Loving an author but not everything they write
When you love an author, in particular a series that has endeared itself to you with every new release, then it's no big leap to assume that you'll love everything they write.
Your expectations are set then (and kind of high), how could you not love everything written by your new fave author?
So it's kind of a wrenching extra-deep twist of the knife in your back as a reader when you don't.
Thea Harrison comes to mind. I love her Elder Series (with a special soft spot for Pia/Dragos) but I could not even finish the first book in her Game of Shadows series. I just didn't like it, the story, the characters... and whilst if it had been a debut author I might have been able to battle on through, because it was Thea Harrison, I felt a little betrayed by the author.
Totally my problem, but dammit she set the bar so incredibly high with her Elder Series, I just wanted more of the same magic.
Same goes for Lisa Shearin. I loved her Raine Benares series but so far have been kind of underwhelmed by her SPI Files series, to the point I'm hesitating to pre-order the second in the series, when once upon a time Lisa's books were always at the top of my must-have list.
Which brings me to Jayne Ann Krentz; writing under 4 names, cross genres, trilogies that often don't get published in order, and several books of late that have been very samie (I know it's not a word, but you know what I mean) But with JAK, no matter what name is on the book you always get a well written story, with well developed characters and a nicely tied up ending. Even if the stories have been a little on the slow and boring side of late, still JAK delivers.
There are plenty more authors I can think of that I hesitate to buy every single book they write, even though I would state categorically that they are a favourite author of mine.
J.D Robb for example, her In Death series is a major fave... yet when she writes as Nora Roberts, I'm a bit on the 'meh', I'll wait til I see it at the library.
Gini Koch is another fave when it comes to her Alien series, but I couldn't finish 'The Night Beat' (the continuous information dumps were never ending) and I was only okay with 'Alexander Outland' (grew tired of how sarcastic all the characters were and how every time someone was sarcastic it had to be pointed out - tiresome).
But honestly, if you asked me who are my favourite authors Gini's name would still make my top ten.
So when you think about who makes your own top ten list of favourite authors, can you truthfully claim you've loved every single work they've written? Any surprises?
Your expectations are set then (and kind of high), how could you not love everything written by your new fave author?
So it's kind of a wrenching extra-deep twist of the knife in your back as a reader when you don't.
Thea Harrison comes to mind. I love her Elder Series (with a special soft spot for Pia/Dragos) but I could not even finish the first book in her Game of Shadows series. I just didn't like it, the story, the characters... and whilst if it had been a debut author I might have been able to battle on through, because it was Thea Harrison, I felt a little betrayed by the author.
Totally my problem, but dammit she set the bar so incredibly high with her Elder Series, I just wanted more of the same magic.
Same goes for Lisa Shearin. I loved her Raine Benares series but so far have been kind of underwhelmed by her SPI Files series, to the point I'm hesitating to pre-order the second in the series, when once upon a time Lisa's books were always at the top of my must-have list.
Which brings me to Jayne Ann Krentz; writing under 4 names, cross genres, trilogies that often don't get published in order, and several books of late that have been very samie (I know it's not a word, but you know what I mean) But with JAK, no matter what name is on the book you always get a well written story, with well developed characters and a nicely tied up ending. Even if the stories have been a little on the slow and boring side of late, still JAK delivers.
There are plenty more authors I can think of that I hesitate to buy every single book they write, even though I would state categorically that they are a favourite author of mine.
J.D Robb for example, her In Death series is a major fave... yet when she writes as Nora Roberts, I'm a bit on the 'meh', I'll wait til I see it at the library.
Gini Koch is another fave when it comes to her Alien series, but I couldn't finish 'The Night Beat' (the continuous information dumps were never ending) and I was only okay with 'Alexander Outland' (grew tired of how sarcastic all the characters were and how every time someone was sarcastic it had to be pointed out - tiresome).
But honestly, if you asked me who are my favourite authors Gini's name would still make my top ten.
So when you think about who makes your own top ten list of favourite authors, can you truthfully claim you've loved every single work they've written? Any surprises?
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Dahrose
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Sep 19, 2014 11:29PM
Agree - and sometimes it doesn't pay to go too far back in an author's catalogue, as some of their earlier works can be less polished an inconsistent. Still, certainly having my favourite author's name attached to a new series/book will place it immediately on my must buy list, at least for the first book or two (I'm with you, not ordering Lisa Shearin's 2nd SPI files book until I see the reviews)
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