Urban Fantasy discussion
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
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Looking for Recommendations: What Series Should I Continue with First?
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I would have to agree with Archer and say Fever, followed with Mercedes Thompson and then October Daye
I love the Mercy Thompson books. My vote goes there. :)
Thanks for the votes, I'm happy I've already gotten some. =] I should keep track of this on here. October Daye
Mercedes Thompson - 10
Downside Ghosts
Allie Beckstrom
Fever - 6
Nightside - 2
Garrett Files
It's alright if you haven't read or even heard of the other series. This is just for fun. =]
Mercedes series first, the Fever, then Downside Ghosts.
I'd say Mercy series first than Downside Ghosts. Both those series you are gonna want to read past the first books though because they are both so good...Happy reading :)
OK, I've re-ordered them to show my recommended order and to provide some context, I've added the number I have read so far. Fever [1 of 5] - 5
Mercedes Thompson [1 of 6] - 5
Downside Ghosts [1 of 3] - 3
Allie Beckstrom [1 of 6] - 4
October Daye [1 of 4] - 1
Nightside [4 of 11] - 8
Garrett Files [2 of 13] - 0
That's awesome. I do like having context to go by. Thanks for doing that. Seems Mercedes Thompson and Fever are really popular series so far.
I vote for Nightside, but, then, I tend to prefer UF which doesn't seem to be aimed at girls. (And, as such, is the only series on your list I've read thus far.) :>
I know what you mean and definitely agree. I prefer more of the action packed, ass kicking UF rather than those that devote half the book to the story and the other half to romance.
I 100% think you should continue with the Fever series first and foremost! Especially since the last book just came out! After that I vote for Mercy Thompson - love that series. :) I haven't read Allie Beckstorm yet, but it been in my TBR pile forever! Hope you get around to finishing that series too!
Oh I will finish all of these series... well... catch up. I guess finish with Fever since it just ended. :D Aside from a few new releases coming up in March and one other book after the one I'm reading now [to catch up in another series], I'm going to stick to these series until I'm caught up in all of them. If I really grow to hate one, then I won't finish it, but I don't think that'll happen.
JK,I say finish Mercedes and the Downside Books first. :-D
I'd recommend the Nightside series. It is somewhat darker than the other series, and it has a really rich and original world.The October day series is also good if your more into UF than PNR.
This is the order I recommend:Fever
Mercy Thompson
Downside Ghosts
My votes go in this order:Mercy Thompson
Allie Beckstrom
I love both of these series!
I vote Mercedes Thompson, Fever as a runner-up, and I've only read an excerpt of Downside Ghosts, but I strongly suspect that should be up there too.
I vote Mercy Thompson,Allie Beckstrom both are great series haven't read the other ones but i think ill have to add to my TRL
If things stay like this I'm not likely to know what series I'll read until I am ready to pick up the book. :D
Mercy Thompson all the way... you can finish all 5 with more than enough time to get the 6th book in March. =)
March first? Hmm... that would make for one heck of a release day. I'm also waiting for Wise Man's Fear and the sixth Cal Leandros book on that day. :D Two weeks would be enough time to read the other four books. I do have to finish the one I'm on now and one other before I start this task of catching up on series... but it still seems doable.
Personally, I'd say the order you have them is pretty right on, although you could go either way with Mercy Thompson and October Daye. I've only read the first in October Daye and found it really good. I have too many books on the TBR pile which is the only reason I haven't read the rest. As for Mercy, what can I say...I've read each subsequent book as soon as I got my hands on it. Go with your gut feeling I would say.
Okay, I finished the book I was on late last night and wanted to start up reading these series. For some reason I thought Fever was in the lead so I started the second book of that series. >.< I am already half way through it though. If all the books are this quick I'd be finished them in no time. Then I can go to Mercedes Thompson like I was supposed to.
I'm not sure if anyone cares, but I'm nearly done with Mercedes Thompson now, well, caught up. I'm just a little bit into the most recent book. After this it'll be Nightside. I'm actually surprised I've kept up with reading just these series and nothing new - aside from the few books I had already planned to read. =]
But once you finish Mercy, then you'll have to start Alpha Omega! ;-)
Yep, AlbertaJenn's right. The Alpha Omega series is in another city, within the same universe as Mercy, but the focus and characters are different.
Hahaha. I'll probably read that series as well, but I have to finish these others first. That was my rule, I have to finish these six or so series before I can start anything new. =]
Alrighty, I'm caught up in 2 of my 7 series. Looks like the Nightside series is up next. It'll be a nice change - it's from a male POV and it's heavy on the action. Seven books to go in this one, but they are pretty quick reads.
JK - earlier you mentioned that books "devote half the book to the story and the other half to romance" aren't top of the list for you. So, now that you're through it - would you say Mercedes Thompson is not half romance? Curious as I haven't tried it but for some reason had the impression it was.Fever is more than half romance (way more) - most folks who mention it are also madly in love with Barrons (not a bad thing ...)
If you don't want half romance (or more) I'd second Betelgeuse on The October day series for more UF than PNR.
Maggie wrote: "Fever is more than half romance (way more)."Meant to add there was a bit of a testy thread of disagreement on one of the fantasy forums about the amount of sex in Fever (not going to weigh in, just note there's some strong disagreement out there).
Maggie wrote: "JK - earlier you mentioned that books "devote half the book to the story and the other half to romance" aren't top of the list for you. So, now that you're through it - would you say Mercedes Thomp..."Maggie - I'm not JK but I can weigh in on the Mercy Thompson series since I've read them all. When you say romance, are you meaning sex and steaminess or do you mean romance like a focus on a relationship?
If you're curious about the amount of sex, there is none. Scenes leading to sex are something like...
(Short description of a nice kiss) "And then we climbed into bed."
Maggie - I poorly worded what I meant earlier. Romance isn't bad, but I don't think "omg he's hot, now let's have sex ten million times" romance. So, I should say that I don't want to read stuff that's largely devoted to shallow crap like that. I don't enjoy sex in books, I just don't. It's always empty and just, well, I don't really like the stuff in my books. Mercedes Thompson is far far different from the "romance" of other UF series. It's actual romance. The relationship develops over time and when it finally becomes official, it isn't just sex sex sex. It's still a developing relationship. And the few times there is sex, it's like Christen said, just a brief allusion to it like "we went to bed" and that's it. No overly descriptive soft porn.
So. I will read a seres if there is romance, so long as it's the proper kind and not this messed up stuff people call romance today.
Mercedes Thompson is the perfect example of how to handle romance whereas the Fever series is the perfect example of what I don't consider romance.
Maggie wrote: "Maggie wrote: "Fever is more than half romance (way more)."Meant to add there was a bit of a testy thread of disagreement on one of the fantasy forums about the amount of sex in Fever (not going ..."
Heh, I was a participant in that. >_>
I think Theresa has it right about that, though. It depends on what you typically read and how you perceive sex in books. So while I thought it was disgustingly over the top other people don't think the same thing and neither of us are wrong.
[and for the record, i'm not one of the people madly in love with Barrons]
JK wrote: "I was looking through the series I've started and haven't caught up in and I figured I should probably catch up in all of these series before starting new series. So! I wanted to see what you guys ..."FEVER... all the way! The other series are good, but I promise you will LOVE the Fever Series!
JK wrote: "[and for the record, i'm not one of the people madly in love with Barrons]I never liked Barrons either.
Thanks folks - I'll add Mercedes Thompson to my "to read" list. Don't mind a bit of romance in the fantasy story line, just don't need every detail of the encounter mapped out for me.JK - you might be the same person who asked for recommendations of UF without the sex and the first answer was Anita Blake - I decided then and there to simply keep my mouth shut and here I've gone and opened it!
fyi - there is progressively more sex with more detailed descriptions of the manipulations in each book of the Fever series. You know, Anita Blake's first 4 books had nary a kiss and then ....
Maggie wrote: "Thanks folks - I'll add Mercedes Thompson to my "to read" list. Don't mind a bit of romance in the fantasy story line, just don't need every detail of the encounter mapped out for me.JK - you m..."
I don't think I made that thread... I'm almost positive I didn't. I just can't see myself forgetting that someone would recommend Anita Blake as a series without sex. Seriously. That's just crazy. :D
The Fever series it did get progressively heavier. I always have this hope that a series can redeem itself... I should quit thinking that though when the signs are quite the contrary.
Theresa wrote: "JK wrote: "[and for the record, i'm not one of the people madly in love with Barrons]I never liked Barrons either."
Good to know I'm not alone on that one.
Audrey02 wrote: "JK wrote: "FEVER... all the way! The other series are good, but I promise you will LOVE the Fever Series!"I don't know how to respond to that... heh. I've already read Fever and I can promise you I did NOT love it. Quite the opposite actually.
I've finished with Fever and Mercy Thompson and am now reading the Nightside series. =]
JK wrote: "Theresa wrote: "JK wrote: "[and for the record, i'm not one of the people madly in love with Barrons]I never liked Barrons either."
Good to know I'm not alone on that one."
I tried the first Fever book, and I couldn't stand Barrons either. >.>
Ya know, he doesn't change much through the entire series so I doubt you'd end up liking him in the end either.
JK wrote: "Ya know, he doesn't change much through the entire series so I doubt you'd end up liking him in the end either."I disliked him more with each book. :(
Maggie wrote: "Thanks folks - I'll add Mercedes Thompson to my "to read" list. Don't mind a bit of romance in the fantasy story line, just don't need every detail of the encounter mapped out for me.JK - you m..."
Maggie, I remember that thread , but not who started it. I had to laugh when most of the series suggested had a lot of sex in them! It is like many just recommended their faves and didn't bother looking at the stipulation. Funny. I did recommned Mercy in that one, as well as the Dark Days by Jocelyn Drake.
I was working on Nightside, but that series has to go on hold. I don't think I can read more than one of those books in the same quarter of a year. Onto... Downside Ghosts!
I remember the love interests in this and nothign else. >_<
The numbers in the brackets are how many of the series I have read of what's available. They're in order right now of how much I liked the first book. I could go in that order, but I thought it'd be more fun to ask you guys. =]
October Daye [1 of 4]
Mercedes Thompson [1 of 6] - complete
Downside Ghosts [1 of 3]
Allie Beckstrom [1 of 6]
Fever [1 of 5] - complete
Nightside [4 of 11] - ON HOLD
Garrett Files [2 of 13]
So, which of these series do you think is the strongest? Which one will have me wanting to read the next book as soon I finish a book in the series?