Are series getting TOO long?

[Martin]

Scott wrote: "Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss..."

Ditto.

Although, I did enjoy Katharine Kerrs Deverry series...

and continue to enjoy Jim Butchers Dresden series...

Also, Kevin Hearne current series is up to 6 books (soon), and that is fun. His secret is 6 books in 18 months. No 2 year wait between them!

So, it looks like it's case by case...

[Tamahome]

"Series is as series does." -- Eric Rabkin

[Rick]

Jo Walton has an excellent post on tor.com about the difference kinds of series and I think it's worth a read for anyone interested in the series topic. Don't skip the comments which are also good: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/04/so-w...

[Alex]

I think that as long as the books (of the long series) has solid followers and people still enjoy them and the writer doesn't forget or lose their way with the books and the books are still popular then I think there's no wrong in a series being so long.
It's long for a reason; whether it's for the authors own imaginary satisfaction (Like Tolkien, he wrote what he wanted to read) or whether it's because the books are still being enjoyed and read by a majority or even a select few hard core fans.

There really is no right or wrong to this answer though... Just opinions...

[Ian]

Personaly I would rather read a stand alone or a trilogy since alot of genre fiction has a tendency to start strong and end weak less of a investment. Dark tower is a example of that even though I love series its a drag to read and song of ice and fire while good felt long in each book(first two then gave up) kinda like homework.Game of thrones ended up feeling like one of those homework packets you get as kid durring vaction , the problems are easy so its fun but its still too LONG.

[Robin]

I love the A Song of Ice and Fire series but I do fear that the story will never have an actual ending. Martin is pretty slow in getting new novels, and I'll admit one of my fears is that he won't live long enough to finish the entire story (because who knows how many more books he has to write?). It's a little frustrating putting time and investment into a series without knowing if/when there will be a finale.

It's sort of like when a television show gets canceled before it has a chance to tell the full story.

[Micah]

Robin wrote: "I love the A Song of Ice and Fire series but I do fear that the story will never have an actual ending. Martin is pretty slow in getting new novels"

Understatement of the century. LoL! ;)

[Rod]

My feeling is the time has come for epic fantasies to have more streamlined plotting, which would only require, at the most, three books. There is room enough in the market for this, I'm sure. If Wheel of Time and Song of Ice and Fire had consistent quality, a better case could be made that their length is justified. However, that is not the case. Many books out of each of those series felt like "filler." Only one series I've read has remained pretty consistent in quality after 11 books, and that is The Dresden Files. These meandering sagas lasting decades seem unfair to many loyal readers.

[Jim]

I'm a tie in novel fan, so your quaint "10 book series" and such amuse me. The Shadowrun Series had 40+ books. Battletech has 63 books. The Star Trek Pocket Books are still running. And God bless Target, Virgin and BBC Books, because for 19 years Doctor Who was off the air and we got around a book a month for that ENTIRE time until "Rose" hit the air.

in summation, my lawn... Please do not step on it. Or something.

[Leslie]

Yeah, I prefer the trilogy method as opposed to the never ending series. I've been burned more than once when an author died in the middle of the series. I think it's hard to come up with high level work for some authors when they put out (no pun intended) often, but then you run the risk of them keeling over and having an unfinished series on our hands.

This isn't science fiction, but Balzac wrote The Human Comedy, over 100 stories and plays based on life and times of people in France during the 19th century. That's the kind of long series I like, kinda like the Terry Pratchet mentioned earlier. Stories all set in the same relative time and place, but stand alone.

[Robin]

Terez mentioned The Dresden Files - I agree that series is one that seems to work, but I think that's because those books each contain a self-enclosed story (Although I'm only on the fifth book right now, but that's how it seems). You can pick up a Dresden book anywhere in the series and not need to read any of the previous books.

[Rod]

Robin wrote: "Terez mentioned The Dresden Files - I agree that series is one that seems to work, but I think that's because those books each contain a self-enclosed story (Although I'm only on the fifth book rig..."

Robin, I think you are almost at the point where there will be overarching plots of The Dresden Files which will begin to affect the overall story. There will definitely be volumes where you will need to read the previous one for vital info. Despite that being the case, the beauty of Jim Butcher's writing is you never feel overwhelmed by his plotting. You feel he is in control of where the story is headed. His writing is also refreshingly succinct, which I like. You won't find him writing 20 pages about a meal Dresden is having.

[Bryek]

Terez wrote: "You won't find him writing 20 pages about a meal Dresden is having"

TBH i skip any writing like this. Its not relevant to the story so why bother