Series: When to Start and When to Stop

[T. K. Elliott (Tiffany)]

When you choose not to read a book because everyone else is reading it, you are letting your choices be dictated by other people just as much as if you do read it because everyone else is doing it.

The key is that your choice is made 'because of what everyone else is doing' rather than because of the quality of the book. Why deprive yourself of reading a book you might enjoy, just because a lot of other people have already enjoyed it? Equally, why read a book you don't like the look of just because everyone else seems to be reading it?

For an amusing science fiction novel about trends, how they get started (and one character who is completely oblivious to them), and how they spread, I can recommend Bellwether. As it's not part of a series, nobody needs to worry.

It was written in the 1990s, so parts of it are a bit dated - but that makes the things that haven't changed even more obvious - and amusing. :-)

[Ryan]

T. K. Elliott (Tiffany) wrote: "Equally, why read a book you don't like the look of just because everyone else seems to be reading it?"

Assuming it's not rhetorical, I answered this question earlier in the thread.

[Silvana]

Allison wrote: "It seems like a lot of folks here don't even start a series until it's been complete. How do you wait if you're interested and hearing a lot of hype? How hard do you work to avoid the hype and spoi..."

I don't mind waiting for incomplete series. There are just too many good stuff to read in between! If I have to pick between the experience in reading or the knowledge on how it ends I might pick the experience.

I like to binge read series and spend sleepless nights because of them. Not all series though - if they end in cliffhangers and I am obsesses with the characters/plots and the next book is available and easy to procure (and within budget) then I will read it in a heartbeat. Some exceptions would be for some series which I know has standalone-ish stories in each book.

I abandoned 28 series (out of the 75 I started) after reading the first books and only rated them either 1 or 2 stars.
Currently following 24 series - 15 of them unfinished.

I like knowing about hypes but only from people whose taste I know and/or similar. As for spoilers, obviously I don't read spoiler reviews before I finish the book. And avoiding book spoiler is easier than avoiding TV based spoilers. Those friggin GOT spoilers makes it hard to use Twitter and worse, Whatsapp.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Ryan wrote: "Nicki wrote: "Avoiding something because it's popular seems just as follow-the-herd as reading it because it's popular, to me -- it's just a different herd."

Is there something inherently wrong wi..."

I can't comment for the others, but for me, it's not about disliking something because it's popular. It's because people build it up so much that I go in expecting Citizen Kane and Princess Bride rolled into one and I come out having seen Dead Pool. Same with books. I personally get my expectations built up by other people (rather than having an expectation based on the overall ratings or general opinion of the thing) and very few things are so good they can top the expectations created by fans about the enjoyment of the media by someone who isn't or is not yet a fan.

[Sarah]

I totally agree with Allison. I don't usually read hyped/popular books simply because I've consistently disliked them. It's not a matter of sheer rebellion.

[[deleted user]]

Ryan wrote: "Is there something inherently wrong with following a herd? Popular culture is still part of culture, and most people feel a need to be part of it. Otherwise why join social media sites like Goodreads?..."

I don't think that following the herd is a problem if you like what you get. I do think that following the herd because you'd feel insecure and left out if you didn't could be a problem, especially if you don't really like what you get, but you're doing it anyway. Conversely, I think it's equally as bad to avoid the herd, even though you miss out on things you like, just so you can brag about not following the herd. I like a lot of things dismissed by the "elite" critics, and I don't worry that they may place me among "the tasteless masses."

[Leonie]

Sometimes 'the herd' is onto a good thing. In the end, the important thing is to like what you like, and enjoy what you enjoy.

[Aaron]

Since we are talking about the herd I guess it's important to find the herd that you agree with and follow that rather than the bulging mass.

Sarah Anne wrote: "I totally agree with Allison. I don't usually read hyped/popular books simply because I've consistently disliked them. It's not a matter of sheer rebellion."

I mostly read them, otherwise when I'm trying to get people to read books I think are good, they will totally ignore me unless I have read the insert popular book here. For the most part they were big disappointments, The Martian is the notable exception for me personally. Who am I kidding they tend to ignore me anyways.

There are also a few books that I have avoided despite sounding cool and popular because I hated an earlier book by an author that was also loved a lot. FYI I thought Vicious was one of the worst books I ever read, so when people are hyping A Darker Shade of Magic even though it sounds cool I'm not going to read it unless multiple people who opinions I really trust give it a big thumbs up.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

I'm more likely to avoid something if its super popular.

Mostly because I'm an oddball. I've noticed that quite often my tastes don't really align with the popular. Some because I have a bit of an old soul and others because I'm contrary (and I admit it).

My contrariness isn't bandwagoning or hipstering...it's pure cantankerousness and it extends to lists as well. If its on a "to read" list...my contrary ass doesn't want to read it because. Reasons, lol.

[Cheryl]

An exceptional book is unlikely to have mass appeal, by logical definition.

To appeal to lots of people, a book either has to 1) have lots of different features crammed into it 2) be on trend, or 3) be inoffensively ordinarily within the public's comfort zone.

Which sells more - Velveeta or Stilton?

[Sarah]

Nicki wrote: "What I was trying to express was just that when folk avoid popular books because they don't want to be driven by other people's tastes, that's still a choice driven by other people's tastes -- just in the negative...."

Oh, now I see what you mean. That makes more sense to me :P

[Shomeret]

I occasionally read popular books because they sound interesting to me, but they usually don't. One of the biggest problems with getting me to read popular books is because hype is often empty of content.
If I can't even find out what the book is about, I'm guaranteed to have zero interest in it. Sometimes I'll find out that there really is something that interests me very much about a popular book years later! My response to that is usually "Now you tell me!" Why couldn't the masters of hype have told me that at the outset?

[Kateb]

I hate it when a series becomes stale but you still have to read the next book to find out how your fav character is going.

[Raymond]

Well of course the right time to start is at the beginning and the right time to stop is a few weeks after the end. I know that sounds condescending, it was meant to. Surely a decision to read a book is purely personal. I never follow reviews (lol- but occasionally I do buy some really bad books) deciding purely upon it's discoverable merits which book I choose to read. As to the right time to finish a series. If you are an author it is simply when the money runs out. If the fifth book nets you a fifth of the first, tis' time to finish. If it nets you the same or more then continue until it does not.
Alternatively, and here is a strange thought, you can finish at the end.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Raymond wrote: "Well of course the right time to start is at the beginning and the right time to stop is a few weeks after the end. I know that sounds condescending, it was meant to. Surely a decision to read a bo..."

Raymond, I can't tell if you're joking, and this is supposed to be flippant, or if you're actually offended and being caustic. Would you care to elaborate on either your humor or the offense you took?

[Kateb]

on another thread we are talking about series. I find that often an author doesn't stop when the logical flow of their story runs out. They have a good thing and just keep going with a rehash of similar story lines.

Then again there is the question of when to start a series. I have found good reads a problem , so many books sound so good that I have a TBR list that is very long.

Sometimes I wish there was a bit more specification of genre but after we had a thread on definitions of genre I realise that it is to arbitrary , too personal.

So I am back to going through suggetions.

[Sarah]

Raymond wrote: "If you are an author it is simply when the money runs out. If the fifth book nets you a fifth of the first, tis' time to finish. If it nets you the same or more then continue until it does not. Alternatively, and here is a strange thought, you can finish at the end. ..."

This thread is actually about when to start and stop a series that you're reading, not writing.

[Meg]

I suspect hype aversion comes from a logic error in our makeup, partly because we remember disappointment more strongly than hope fulfilled.

A new book, film, or TV episode may be a special form of the same thing. You go in with hopes based on the creators or the previous work. For new-to-me books and authors it's usually the opposite. I give it a try begrudgingly, half put off by a bad cover or depressing publisher's summary.

I start refraining from watching new episodes of my favorite TV series shortly before I lose interest entirely. It's a mystery to me. The effect is less dramatic with book series, but I don't often listen to or crack a hotly anticipated book the first second, day, sometimes even year I can any more.

e: Bellwether is so freaking good. But it was my first Connie Willis, so I wouldn't have been driven mad by her Willisisms yet. This is why I have to space out book series. I can't imagine spending 40 hours with bloody Polly from Blackout/All Clear without a palate cleanser in the middle. Time tells whether I remember just the annoyances, the characters, themes, writing, or nothing as the book melts into the soup of crud I'm barely sure I read. Sometimes a book I didn't think I liked at first keeps coming back to me and I have to go back for a second trip.

[Shomeret]

Meg wrote: "I suspect hype aversion comes from a logic error in our makeup, partly because we remember disappointment more strongly than hope fulfilled.

A new book, film, or TV episode may be a special form o..."

If I don't space out book series or even streaming video series, I'll burn out on them. This is especially true if they are emotionally powerful. I need time before I can deal with another book/episode of that power.

[Raymond]

Allison wrote: "Raymond wrote: "Well of course the right time to start is at the beginning and the right time to stop is a few weeks after the end. I know that sounds condescending, it was meant to. Surely a decis..."

Hi Allison,
I was being caustic, in a way, though no one upset or annoyed me at all. I was surprised at some peoples choices (only reading the first book etc) but not annoyed by them as I also find that series taper off as they continue, except for the very best of them, but I do think that you should always have to think about a book (or series) for a week or two afterwards the rest was my (sadly) dry humor.

[Raymond]

Sarah Anne wrote: "Raymond wrote: "If you are an author it is simply when the money runs out. If the fifth book nets you a fifth of the first, tis' time to finish. If it nets you the same or more then continue until ..."

Hi Sarah Anne, Sorry, I did not make that clear. The comment about monetary income from a "series" for writers was made by David Eddings (prolific series writer). I have never written a series of books, I have never even written a sequel. I was not trying to self promote but rather give others an idea of the way that some "series" writers think. Apparently David and his wife Leigh, worked out when to end a series in this fashion. I considered that interesting and thought that others may also. Also when I read that thought from them it put me off their work completely.

[Raymond]

I still enjoy a good series and tend to stick with them. I think that you can always tell a really good series writer as the books tend to become better and more involving as you read on (reaching the third or fourth mammoth volume). Recently A.J. Smith has done this well. each volume being better than the one before. I suppose that I should then mention the polar opposite (in my humble opinion) Paul Hoffman's "The Left Hand of God" trilogy. The first book; liberally salted with personal thoughts and experiences was a cracker and well worth everyone reading, (despite the author telling everyone that he hated fantasy and thought all that read fantasies were sub normal. The second novel was a lack lustre version of the first but still enjoyable in its own way. By the third he had given up completely on what he wanted to say and it is a cobbled together mess. lol- thinking about it, in this case there is an argument for giving up after the first book.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Raymond wrote: "Hi Allison,
I was being caustic, in a way, though no one upset or annoyed me at all. I was surprised at some peoples choices (only reading the first book etc) but not annoyed by them as I also find that series taper off as they continue, except for the very best of them, but I do think that you should always have to think about a book (or series) for a week or two afterwards the rest was my (sadly) dry humor. ."

It's cool, it's hard to hear someone's tone on the internet :-) I figured safer to ask than assume either way!

What made you stick with Left Hand of God after the second book (and that strange pronouncement about the merit of fantasy)? Just sort of what you were saying before? That you want to follow the series to its conclusion? Or was there a built in fondness because of the first book? If the second book had been first, would you have continued the series?

[Raymond]

Hi Allison, Tis' true, you miss inflection's; a crinkle of the eye without a smile, a subtle glance, a wink, on the net. You are right; It is probably safer to ask. "The Left hand of God" made me smile from the very first sentence. "Listen." what a great way to start a book.
Simple and clever at the same time. Almost Norse in its inception, an easy way of saying "gather close to me as the night draws in and darkness surrounds us, come close so I can tell you this tale". He does it in one word and it is a prompt at the same time. If the second book had been first I think that I would have still read to the end simply because it is in my nature to do so.
I have to solve and understand the puzzle despite the fact that I am not half as smart as I sometimes think myself. The first book was so good (Imagine Magician, There and back again, and legend all wrapped up into one tale). I was going to stick there no matter what. I never mind being ridiculed for my perseverance, it is akin to silliness I know but it is just the way I am, I have to know what happens and why.

[Trike]

Raymond wrote: "Hi Allison, Tis' true, you miss inflection's; a crinkle of the eye without a smile, a subtle glance, a wink, on the net. You are right; It is probably safer to ask.

If only you knew some way to convey emotion and intent just by using words. It's a conundrum, that's for sure!

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Trike wrote: "If only you knew some way to convey emotion and intent just by using words. It's a conundrum, that's for sure! "

*snort*

I must admit, I do always find it odd to find people saying there's no way to denote tone in text on a site for readers.

[Raymond]

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Trike wrote: "If only you knew some way to convey emotion and intent just by using words. It's a conundrum, that's for sure! "

*snort*

I must admit, I do always find it odd to find people saying ..."
Ha Ha, you are right Colleen, it is easy to do so when you need to but the real problem is the time it takes to adequately convey emotion though the medium of words. I am sure that everyone here can and I certainly think I can but to do so I would have to describe rather than simply comment. Were I to start that you would open up the page and there would be one huge comment covering the whole page that many would grow so tired of reading that they would never finish it and find out the emotion I was expressing anyway.

[Ryan]

Meg wrote: "I suspect hype aversion comes from a logic error in our makeup, partly because we remember disappointment more strongly than hope fulfilled.

A new book, film, or TV episode may be a special form o..."

This is a pretty good post Meg! I think I recognise some of this in my own experience.

[Kateb]

I love a good series and follow facfic to track my series and be prompted when a new book in the series comes out.

saying that some series do get old but unfortunately I have to have the next book in the series .

My fav are Raymond Feist ; Joel Shepherd; Laurell Hamilton; Linskold; Lissane Norman; all Asimov's ; Clarkes, Orson Scott Card; Anne McCaffrey; Heinlein; Kate Elliott; Tom Holt.

Some of these no longer are adding books , so I keep an eye out for a new series to start.

[Donald]

Kateb wrote: "I love a good series and follow facfic to track my series and be prompted when a new book in the series comes out. ."

What's facfic? Tracing release of books in series I've been reading is a large part of why I signed up with GR in the first place and while it's ok at doing so in its emails about new books, it's not perfect.

[Kateb]

facfic sends you an email when one of the series you are following prints a new book

[Stephanie]

Like many others have said, I don't continue a series if I don't like the first book. I like to read series that are already completed because if the lag time is too great, I often won't read the sequels because I've lost interest or I don't remember the first well enough to appreciate them.

When I was younger I felt like I had to finish everything I started. Then I realized that there were so many books in the world, why spend time reading something I don't enjoy when there are so many other books that I would enjoy?

There is a time when I might continue a book or a series even if I wasn't enjoying it in a traditional sense, and that's if it was written by a person from/about a culture, religion, etc. that is outside the mainstream, because at that point it's possible that my 'dislike' is actually just 'discomfort' or a reaction to the unfamiliar, and it's important to me to try to diversify what I'm reading.

[Kateb]

so agree with Stephanie, but I still like following so many series.

ps Raymond not everyone understands the written word the same way. I have an email friend that I have to express things in a different way to some other friends. The first friend always misinterprets what is supposed to be a joke or a snide remark

[Ilona]

I read lot of YA so obviously I give up a lot of them since series seems more the norm in YA fantasy and YA SF.

But now I try to not read YA blogs, it is annoying to be hyped about books that will come out in weeks and more likely that not will disappoint me.

I am more picky with fantasy and SF, maybe because they are older genres so there are already lot of must-reads and classics. But I still give up many of them... or maybe I am just stalling.

Since I read at a time lot of ongoing manga I am quite used to have many series to follow.

I usually need to like the first book to go on... or at least I really have to like the author or got some encouragements to go on like with the Discworld or read that many people that hate first book really like the second one... I guess in this case it also helped that Throne of Glass was so hyped and I was curious to see if a second book really can change my opinion.

Or I need a fresh stock of masochism. I read once three terrible first books and I am not really sure what to think of my fellow compatriots since they bought these awful books that seem to go against common sense. Like telling us before the important battle the good guys have nothing to worry about the baddies. Or a good one died but she was actually more powerful that the one that killed her and she was more useful as a dead one (well she was a kind of undead one after that). Or that a good guy needs to train after he completely trashed the bad guy.

I don't reread often and I am usually fine with waiting because I am lucky so far to not have to wait a long time for the series I really enjoy or my fondness decreased after the following books like the Ender's serie. It is only with Sanderson's Rhitmatist I get it what it is to wait a long time for a novel... nearly four years now. I already got the author that seems to write/draw few chapters before being ill again (but he is an inventive plotter and it is hard to say how much his forced breaks give him these ideas). It is sadder though when an author died and you learnt she had an idea of doing another book of a loved serie.

But being among the first to read an ongoing serie and advise it to other people is one of the perks.