Which series got REALLY better as it progressed?

[Tom]

F.F. wrote: "I hope my trilogy will be on this list one day. Crap that means i have to finish writing it first. This website sometimes becomes a support group for people who waste time online instead of doing p..."
So very true

[Tom]

The Foundation Series, Old Man's War Series, and Game of Thrones all held pretty good quality and even improved somewhat throughout the books.

[Silvana]

I think Discworld got better because there are more Watch novels. And probably Death and Moist.

[Andy]

Silvana wrote: "I think Discworld got better because there are more Watch novels. And probably Death and Moist."

You have to love anything that he did with Moist von Lipwig. One of the best characters Pratchett wrote--besides, perhaps, the Librarian of the Unseen University.

[Scott]

accidental double post all over your dome

[Scott]

cosigned to dresden and the dark tower.

I almost gave up on the Dresden Files a couple books in until someone told me they get better as it goes along. Glad I did because it's become one of my favorites.

I love Mr. King so I kept going with that series. The first was pretty rough to get through even though it was the shortest installment. Lots of people poo poo the ending, but I loved it.

[James]

Even though it's still early, the Lightbringer series can be added to this list. While The Black Prism was a good book, it still had some slow parts, and the characters were a little bland. However, The Blinding Knife is absolutely fantastic!

Another one is the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone. About 80% of the first book, The Briar King, is very boring. However, once you get to the final 20% of it, the book goes into overdrive and stays that way for the rest of the series.

[Andy]

If the Blinding Knife is anywhere near as good as the Night Angel books, I'm in! Just have to get through Riyira first.
What makes Briar King a good read? The synopsis doesn't really get my hopes up.

[Kathryn]

The Drizzt series by R.A. Salvatore. The first trilogy he wrote was... ok. The second trilogy (which actually takes place first) is LEAPS AND BOUNDS better. I think it's a combination of 1. Him getting better at writing and 2. Getting a better editor.

[[deleted user]]

Surprised to see The Dark Tower mentioned multiple times here as as series that continuously improved. I loved the first book, the second slightly less so, and I think I quit around the third or fourth. From what I've read, a lot of people felt that it lost its way in the later books. Sounds like at least a few folks here feel differently though.

[James]

Andy wrote: "If the Blinding Knife is anywhere near as good as the Night Angel books, I'm in! Just have to get through Riyira first. "

I love the Night Angel series (I have a dog that I named Kylar haha), and I think the Blinding Knife is better than any book in that trilogy. It is definitely a series you want to get into.

Andy wrote: "What makes Briar King a good read? The synopsis doesn't really get my hopes up."

Like I said, The Briar King is really hard to get into. The vast majority of the book is spent introducing the characters, the world they live in, and setting everything up for what's the come. It's also hard to relate to the characters at first. However, once you're deep into it, you start to appreciate just how fleshed out their world feels, and you begin to bond with and fear for each person.

It's really an odd experience that I've never had with any other book. There were several times where I wanted to just give up reading, but I decided to at least stick with it til the end of the first book. By the time I got to the end, I was already looking for the next one in the series.

[Andy]

James wrote: "Andy wrote: "If the Blinding Knife is anywhere near as good as the Night Angel books, I'm in! Just have to get through Riyira first. "

I love the Night Angel series (I have a dog that I named Kyla..."

I like it when a series can hook you like that, though I prefer that it does so right away. That's how it was with Scott Lynch's books, whereas a series like Erikson's Malazan took much longer. I guess it's all about having patience to read through a book to get to the good stuff.
I tried start my own book out with a bang to get people interested, but every author has their own way of doing it.

[Michael]

My wife says I have to read the Kitty Norville (urban fantasy) series for this exact reason - each book gets better and the author does things with the characters that blew her mind and made her think the author had been planning elaborate plot threads all the way back in book one.

[Andy]

My friend, always listen to what the wife says. Even if she's wrong, SHE'S RIGHT! Heh...

[DavidO]

Andy wrote: "Surprised to see The Dark Tower mentioned multiple times here as as series that continuously improved. I loved the first book, the second slightly less so, and I think I quit around the third or f..."

Interesting point of view. I guess that those of us who say it improved, what we really meant was that his writing style changed to be more in line with what we like. Those who say it got worse mean that it started where they liked it then his style changed to something you didn't like. In this case, it starts very steeped in horror with a very monster of the week feel (to me), but slowly changes into a more fantastical story with fewer monsters but more references to popular fiction.

[[deleted user]]

I don't know if I'd go as far as to say it got REALLY better, but I thought Rapture (the third and final book of Kameron Hurley's Bel Dame Apocrypha series) had better writing, an expanded world, and dealt with more complex themes than the first two books. Then again it may just have looked like the best of the trilogy because it was a vast improvement over the second book, which was a bit of a let down after the first.

[Trike]

Rob wrote: "Brenda wrote: "I fell off the sled with Dresden Files, presumably before they got better. About 3 volumes in I gave up."

Yeah, you need to go a few more books before they really start getting good..."

Nope. I bailed after #2. I just couldn't do it any more. It's like when people say, "Oh, you need to watch the entire season of this TV show, because it really gets good in episode 19!" No. If a movie sucks, you don't wait until the third sequel to judge it.

If your third book is bad but the first two were good (A Song of Ice and Fire is a perfect example), then I'll come back for #4. But if you're starting to steer into the weeds, I'm hopping off the ride.

Too many books, too little time.

[Wendy]

I guess I need to give Dresden books another try. Read a few, and couldn't get into protagonist.

[Andy]

It's always hard to keep up with a book series if the main character just doesn't resonate. I found I had a hard time with the Malazan books when they weren't focused around the Bridgeburners.

[Scott]

Wendy wrote: "I guess I need to give Dresden books another try. Read a few, and couldn't get into protagonist."

I have to admit, I felt the same way. Thought his "wit" was super forced, trying to be funny but not succeeding and the story lines felt pretty bland. They were such quick, easy reads that it didn't take much effort to get through them, but I had no desire to keep going after the second book. Then someone pushed me to keep going. I'm really glad I did because his voice starts to get much better, the story lines improved and even though each book has it's own sort of stand alone mystery, the series has an overarching story which is very intriguing.

[Komal]

The Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan.

It started out like the ideal fantasy, but then slowly, over the progress of six books, everything changed. The characters opened up, the writing style turned from choppy to wonderfully rich and fluid and the plot just got bigger and better with all sorts of zomg revelations thrown at the end.
It was one of the most entertaining reads I've had.

[Nayeomi]

Definitely Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series. I am not done yet with the series but the characters have all grown quite well and evolved splendidly. Also, it reminds me of Harry Potter because of the fact that he is a wizard and his being a bad ass is always projected to doing good things and banishing evil. Changes

[Scott]

Komal wrote: "The Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan.

It started out like the ideal fantasy, but then slowly, over the progress of six books, everything changed. The characters opened up, the writing style turned from choppy to wonderfully rich and fluid and the plot just got bigger and better with all sorts of zomg revelations thrown at the end.
It was one of the most entertaining reads I've had. "

That's really good to hear. I've read the first two so far and enjoyed them so it's good to know they keep getting better. I will definitely revisit that world soon.

[[deleted user]]

Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan and Jack Reacher by Lee Child.

[Peggy]

Nayeomi wrote: "Definitely Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series. I am not done yet with the series but the characters have all grown quite well and evolved splendidly. Also, it reminds me of Harry Potter because of ..."
I went to a Jim Butcher book signing a few years ago, and he said one of his favorite reviews called the Dresden Files series "Dirty Harry Potter."

Thoroughly enjoyed the signing, and he stayed WAY past the time it was supposed to end, so everyone got an autograph. Dude is charming as hell.

Btw, seconding (or eleventhing, whatever) the notion that The Dresden Files get better. I read the first one (Storm Front) when the group here read it, and was unimpressed. A friend loaned me a few more books and encouraged me onward, they absolutely get better. By the end of Dead Beat, I was ready to have Butcher's snarky little babies.

[Ryan]

The Empire of Man series. By John Ringo and David Weber. Fan Flippin Tastic read.

[[deleted user]]

As a general rule, series that go beyond four or five books start to decline. It's hard to think of execptions; even Iain M. Bank's later Culture novels never regained the glory of the early books, though the final two were close.

I'm surprised to see the Dark Tower mentioned. Book one was ok, two and three were very good, four was back to ok, then five was bloody bad with six and seven also bad. He just didn't do the meta fiction aspect right. It takes the skill and precision of a master watchmaker with fine tools, but King took the approach of an oaf in a slaughter house using a sledgehammer to knockdown pigs and cows.

[Rob]

Dark Tower just isn't for everyone. It's still one of my favorites though.

[Tara]

Greg wrote: "Book one was ok, two and three were very good, four was back to ok, then five was bloody bad with six and seven also bad. He just didn't do the meta fiction aspect right..."

I agree, for me book 2 and 3 of the Dark Tower series were awesome, loved the imagination, then it started to go down hill, especially book 5. I reached half way through the last book and can't seem to finish it. I will eventually get back to it later on just to know what happened.