to be good in order for me to continue. I am currently reading SEVERAL excellent series. One of the problems with series reading is, they aren't always completed, ex: George R R Martin's- A Song of Ice and Fire. I've also read some incomplete series where the author no longer has the rights to the series, so they can't complete it, ex: Dean Koontz- Moonlight Bay. But that isn't stopping me from reading series.
I love a good book series. If book 1 is fantastic, I want to keep going and can't get enough. I wouldn't continue reading if it wasn't great, though.
I enjoy a good group of books that are related in some way. A duology or trilogy with the same characters, with an overarching storyline. A series with the same characters, like the Harry Potter books, can be fun. But what I really find enjoyable is a series of books that are connected by the world the characters inhabit. Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series for instance. All 8 of the siblings occupy that Regency era world, but each has his or her own book with the others playing only minor roles. Molly Harper’s Jane Jameson/Half Moon Hollow books are referred to as a series, but I don’t think they necessarily have to be read in a certain order. When re-reading in a series, sometimes I will skip ones I didn’t enjoy as much (there is one book in SEP’s Chicago Stars series I have read only once — and it was close to a DNF — because I absolute detest the H/h).Yes, I can enjoy a series, or just a group of stories set in the same world. Kristen Painter created Nocturne Falls for a paranormal rom-com series, but has opened it up for other authors to populate it with their characters as long as they follow the rules of the world. It’s mostly good fun.
But you know what I don’t like? A serial. Because
I.
Hate.
Cliffhangers!
If I inadvertently stumble onto a book with a cliffhanger designed to get me to spend more money on the next installment, which generally has a cliffhanger, I will take note of that author and never read their work again. Who do they think they are? Dickens?
