One for the Money question

I'm only looking for fun when I pick up one of these. I just discovered the books, and swept thru the nineteen we are up to in the past month or so...The fact that each book is a stand alone, so she has to repeat her " intro" to the characters and series in each book, is what bothers me the most. The antics were dull in books 9 thru 14, but have picked up since. It's comforting to have a fun set of characters to follow.., having said that... I would like some Grand Finalle at some point! I hope the author leaves a book that wraps it all up, to be published in the event of her demise.. Yep, it seems like Stephany will be like Nancy Drew... Anyone said 30+ books? Lol!

I have read four of the Stephanie Plum Books and enjoyed them. The movie was fun although my wife thinks it was totally mis-cast.

I agree with the comments above on Harry Potter and would offer another series to consider. David Weber's Honor Harrington series is at least twelve long books at last count. I lost interest around book ten and stopped following it. Ironically, it wasn't the main character I lost interest in, it was her adversaries. They had taken on an intractability that no longer worked for me. It made for good and exciting reading in the beginning, but lost its spark along the way.

Unlike real life where adversaries face each other for hundreds of years, in a series novel, the adversaries need as much depth as the protagonist.

Interesting question, but not one that I think is really answerable. It all depends on whether or not the authors allows/forces the character to grow. If it just the same thing happening again and again then it grows stale. If a character(s) has had something major happen to them in a book and then the next book rolls around and the character is the exactly the same as before (the events of the previous book had no effect on how they are or how they act) then IMO that kind of sucks. Not that I can't still enjoy the book, but I would like to see a character expand and grow based on what has happened to them.

Just 2. Three at best.

I always enjoy the new Stephanie Plumb books when they come out, but I really wish that she would wrap the series up. They are all funny but I am getting tired of the love triangle, and there is no progression with the characters any more. It is starting to feel like the same thing over and over.

Plum has 18? or so, Archer Mayor about the same, Burke has 18 plus or minus with his main cash cow; as long as the author lives and wants to write and as long as the public buys, does he have to end it?

I've found for any series, as a reader I generally burn out after 12 books in the same series, whether they have the same characters or are just set in the same world. I get tired and bored around book 10 and then give the author a couple more chances to surprise or impress me.

I like these books, but yes it would be good if she either ended it soon, or changed things up a little. She should definitely have her pick someone soon and end the triangle. I think if she does that, depending on who she picks she can take the books in a new direction if she wants to keep writing about Stephanie Plum.

Pat wrote: "I have read all the Stephanie Plum books and all the Sookie Stackhouse books, and I have to tell you all, I don't know how much more the authors can do with these characters.
Is anyone else wonderi..."

I once went on a writing course led by Emma Darwin. She said the general consensus in the industry seems to be that after about six books in a series an author needs to come up with a new twist or development to give the series a new lease of life.

I've read all of Lindsey Davis' Falco novels, all Ellis Peters' Cadfael series, and all Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody books, and I think they all dipped in quality after a while, although I think the Cadfael and Peabody books picked up again later.

But then if you change a popular series too much, you risk losing the readers who made it successful in the first place.

And I agree with the person above who said that authors do need to earn a living so don't want to mess with a winning formula.

Victoria P.

I think it depends on the character development and the backdrop. If there's a lot to say, and people are still reading then I don't think it's a problem. If you've recycled the same themes and your characters are done growing, then it's time to hang up the hat.