when reading a series....

[KristenR]

When you find a SciFi series that you want to read, do you read the books back to back, or do you read other books in between?

I'm just curious...there are a couple of series that I've started to read, and I tend to read them all at once, but what do you do?

[Caroline]

I normally have to pace myself if it's a long series, so I usually do an every-other or read two from a series and then something unrelated. Otherwise, I can get really burnt out on a series, so I find it better to mix things up a little to avoid that.

[Angie]

I love to read them in a row! I really get into the books that way. Sometimes I also do that with an author I just discovered, I will read several of their books in a row.

[Nick, Founder (In Absentia)]

I destroyed the Repairman Jack series one after another. Same for Harry Potter until I got to book 6. I was also reading other books at the same time though. Other series, however, I have read one and came back later.

[John]

I'm definitely in the "one after another" camp. I want to have the whole thing in mind, at least as much as it is possible with a series of novels. That is to say, I almost certainly won't be able to read a single volume in one sitting, much less the whole series, but that's the ideal.

[TinaNoir]

I like to have them all available to read back to back. I hate having to wait sometimes two years or more to see what is going to happen next.

[Inky]

I'm a series victim so I have no control. If I like the otherworld some wonderful author has created, I try to stay in it as long as possible, or at least until I've exhausted the back stories. It's sort of like having a vacation while bypassing the airport.

[AA]

Depends on the length of the series, if I was able to buy them all at once, and how much I'm enjoying the progression. I prefer to read them back to back - once I'm in a world, I like to stay there. (Finishing a series can throw me for a loop. Anyone else feel that way?)

But, there are some series that I have been disinterested in after the second or third book so I fill in with other books then return to the end of the series. If I'm still not enjoying it, then off to the bookstore to turn them in for something else! :)

[Roger]

If the series is a trilogy, I'll work through them. If its longer than that, it depends on how well I enjoyed the last book and whether I have any other books calling my name.

[Sandi]

I try my best to avoid reading series. There's just too many great books out there to spend so much time in one universe.

[Phillip]

This was a great question from ten years back. I read all my books at once. In fact, I generally don't start a series unless it's completely written and I own all copies. It's the reason I haven't read any Song of Ice and Fire books, despite being an avid Game of Thrones fan. Once Martin finishes, I'll buy the pack and enjoy the differences.

[John]

I usually don't have the patience to wait until an author completes a series (and some authors never do), so I start reading the series, usually one after another (though I may take a break and read another work somewhere in the middle). The problem comes when I get "caught up" and have to wait for the author to produce the next book.

This can be very frustrating. David Weber, for example, has three series going at once (and a couple of sub-series, assisted by other authors). If I were just waiting for the next book in any one of those series I would be waiting a long time... but fortunately I am interested in several of them, so I grab the next book in whatever one he's got ready.

Still, an author can leave his readers hanging. I started reading the Song of Ice and Fire series, and soon finished all of the available books. That's when I found out George R.R. Martin's readers have been waiting five years for the next installment (Winds of Winter). Martin keeps promising it will be out "soon" but we're still waiting.

Apparently, he got caught up in the Hollywood hype, devoted all of his time to the TV series and forgot about the readers who brought him to fame in the first place.

In general, I love series; but I also get frustrated when authors leave me with a "cliffhanger" and I have to wait for the next book for a resolution.

[Noor]

I also hate cliffhangers. If it doesn't feel complete as a story I will be less likely to check out the next one unless it's REALLY gripping and otherwise awesome.

If the books are available and the first one is good enough I will want to read through the series right away, but it's been a while since that's happened to me. I'm also getting tired of hearing about a book or series only to find out there's like a thousand books in it and it's not finished. Or that the great book I heard about it number 5 in a 7-book series. Or whatever.

Series seem to be all the rage now, but I wish we have more standalone books, especially in the fantasy genre. They can be set in the same world. They can even relate to each other or mention characters or events from each other. As long as each one is its own complete story.

I also find that if I decide to wait a little bit then I'm not very likely to ever pick the series up again.

[Ine]

Noor I agree completely, authors seem to forget what it means to tell a complete story between a cover and a back.

Personally I would read all books in a series but usually then some other book pops up and lures me away. In the case of Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee it would have been better for me to read them all in a row, I forgot some details in the meantime and Raven Stratagem was rather complex for me because of that.

[YouKneeK]

I try to avoid starting a series that isn’t complete, and my definition of “complete” is a little strict. For example, Malazan Book of the Fallen may be a complete 10-book series, but there are other subseries in the Malazan setting and the authors were still writing in it last I checked, so I don’t consider that series to be complete. If I didn’t already have so many complete series on my to-read list, then I would loosen up on those rules.

Once I do start a series, I read it almost back-to-back. If it’s pretty short, maybe 6 books or less, I’ll read it all at once. If it’s longer, then I’ll take occasional short breaks to read an unrelated standalone for a change of pace. I prefer to stay immersed in a series setting and maintain the emotional momentum. If I’m really invested in the story and/or the characters by the end of one book, I usually lose that investment if too much time passes before I read the next book. Then sometimes it’s hard to get that invested feeling back and I feel like I don’t enjoy the next book as much as I would have if I’d jumped straight into it. I also hate to feel like I’ve forgotten important details from previous books. I want to catch and appreciate not just the pay-offs for the main plot threads, but also the subtler nuances that I might miss entirely if too much time passes between books.

However, I don’t purchase all the books before I start a series. I usually purchase them as I read them. If I decide I’m no longer enjoying a series, I can abandon it without feeling bad about not reading books I paid for. I read almost exclusively on the Kindle, so it only takes me a few seconds to get the next book queued up after I decide I want to read it.

[Carole-Ann]

I read Series books as and when they're published (and no, it's not difficult from one year to the next to remember what happens/ed previously).

I do this for a Very Important Reason: if you buy Series books as they're published, the Publisher is More Likely to CONTINUE with the Series. Waiting for a Series to finish is creating a death sentence for that Series. Falling sales figures (as the Series continues) alert the Publisher to the lack of continuing interest, and therefore the likelihood of cancelling the Series.

I've known a number of Series which have fallen by the way, simply because readers waited for the concluding book. (OK, these were not specifically SFF, but Series happen in many other genres.)

So, essentially, if you really want a Series to continue, then you BUY each one as it comes out - otherwise, there may not be a Series to buy :)

[Lars]

I do not start any new series unless It’s completed and I have all the volumes available,

If the series has a continuous narrative I try to read them within a reasonable timeframe but often with other books in between, especially if I’m a little stuck.

For series without a continuous storyline I just read them whenever I feel like it.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I do not read most series back to back--I burn out hard. I think the most I can do these days is trilogies, and then it has to be something amazing. I do read most things as they sound appealing to me, since consecutive reading isn't something I do anyways, and I'm always happy for a new thing to complain about ;-)

(Write faster, all you authors!)

The only exception is if I hear something about cliffhanger endings, or things that go downhill in terms of quality or tone, then I might hold off starting until I get a new report. Cliffhangers at the end of books are my nemesis.

[Karin]

John wrote: "In general, I love series; but I also get frustrated when authors leave me with a "cliffhanger" and I have to wait for the next book for a resolution.."

But publishers like cliffhangers in series to get people to read the next book. Great marketing albeit frustrating to readers if we have to wait a year or two for that next book to be pubished!

I personally like a book that feels like a complete unit or story even if it leaves me wanting to know what happens next, but not an actually cliff hanger. So, for a very simplistic example in a scifi novel where the enemy is vanquished, if a civilization is left in tatters or a couple of main characters fall in love by the end I'd want to read what happens after that actual ending, but I don't want a cliff hanger where the novel ends before the battle is over or when a protagonist may or may not be dead, etc.

[Dawn F]

If a series captures me I prefer to read them all in a row. The only reason I haven’t finished Jemisin’s The Broken Earth series, Octavia E Butler’s Xenogenesis and Parable trilogies and all of Hobbs’ Farseer and Fitz and the Fool books is because I’m trying to follow the group and buddy readings and I just don’t have time. Hopefully they’ll come up as buddy reads at some point :P

[AndrewP]

I'm with Allison. I hardly ever read a series back to back. Whenever I do, I find that repetition stands out like a sore thumb and I quickly get bored. If I space them out with other books I find I enjoy them much more.

[Trike]

Dawn wrote: "If a series captures me I prefer to read them all in a row. The only reason I haven’t finished ... is because I’m trying to follow the group and buddy readings and I just don’t have time."

Don’t you blame Allison for this. She’s trying her best. Her addiction just gets the better of her some days.

[Cheryl]

I avoid series, in order to avoid all the issues you-all have mentioned above. But right now I'm hooked on, of all things, the 'Alice' series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I'm 55, have no daughters or grandchildren, no reason to read these, but somehow they're compelling. Thank goodness Naylor stopped at 23 books and that between my library and my son's I can get them all!

[Gabi]

In general I try to avoid series, if they have more than 3 books AND have an ongoing story. If the single books are more or less independent from one another (i.e. Le Guin's Hainish Cycle), then I pick them up.

If a series' books build upon another, I have to read them back to back, cause I have a swiss cheese brain and would forget too much if I spaced them out too much. I made this mistake with ASOIAF with the result that I ended up reading a lot more wiki articles than actual books.

[Dawn F]

I’m not blaming anyone except myself for joining this wonderful group that’s given me a lot of reading discipline! XD

[Jordan]

If it's a duology or a trilogy I might, but other than that I typically space books in a series out. I burn out quickly if I try and read multiple books in a series together. Also I don't want my favorite series to end, so I'll often drag my feet when reading them so that they last longer and I put off that end of series depression.

I know cliffhangers are supposed to make me eager for the next book, but most of the time they just make me want to hurl the book across the room and never pick the series back up. Of course there are cliffhangers, and then there are cliffhangers. A book can wrap up the plot but still leave you with unanswered questions for the next book or it can just end abruptly.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Dawn wrote: "I’m not blaming anyone except myself for joining this wonderful group that’s given me a lot of reading discipline! XD"

*avoids detection yet again.*

(Note to self. Increase Trike-facing wards.)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Yesss, Jordan. I don't mind knowing something is about to happen, but I really effing mind when a story has no sense of ending whatsoever. Stories have a beginning, middle and an end. And if doesn't have an end, WELL THEN THE STORY'S NOT DONE, NOW, IS IT??

[Sabrina]

I differentiate between ongoing series that share the same characters and plot (e.g. “Game of Thrones” or “Farseer Trilogy”) and between series that share a same world and have some sort of closure after each book (e.g. “Chalion” or also non-SF like “Jack Reacher”).
The first, I prefer to read in one go, so I can immerse myself in the world, live with the characters, enjoy the complete story (otherwise I tend to forget details) and also to avoid cliff-hangers. I usually buy books as I go along and if my interest stops I’ve learned to abandon a series. I realise that it is hard for authors to keep selling books in a series if everyone would do it like this, but I’ve been burned and so I learned. Also, I’ve found that I often had to start a series again to fully enjoy it, so for example I re-read the whole Wheel of Time after it was finally completed by Brandon Sanderson. Of course, there are some exceptional series that you just enjoy so much, its no problem to re-read them (e.g. stormlight archive) and I’ll gladly make some exceptions to my own rule 😊
I’m less strict with the second kind of series and usually just enjoy the mostly well-known characters once in a while.

[Bobby]

I do it both ways for various reasons. One of the big factors is availability. I get most of my books from the library, and prefer them in e-book format. So if a whole series is available from the library, then I'll read all of it if it isn't too crazy long. When there's lots of books in the series though, I tend to read several, and then take a break. For example, the Dresden Files are awesome, but I read the first 8 in a row and got burned out. Then I would read 1 or 2 in a row every few months, and I liked that a lot better.

[Beth]

I was out of the SFF loop for quite a while before joining GR--and looking back, didn't read much at all then in comparison to now. As a result I had, and have, a lot to catch up on. YouKneek's policy of getting series books one at a time is a good one--more than once, I've wasted money when I liked the first portion of the first book of a series, bought two or three more, then went "bleah" by the end of volume one.

Perhaps unfortunately, I'm with those folks in the thread who burn out if they overindulge in one author's work all at once. I keep a spreadsheet of series that I'm interested in continuing, and it somewhat ensures that not TOO much time passes between reading volumes in a series. My between-book memory is pretty good, even if some years pass in between, but it isn't perfect!

[Shanna]

I usually like to read a series one after the other, so I almost always wait until a series is complete before starting it. I tend to shy away from longer series, anything more than four, because I don't want to make that much of a commitment! This year I have mostly focused on stand-alones, but next year I'm thinking of tackling a bunch of series that I've been procrastinating on.

[Kateb]

I love reading a series in one hit. But I like to keep check on when the next books is out, if I like the series. And then I re read the books I already have before reading the new book.

This is not so bad since when a series is exciting and interesting I find that I sometimes skim, or I am reading late at night. SO re reading means I find little bits I might have missed.

Then again my sister who reads as much as I do, hates to read the whole series and likes to interpose other books.

My biggest hassle with a series is when it ends , it is so upsetting , like losing a group of friends. sighhh

[Hank]

I don't know what I do. If the books are done and I love the series, I usually buy them all. If it isn't done, I usually wait until there are at least a couple more out before buying and reading. There are a few series that I like enough that I buy them as they come out. Black Prism, Grey Sister, Nine Fox Gambit to name a few

[Jacqueline]

I used to read a series one after the other and if I had to wait I'd reread the early books before the next one came out. Lately I'm more of a read other things in between each book person. Except today. I finished Ancillary Sword yesterday and picked up Ancillary Mercy straight away. The only other time I've done that this year is when I read Murderbot 2 and 3 one after the other. Tonight I'm picking up Murderbot 4 :) Can't wait.

[Mareike]

If a series really grabs me, I'll read the books back to back. I just need to know what happens next! Whether the books end in cliffhangers or not.
Waiting for the final book in Robin Hobb's cycle was hard, I'll tell you.

[Joon]

I used to try to read them back to back, but rarely succeeded. I inevitably ended up needing a break and never going back. I abandoned Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth* after four books because of this. (*This was way back before I knew Goodkind was a tool, and I actually did really like the first four books of that series.) Nowadays I don't even try. After finishing one book in a series, I'll pretty deliberately move onto something else and space them out. For instance last week I finished the first book in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha series, and despite being absolutely swept up in it, and eager to read the next, I'm going to wait a few weeks and read a few other books in between. We'll see if that works. Maybe it won't.

My one rule is I typically don't start a series until it is a.) completed or b.) near completion AND by an author who has shown an ability to complete a series.