Top Three Books Suffering from Middle Book Syndrome

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

There are always those books that just seem like a gap filler in between a promising first book and an awesome finale: a book where everything is set up but nothing really happens. Share the 3 books you think are suffering the most from this sleep-inducing affliction!

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Cibola Burn - I really thought the series was going to go sharply downhill after this but it recovered nicely. This is book 4 of the scheduled 9 with 8 released.

Beneath the Sugar Sky - book 3 of 5 with 4 release. This world went from dark and creepy to, for lack of a better word, dumb.

The Republic of Thieves - 3 of 7, LOL!, with only 3 released I'll still count it as what should be a middle book. This one was pretty disappointing.

[Tammie]

I completely forgot about this last week. I only have two because most of the time if the second book in a trilogy disappointed me I abandoned the trilogy.

1. Tower of Thorns Blackthorn and Grim trilogy
2. Siege and Storm Shadow and Bone trilogy

[Kathrine]

I agree about Siege and Storm, and I'll add Royal Assassin (even though I didn't think Assassin's Quest was an improvement)

[Shae]

Always a bit sad when you've really enjoyed the first book in a series and found that the second book just drags:

1. Evermore - Everless #2. The first book in this series had a really cool Sci-Fi vibe to it and an interesting concept about life blood/time as a currency. The second book felt like it just fell into tropey YA fantasy themes.
2. Legendary - Caraval #2. The first book in this series was fast paced and action packed. The second book was slower in pace and really predictable.
3. Shadow Scale - Seraphina #2. Not actually a middle book, but book 2 in a duology. I really loved the first book, beautifully written and thought provoking. Sadly book 2 just didn't capture the magic of book 1, was really hard to stay awake whilst reading it.

[Tammie]

Shae wrote: 3. Shadow Scale - Seraphina #2. Not actually a middle book, but book 2 in a duology. I really loved the first book, beautifully written and thought provoking. Sadly book 2 just didn't capture the magic of book 1, was really hard to stay awake whilst reading it. "

Shadow Scale was a huge disappointment for me too.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

By this point, I go into middle books of trilogies EXPECTING them to be bad or barely relevant to the larger plot... so I can't really thing of any specific examples right now...

[Shae]

@Tammie - oh yes, high hopes really came crashing down with Shadow Scale :-(

@Iain - ah, probably very sensible to maintain a low expectation of middle books, that way you'll not ever be too disappointed, but might sometimes be pleasantly surprised, haha :-)