How many series are you in the middle of?

[Michael]

If you mean completed series, them none. If I discover a new series, I'll generally read it straight through from beginning to end (or until the latest book at least)

Now I am currently reading a number if ongoing series (seven IIRC). I've also got a number of first in series books on my to read list.

[Kevin]

I'm in the middle of far too many series even to count.

[Bargle]

Oh, boy. I'm partway through Robert Asprin's Myth series. Partway through a re-read and catchup of Diane Duane's Young Wizards series. Stainless Steel Rat series.
Mystery genre: Scobie Malone series. I got a long way into the 87th Precinct series before abandoning it. The Matthew Scudder series. Bernie Rhoddenbar (sp?) and probably a couple of others I'm forgetting. Arkady Renko series.

[Michael]

I was thinking about this conundrum today and found this thread. (And agree on Anita Blake, I treat Obsidian Butterfly as the brilliant early conclusion to that neverending mess).

Part of the problem is there are different flavors of "series": there are series that I definitely intend to finish, some I intend not to, and some that I can take or leave, so if I need some airplane reading I might pick up the next one just to pass the time. Also, there are series like Fever, where it doesn’t make sense to read it if you don’t read all of them, and there are series like the Hainish Cycle, where each is a standalone and there is no imperative to read more than one or in any particular order.

So reading them all at once can be important in some cases, and not in others, but I admit I have a pretty sloppy reading pattern overall. Currently I have started 26 series that I intend to continue, though I am not sure if I intend to finish all of them.

A better question, though, is are we adding more series than we are reading, and if so, by how much? From my own recent history:

2015:
started 3 new series I intend to finish
finished 2 series

2016:
started 8 new series I intend to finish
finished 2 series

Oops. That ain't good. I'm adding more series than I am finishing, time to adjust some things...

[Sarah]

This is not something I usually track. I ran across a series the other day that I loved when I read it but there were only four books out. Then it fell off my radar and now there are 11!

But I generally figure that if I forget about it it wasn't that important to begin with. This saves me a great deal of time.

[Najaf]

lets count 'em together
takeshi kovac series (havent read the last book)
culture series (2 books to go)
Hainish Cycle (read 2 books)
Vorkosigan Saga (read 2 books)
dune saga (read the first 4 books)
Poseidon's Children (in the middle of 2nd book)
Jumper by Steven Gould (read the first 2 books)
Forever Series by Joe Haldeman (read the first 2 books).

----

forgot to mention the bel dame apocrypha by kameron huxley (reading the second book now) and The Valley of Fear by arthur conan doyley.

[Trike]

Can I count watching the movies (Harry Potter) or reading the Wikipedia summaries (Safehold)? :p

[Chris]

Michael wrote: "A better question, though, is are we adding more series than we are reading, and if so, by how much?"

Good question. 2016 was my first full year with this group, and I started so many series between the books-of-the-month and the bookshelf reads. I will definitely devote more of 2017 to progressing on various series.

One benefit of having many unfinished series is that I can wait for sales or library loans.

[Bill]

Since posting here last year I'm up 11 series to a total of 77 despite finishing 12 series in that time. I'm only reading the continuation of those series or standalone until I can get that number down. Think I will only need to start two new series for the bookshelf challenge this year and can swap those out for standalone if any are voted for this years picks.

[Vanessa]

Well, there are many series I'm reading that just are not completed yet. Mercedes Thompson, Dresden Files, Cormoran Strike -- where I am eagerly awaiting the next novel.

As for series where I just need to pick up the next book. At least 6 that I'm counting off the top of my head.

[Maggie]

I use FictFact.com which says I have 79....lol

[Coralie]

I have 48 series that I have started, I intend to continue with and the next book is available.

[Silvana]

I can't believe I have now 26 series followed, 11 more than my last post last year. I track it by making a separate shelf (putting the first books in it) and I also have another shelf for series I abandoned.

[Kateb]

Ages ago i decided the only way I could keep track of the series I was reading was to do a spreadsheet of all of my books. Then came ebooks, aaaahhh, that mucked things up a bit.

But every few months ,as a teacher it was every school hols, now that I am retired it still is around that time, I look up each series and see if a new book has been published.

Ficfac is great, but so many series to find, it put me off.

so I try and keep up to date with my series this way, then when a series finishes, it doesn't mean that in a few years I wont re read it.

This site is driving me mad as it is introducing me to sooooo many new books.

[Conal]

Trike wrote: "Hmm... series I've actually finished...

Sten. 7 books, one of the co-authors passed away."

FYI, Allan Cole is back writing Sten novels again. This was published last year...

[Bill]

Maggie wrote: "I use FictFact.com which says I have 79....lol"

Never heard of this site before. Looks pretty good.

[Kim]

I'm curious now. I'm going to find some time to see how many I've started vs. how many I've finished. Does something like the Middle-Earth books count as a series?

[Silvana]

You mean History of Middle Earth books? I would consider them as series but not books like Children of Hurin because it is a stand alone despite being set in ME.

[Scott]

I'm currently in the middle of two series BUT both series are complete. I never (thank you Robert Jordan) ever start a series until the whole series is written.

[Aaron]

Probably well over 100,

Webnovels and before that manga just eat up so many currently reading slots. Combine that with basically everything being a series now a days and it's just crazy.

[Kim]

My answer was too many to count. Once I started going through I realised how daunting it was. I never feel a need to finish a series. That doesn't mean I won't, I just don't feel I have to.

I see a lot of people say that's just how they started back before the huge variety we have now. For me it was the opposite. It was rare for my library to have whole series available so I just read whatever I could get my hands on.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Active series:
- A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin
- Discworld by Terry Pratchett
- Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke
- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
- Dying Earth by Jack Vance
- Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman
(this doesn't include some mystery series that I am also in the middle of)

Waiting for Author:
- Alvin the Maker by Orson Scott Card (go ahead and finish that last book any day now!)

Stalled (read partway through but will probably need to start again from the beginning):
- Vlad Taltos by Steven Brust
- 2nd Amber series by Roger Zelazny
- Ethshar by Lawrence Watt-Evans
- Riftwar by Raymond E Feist (I read the first series but none of the others)
- Elric by Michael Moorcock
- Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
- Narnia by CS Lewis
- Heechee by Frederik Pohl

Abandoned:
- Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony
- Myth Adventures by Robert Asprin
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- Phule's Company by Robert Asprin
- Middle Earth by JRR Tolkien and son

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

I have 34 books on my 'next-in-series' shelf - and that's barring any I missed marking, of which I'm sure there are a few.

Even more disturbing, to me, is that vast number of "#1 in series" books I have on my TBR. :-/

[Gary]

These are the series that I plan to read more in 2017 and that have more books published that I have not read yet.

Mars (1/4) by Kim Stanley Robinson
Powder Mage (1/4) by Brian MsClellan
Lightbringer (1/4) by Brent Weeks
The First Law (5/6) by Joe Abercrombie
The Expanse (2/6) by Jame S. A. Corey

[Dalton]

As far as what I'm currently juggling, I'm glad to say I'm only in the middle of two series.

I'm currently on the book Red: The Heroic Rescue in The Circle Trilogy: The Complete Trilogy in One Epic Edition, as recommended by my fiancee. These aren't the longest books so I'm hoping to wrap it up soon.

I also have the mammoth A Storm of Swords as my next in ASOIAF. God help me.

[AndrewP]

To many to list :)

[Kateb]

agree with Andrew P

[[deleted user]]

Chris wrote: "Too many!!"

I'm with Chris. I'm not going to count.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I've decided that series are always only as long as they hold my interest. So, I think maybe 6 series? ASoIaF, Kingkiller, Dresden are all waiting for the next book, and then the Expanse I'm still reading as well as the Rachel Peng novels. I promised I'd read the second Toby Daye book, so that's my grudging sixth. All of the other series I may someday read more of are marked inactive until further notice.