Barry's Incomplete Series - 2019 Challenge

[Barry]

Incomplete Series

Priority : Series to be Completed / UTD in 2019
1. Realms of Ederlings - Fool's Fate - Robin Hobb - (9 / 16)
2. Poppy War - The Poppy War - R.F. Kuang - (1/?)
3. Green Bones - Jade City - Fonda Lee - (1/?)
4. Semiosis Duology - Semiosis - Sue Burke - (1/2)
5. Ketty Jay - The Iron Jackal - Chris Wooding - (3/4)
6. The Murderbot Diaries - Exit Strategy - Martha Wells - (4/5)

Up to Date Series
1. Gentleman Bastards - The Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch - (3/?)
2. The Kingkiller Chronicles - The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss - (2/3)
3. Shades of Grey - Shades of Grey - Jasper Fforde - (1/3)
4. A Song of Ice and Fire - A Dance with Dragons - (5/7)
5. Leningrad Diptych - Deathless - Catherynne M. Valente - (1/2?)
6. Stormlight Archives - Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson - (3 / 10?)
7. The Expanse - Tiamat's Wrath - James S.A. Corey - (8/9)

Interested Series

Confirmed To start before 30 Jun 2020:


Super Interested to Start Sometime in 2020:
1. Chronicles of St. Mary's - Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor - (0 / 9)
2. Thursday Next - The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde - (0 / 8)

[Barry]

Completed Series
1. Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling - (7/7)
2. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien - (3/3)
3. Silo - Hugh Howey - (3/3)
4. The Magicians - Lev Grossman - (3/3)
5. The First Law - Joe Abercrombie - (3/3)
6. Mistborn Era#1 - Brandon Sanderson - (3/3)
7. Mars Trilogy - Kim Stanley Robinson - (3/3)
8. The Broken Earth - N.K. Jemisin - (3/3)
9. Red Rising (Era #1) - Pierce Brown - (3/3)
10. First Law World - Joe Abercrombie - (3/3)
11. Powder Mage - Brian McClellan - (3/3)
12. The Last Policeman - Ben H. Winters - (3/3)
13. Takeshi Kovacs - Richard K. Morgan - (3/3)
14. Jean Le Flambeur - Hannu Rajaniemi - (3 / 3)
15. Chequy Files - Daniel O'Malley - (2/2)
16. Divine Cities - Robert Jackson Bennett - (3/3)
17. Fairyland - Catherynne M. Valente - (5/5)
18. Firefall - Peter Watts - (2/2)
19. Themis File - Sylvain Neuvel - (3/3)
20. Remembrance of Earth’s Past - Liu Cixin - (3/3)
21. Farseer Trilogy - Robin Hobb - (3/3)
22. The Belgariad - David Eddings - (5/5)
23. Imperial Radch - Ann Leckie - (3/3)
24. Liveship Traders - Robin Hobb - (3/3)
25. Long Price Quartet - Daniel Abraham - (4/4)
26. Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson - (10/10)
27. Machineries of Empire - Yoon Ha Lee - (3/3)
28. Tawny Man - Robin Hobb - (3/3)
29. Novels of the Malazan Empire - Ian C. Esslemont - (6/6)
30. Wormwood Trilogy - Tade Thompson - (3/3)
31. Patternmaster - Octavia E. Butler - (4/4)
32. Moontide Quartet - David Hair - (4/4)
33. Southern Reach Trilogy - Jeff VanderMeer - (3/3)
34. The Licanius Trilogy - James Islington - (3/3)

[Barry]

Definite Abandon
1. Honor Harrington - On Basilisk Station - David Weber - (1 / 14)
Reason : MC is super annoying
2. Wayfarers - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - Becky Chambers - (1 / 3)
Reason : not enough challenge for the MCs
3. Sleepless - Beggars in Spain - Nancy Kress - (1 / 3)
Reason : only the first book is considered as must-read by other people whose SF taste I follow
4. Unwind - Unwind - Neal Shusterman - (1 / 3)
Reason : interesting, but I've got other series ...
5. Shades of Magic - A Darker Shade of Magic - V.E. Schwab - (1 / 3)
Reason : boring
6. After - One Second After - William R. Forstchen - (1 / 3)
Reason : too many political messages
7.. Paper Magician - The Paper Magician - Charlie N. Holmberg - (1 / 3)
Reason : book 2 was boring and too YA for me
8.. Old Man's War - The Human Division - (4/6)
Reason : series getting worse since book 2, actually
9. Lock In - Lock In (1/2)
Reason : I think Scalzi could only write good first books
10. Dune Chronicles - Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert - (2 / 8)
11. Masquerade - The Traitor Baru Cormorant - (1/4?)
Reason : characters not engaging, too much tells, not enough show.
12. Forever War - Forever Peace - Joe Haldeman - (2 / 3)
Reason : third book is generally not recommended by people who love the first two books
13. Oxford Time Travel - Doomsday Book - Connie Willis - (1/2)
Reason : the rest of the series didn't look too interesting for me
14. Budayeen - When Gravity Fails - George Alec Effinger - (1/3)
Reason : middle of the road, want to focus on other series
15. Culture - The Hydrogen Sonata - Iain M. Banks - (6/9)
Reason : the rest are either uninteresting or expensive
16. Chalion - Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold - (2/3)
Reason : second book was disappointing; third book is independent of the first two books so no strong enough reason to continue

Abandoned but may come back
1. Hyperion Cantos - The Fall of Hyperion - Dan Simmons - (2 / 4)
Reason : the must-reads are the first two books
2. The Dandellion Dynasty - The Grace of Kings - Ken Liu (1 / 3)
Reason : might come back, want to focus on other series
3.. MaddAddam - Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood - (1 / 3)
Reason : book 1 was the "must read", might come back later
4. Bas-Lag / New Crrobuzon - (2/3)
Reason : Last book was boring, didn't connect with the characters but I liked Mievilles other works
5. Sin du Jour - Envy of Angels - Matt Wallace - (1/7)
Reason : interesting concept, but I've got other more interesting series
6. The Chronicles of Kazam - The Last Dragonslayer - Jasper Fforde - (1/4)
Reason : interesting, but I've got other more interesting series
7. Revelation Space - Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds - (1/3)
Reason : interesting, but I've got other more interesting series
8. Manifest Delusion - The Mirror’s Truth - Michael R. Fletcher - (2/3)
Reason : the third book is independent of the first two, and is currently quite expensive
9. Luna - New Moon - Ian McDonald - (1/3)
Reason : remaining books quite expensive and there are other more interesting series to finish

[jess]

Jasper Fforde’s made Shade of Grey a trilogy?!?

[C.P.]

Read the Legends of the First Empire! Have you read the Riyria books?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Good luck with that... I haven't updated in a few months... all the Buddy Reads I sign up for have to be ballooning my incompletes...

[Em Lost In Books]

I have read first book in Ketty Jay, quite an adventure. if you start the series, I will join you for second. :)

Am also super interested in Takeshi Kovacs... any plans to read them anytime soon?

[Barry]

@ Jess : from what I've seen here on GR its listed as a trilogy.

@ Manju and CP : for Ketty Jay and Takeshi Kovacs probably I wont be able to start until after June. I wanna complete Powder Mage, Broken Earth and Red Rising (1st 3 books) since we also have the BR schedule here. I'm also on schedule to complete First Law World series in the next few months. So, after June ok with either of you?

[Barry]

ah sorry, on apps couldnt edit

@ CP : no I haven't read any of his books. Ryria Revelations first or the Legend of First Empire?

[Em Lost In Books]

Am fine with June.

Better to start Sullivan with a complete series. Ryria Revelation books are great if you survive first book. :)

[Hacen]

Barry wrote: "@ Jess : from what I've seen here on GR its listed as a trilogy.

@ Manju and CP : for Ketty Jay and Takeshi Kovacs probably I wont be able to start until after June. I wanna complete Powder Mage, ..."

I’d be interested in doing the Takeshi books also.

[C.P.]

I started with the Legends books and then moved to Riyria, so either way works. There is a buddy read for both starting soon.

[Barry]

:@ CP yeah I know but I’ve signed up for 5 BRs already this month and next. Probably I’ll pick it up later in the year or next year.

@ Manju and Hacen : lets say mid June for Takeshi Kovacs and one book per month? I’ll do Ketty Jay later.

[Hacen]

Barry wrote: ":@ CP yeah I know but I’ve signed up for 5 BRs already this month and next. Probably I’ll pick it up later in the year or next year.

@ Manju and Hacen : lets say mid June for Takeshi Kovacs and o..."

Works for me :)

[Em Lost In Books]

Me too.

[Barry]

Great I'll ask for the threads =).

[Barry]

Mid-Year Update (all stats as of 30 June 2018)

Series Completed / UTD : 5
New Series Started : 4
Series Abandoned : 2

Goal until end of year : to reduce number of incomplete series to under 10.

In order to do so, I'm gonna institute a 3-to-1 challenge.

Log #01
1. First Law World - DONE
2. Powder Mage - DONE
3. The Last Policeman - DONE
New series : Deathless

Log #02
1. ASOIAF - DONE
2. Old Man's War - ABANDONED
3. Lock In - ABANDONED
New series : Culture

Log #03
1. Takeshi Kovacs - DONE
2. Bas-Lag - ABANDONED
3. Deathless - DONE
New series : Firefall

Log #04
1. Jean le Flambeur - DONE
2. Divine Cities
3. Firefall
New Series : Manifest Delusions / Machineries of Empire

[Siobhan]

Good job, Barry! Good luck with the 3 for 1 challenge :)

[Barry]

Thanks Siobhan.

[Barry]

I'm officially dropping both OMW and Lock-in series by John Scalzi. I feel like I'd be better off reading other more interesting series, rather than forcing myself to complete a series that I'm not too interested in completing anyway just for the sake of being able to say I've completed them.

[Barry]

Q3 Update

Series Completed / UTD : 5 [Takeshi Kovacs, ASOIAF, The Last Policeman, Jean le Flambeur, Leningrad Diptych]
New Series Started : 2 [ Leningrad Diptych, Culture]
Series Abandoned : 2 [ New Crobuzon, Old Man's War]

On track to reduce the number of open series to under 10 by the end of the year.

Log#4
1. Jean le Flambeur - DONE
2. Chequey Files - DONE
3. Divine Cities - DONE
New Series : Masquerade (The Traitor Baru Cormorant)

[Barry]

Log #5
1. Fairyland - DONE
2. Masquerade - ABANDONED
3. Firefall - DONE
New Series : TBD

Now that the number of my incomplete series is currently at 6 (below my target of 10, and I believe this number will hover around there going forward), I am discontinuing my 3-to-1 series challenge, as of now.

I do set a hard rule that I will follow going forward : anytime the number of incomplete series reaches more than 10, I will institute another 3-to-1 challenge to bring it back down to below 5.

I also hope the number of series that I complete will be greater than the number of series that I abandon. However, I don't want to set a hard rule on that, just because I don't want to force myself to finish series that I dislike just for the sake of following the "rules".

So the plan for now is to list the series that I'm interested in starting (and completing as soon as possible) from now until Jun 2019. The list will be in the first few posts here as well as in my buddy read tracker.

[Anny]

I'm interested in the Expanse too. Let me know when you're planning to read them :)

[Em Lost In Books]

Barry wrote: "Log #5
1. Fairyland - DONE
2. Masquerade - ABANDONED
3. Firefall - DONE
New Series : TBD

Now that the number of my incomplete series is currently at 6 (below my target of 10, and I believe this nu..."

Nice plan to tackle down your incomplete series. I have 40+ open series at the moment. I easily get distracted by new series, so I don't think this will work for me.😞

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Manju wrote: "Barry wrote: "Log #5
1. Fairyland - DONE
2. Masquerade - ABANDONED
3. Firefall - DONE
New Series : TBD

Now that the number of my incomplete series is currently at 6 (below my target of 10, and I b..."

Me either... you've heard my trials and tribulations... my spreadsheet is already a few weeks out of date, but it says I've got

Incomplete = 86 Series
Almost UTD = 13 Series
UTD = 46 Series (Up to date)
Almost Finished = 36 Series
Finished = 54 Series
Abandoned = 127 Series

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

The Empress vs Captain challenge is helping me put a dent in it before 2019... 2018 has made my list worse, not better, I think...

According to my old thread tracker, I had

Incomplete: 95
Almost Up-To-Date: 39 (split off Almost Finished into new counter)
Up-To-Date: 32
Finished: 47
Abandoned: 77

Then I did some pruning in September 2017, abandoning a bunch of things...

Incomplete: 56 (-39)
Almost Up-To-Date: 45 (+6)
Up-To-Date: 35 (+3)
Abandoned: 108 (+31)

Then the competition started and I started new series left and right... I think I'll consider it a win if I get back down to where I started in September 2017 by New Year's...

[Em Lost In Books]

127 abandoned series. That's scary...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Manju wrote: "127 abandoned series. That's scary..."

I'd say half of them are romances and PNR, I think... I tried so many, when that was my thing... UF is a close 2nd/3rd for abandons...

[Barry]

Manju wrote: Nice plan to tackle down your incomplete series. I have 40+ open series at the moment. I easily get distracted by new series, so I don't think this will work for me."
You can do it Manju, start with getting it down to 35 first maybe?

But I think because now I start to read more e-books, I'm getting better in actually completing a series. It used to be when I liked the first book of a series, I gotta wait a couple of months before I can purchase the remaining of the series. Moreover, the series that I read and like are not the typical "popular" series that sells in my country. So, I can't really go to a bookstore and buy the books. And obviously, library systems is almost non-existent here, so I can't borrow books that I like to read.

That's why when I first started this challenge, I actually had to drop maybe 5-7 series that I first read a couple of years ago, that I had forgotten the details of. So, I wasn't in the mood to continue those series.

Now, it's easier. When I like the first book, I can search for the remaining books on kindle. No less time lag, and I remember more of the details. So, I can enjoy the series more.

Anny wrote: "I'm interested in the Expanse too. Let me know when you're planning to read them :)"

Probably not until May / June next year lol.

[Barry]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "127 abandoned series. That's scary..."

I'd say half of them are romances and PNR, I think... I tried so many, when that was my thing... UF is a close 2nd/3rd for abandons..."
Lol, that is crazy number. But then, you read way way faster than a lot of us. How many series can you tackle in a month?

[Em Lost In Books]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "127 abandoned series. That's scary..."

I'd say half of them are romances and PNR, I think... I tried so many, when that was my thing... UF is a close 2nd/3rd for abandons..."

I like to read those two genre from time to time, so 127 abandoned series is not a good news to me.

[Em Lost In Books]

@Barry - I plan to read those incomplete series next year that have 3 or less books for me to complete them. I will leave all other. That should help me bringing down the number.

[Barry]

@ Manju : that's what I did too. And what I'm focusing on doing going forward. Try to tackle more series that have 3 books or less, and maybe do 2-3 big ones per year. So, Malazan and the Belgariad are gonna be my focus until mid 2019. Then, I wanna tackle the Expanse and maybe maybe finish Culture.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Barry wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "127 abandoned series. That's scary..."

I'd say half of them are romances and PNR, I think... I tried so many, when that was my thing... UF is a close 2nd/3rd fo..."

I can read a book a day, when I don't get sidetracked watching TV/movies or doing something that I can't listen and do... I've managed around ~290 books and some short stories this year, in about 310 days... if I was reading each series from beginning to end, instead of jumping around, I'd have probably read 40-60 series this year, assuming some trilogies and some super long series, with the average series beign 5-10 books... of the 60-70 books I'm planning to read before New Year's with the Empress/Captain challenge, I'm looking to finish about a dozen series I'm behind on...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Manju wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "127 abandoned series. That's scary..."

I'd say half of them are romances and PNR, I think... I tried so many, when that was my thing... UF is a close 2nd/3rd fo..."

Most of them were cases of trying the first book and not continuing on with the series... others are 15-30 book series that just got tiresome/repetitive after awhile... they're large genres, tho, and there's always something to find... look how many series we've tried in the NBClub

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Manju wrote: "@Barry - I plan to read those incomplete series next year that have 3 or less books for me to complete them. I will leave all other. That should help me bringing down the number."

That's my trick for catching up, as well... I focused on things I'm 1-3 books behind on, and things that I only fell behind on because there was a new book this year... delaying new releases just makes it harder to catch up later...

[Anny]

Wow, everyone is a hardcore reader huh. I don't even bother to keep track of my series.

@Barry that's fine with me, I still have quite a few books to finish as well.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Anny wrote: "Wow, everyone is a hardcore reader huh. I don't even bother to keep track of my series.

@Barry that's fine with me, I still have quite a few books to finish as well."

I have been for the last 5 years or so, anyway... before that I went through video game years and TV show/movie years... I even "slowed down" and only read 150-200 books the last 2 years, before speeding up again, mostly by literally speeding up how fast I listen to audiobooks... I used to feel like my transition to audiobooks was why I read less, and it was basically true...

[Anny]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Anny wrote: "Wow, everyone is a hardcore reader huh. I don't even bother to keep track of my series.

@Barry that's fine with me, I still have quite a few books to finish as well."

I have been fo..."

I just don't take to audio books, listening felt too slow compared to reading. I used to think it's a good way to read more during trips and so on, but then when I listened to audio books in car I got carsick instead.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Anny wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Anny wrote: "Wow, everyone is a hardcore reader huh. I don't even bother to keep track of my series.

@Barry that's fine with me, I still have quite a few books to finish as ..."

It's not for everyone... I've seen/heard people get into accidents because they can't split their focus, etc...

Audiobooks are definitely slower than personal reading at regular speeds (about 30 pages/minute)... but it's relatively easy to get used to listening at 1.25-1.5x speed, which boosts that to 37-45 pages per minute... and depending on your retention you can boost to 2x-3x speed depending on the app, for 60-90 pages/minute... I generally read at 45-60 pages/minute naturally, and manage 2x speeds on audio with easy books and re-reads where I already know things... it takes a dense book like Malazan to require me to slow down to 1-1.25x speeds...

[Em Lost In Books]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "127 abandoned series. That's scary..."

I'd say half of them are romances and PNR, I think... I tried so many, when that was my thing... UF is a cl..."

I usually don't add series to incomplete challenge where I gave up after first book. I have only two abandoned series in my incomplete challenge. First is Sinners of the Saint which I gave up on after third book, other is Sookie Stackhouse which I stopped rwading after book 6. So you should have lesser than 127 abandoned series...

[Em Lost In Books]

Anny wrote: "Wow, everyone is a hardcore reader huh. I don't even bother to keep track of my series.

@Barry that's fine with me, I still have quite a few books to finish as well."

It's only here this year that I started tracking series. It is interesting and also gave me some good bonus points too. A win win situation. 😊

[Em Lost In Books]

I have my eyes set on Expanse too but I think I will going to give it a pass next year because of it's size. And also because I have decided to read some big stand alones.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Manju wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "127 abandoned series. That's scary..."

I'd say half of them are romances and PNR, I think... I tried so many, when that was ..."

Maybe I'll split the Abandoned tab like I did the Almost tab (Almost Finished for series that are over, and Almost UTD for series still releasing new books)... I could do Abandoned and Non-Starters

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Manju wrote: "I have my eyes set on Expanse too but I think I will going to give it a pass next year because of it's size. And also because I have decided to read some big stand alones."

May as well wait, at this point... series ends next December with book 9... if you wait till then you can read the whole series without having to wait... some of these endings have been real cliffhangers, or teasers of things to come next...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Manju wrote: "Anny wrote: "Wow, everyone is a hardcore reader huh. I don't even bother to keep track of my series.

@Barry that's fine with me, I still have quite a few books to finish as well."

It's only here..."

I created my thread before the competition was announced, as a way to find out how bad my list of In Progress and Incomplete Series had become... obviously it was bad... I went from binging series one at a time for a year or two, to jumping around and never really looking back... the challenge, and all the Buddy Reads, helped me start finishing more things, again...

[Em Lost In Books]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "I have my eyes set on Expanse too but I think I will going to give it a pass next year because of it's size. And also because I have decided to read some big stand alones."

May as we..."

Oh, then I will wait. :)

[Em Lost In Books]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "Anny wrote: "Wow, everyone is a hardcore reader huh. I don't even bother to keep track of my series.

@Barry that's fine with me, I still have quite a few books to finish as well."

..."

BR earning lesser bonus points might help us to stick to one series at a time and wrap them up.

[Em Lost In Books]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "127 abandoned series. That's scary..."

I'd say half of them are romances and PNR, I think... I tried so many, ..."

You are still using your spreadsheet?

And we have hijacked Barry's thread. 🙊

[Barry]

Haha it's ok. At least my thread looks busy.

The Expanse ... maybe start on June ... so we're almost there when the 9th book is supposed to come out in December 2019??

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Manju wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Manju wrote: "127 abandoned series. That's scary..."

I'd say half of them are romances and PNR, I thin..."

My new Incomplete Series spreadsheet, that I designed in the Empress vs Captain thread: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

I'm going to keep using the other one, as well, to track how many books/pages I read in 2018, just haven't in a few days...

And hijacking threads is kinda my thing...