Kreader Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Do you read series books? Some of the books I read belong to series. They have been enjoyable and at times I'm looking for more. The downside is that the story or quality of the story may not be maintained throughout the series. Then I have come across continuity errors with the some storylines. Of course I can choose to limit what I read of a series if I do not like further books. I also don't like it when others say I have to read a series in a particular order since through choice I may not want to read everything in a series or all books in a particular series may not be available to me. I've also become addicted to two series so far What's your thoughts about this? Do you like prolific writers? Do you think this risks quality over quantity? Is there a place for both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 (edited) What's your thoughts about this? Do you like prolific writers? Do you think this risks quality over quantity? Is there a place for both? Prolific writers are fine, look at Peter Robinson (UK) or Jeffrey Deaver (US), to name two very successful writers. There is a risk of quantity over quality, if you consider a writer such as James Patterson who appears to 'knock out' books at a very fast rate, but who I consider has lost a quality his earlier books had. This isn't helped by his collaborative writing in recent years. Terry Pratchett is another prolific writer, and I think many who have read his work would say that in many ways his writing has got better with time, despite many of them being a 'series' of sorts by being set on the Discworld. The lesson is to not buy a whole series without a real recommendation from a trusted source, but ease yourself in gently. Many should be read in order, to gain the most from them, but any good writer should be able to prevent the reader needing to read the previous books in order to understand the 'lastest' book. Edited March 30, 2009 by Chrissy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kreader Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 I agree that it is possible to see how a writter progresses when they have many books around. Terry Prachett's Colour of Magic was okay but I lost interest toward the end of it. Later books were more entertaining. Lots of practice seemed to have helped. With the latest books I'm addicted too I hear people saying that they can't wait for the next book to be published and the sooner the better. I on the other hand would think I can wait since a rushed book may be lacking especially if an author is busy with other things at the same time. Books are read quickly compared to the writing time, editing time and publishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 I've recently rediscovered my childhood love for fantasy and found that very few authors in this genre are able to limit themselves - trilogies make narrative sense and I can understand that an author can come upon an idea that's too good to let go; but it seems they've all en masse lost the ability to sometimes rein in their overactive quills and write standalone volumes. The keyword is milk, milk, milk the ideas dry. My funds and shelf-space are limited and few authors I trust enough to invest in their series: there's Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" books, which keep improving with each volume (I bought the fourth, "Something Rotten", thinking it was a standalone, understood nothing so was forced to trace the others and thank God for that) and the newly discovered Zamonia series by Walter Moers (yet again, I blundered and started from the end with "The City of Dreaming Books", thankfully they are based upon different characters altogether so it's not really a problem) I plan to investigate as soon as I've finished with Jasper. All in all, I tend not to trust series that drag on too long; an author must really win me over for me to want to devote that much money and space to their story. Sometimes even that fails; I found that even the brilliant "Harry Potter" lost its brilliance and sparkle after volume four, becoming unreadable by volume seven (which I abadoned to its own destiny). J.K. Rowling betrayed my trust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Terry Pratchett is another prolofic writer, and I think many who have read his work would say that in many ways his writing has got better with time, despite many of them being a 'series' of sorts by being set on the Discworld. I agree that it is possible to see how a writter progresses when they have many books around. Terry Prachett's Colour of Magic was okay but I lost interest toward the end of it. Later books were more entertaining. Lots of practice seemed to have helped. I definitely agree with the above. I didn't enjoy the first two books in the Discworld series much at all, but fortunately, they weren't the first ones I read (I accidentally read Reaper Man first and LOVED it!). The Discworld has definitely improved as Pratchett has gone on (with very few of the later ones not living up to expectations!). In general, I tend to just buy the first one in a series to see if I like that, If I do, I'll get hold of subsequent ones, but one at a time, and stop when I don't enjoy them any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlette Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Series books can go either way. I am currently reading Pratchett's Discworld novels - in no particular order - and I'm enjoying them very much. I haven't found any one of them disappointing, thus far. I've read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and, although I found the majority of the series very captivating, I was somewhat disappointed with the final book in the series: Blood Canticle. Thought she could have done better with that one... Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga was... disappointing, also. I felt that her imagination ran a bit wild after the second novel. Too much of a good thing, as the saying goes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 I'm a huge sucker for the Myron Bolitar series written by Harlan Coben. There is wit, character development, excitement, plot twists and an enormously enjoyable writing style. I love the guy. As for prolific writers, does anyone really like Dean Koontz? I've bought most of his books and have noticed real development in his prose. It's much more poetic - a graceful text nowadays. Obviously, some of his novels are better than others, but I feel the consistancy of quality is higher than contempories of his such as, say, Stephen King (I might get linched for that remark - I know there are some huge King fans here). Don't get me wrong, as I have all of his books too. The Stand, The Talisman, The Shining, It - these are among my favourites of the genre! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperplane Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 I've been reading the Space Odyssey series by Arthur C Clarke and have one more book to go. Overall so far I believe the story line is good however continuity in some parts don't match up with the previous book. I thought the first book 2001 was excellent, the second was good and the third I found myself skipping a few pages as he waffled on a bit. I'm hoping the final book 3001 will redeem the series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kreader Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 I definitely agree with the above. I didn't enjoy the first two books in the Discworld series much at all, but fortunately, they weren't the first ones I read (I accidentally read Reaper Man first and LOVED it!). The Discworld has definitely improved as Pratchett has gone on (with very few of the later ones not living up to expectations!). In general, I tend to just buy the first one in a series to see if I like that, If I do, I'll get hold of subsequent ones, but one at a time, and stop when I don't enjoy them any more. My first Prachett book was Wryd Sisters, it took me quite a while to come across the first book in the disc world series. If I'd started with that one first I might not have read later books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga was... disappointing, also. I felt that her imagination ran a bit wild after the second novel. Too much of a good thing, as the saying goes... I agree with you completely! I read the whole series pretty quickly so a couple of weeks later I decided to read them again to see how they read once I knew the ending and I found myself skipping through huge sections of New Moon and Breaking Dawn. I found Edward's character to be intriguing in the first book but by the end he was really getting on my nerves! I thought he was a bit insipid and lacked substance! I loved the Harry Potter series. I thought it got better with each book (with the exception of that epilogue but I'd imagine a few people actually liked it ). I can read them over and over and definitely don't skip pages! I think it depends on the writer. In my opinion, JK Rowling is just a better writer than Stephanie Meyer. She can keep a story going whilst still captivating her audience with every page. I'm looking forward to the Lincoln Rhyme Series by Jeffrey Deaver and hope the rest of the books are as good as The Bone Collector.....we shall see!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I've been reading the Space Odyssey series by Arthur C Clarke and have one more book to go. Overall so far I believe the story line is good however continuity in some parts don't match up with the previous book. I thought the first book 2001 was excellent, the second was good and the third I found myself skipping a few pages as he waffled on a bit. I'm hoping the final book 3001 will redeem the series. I'm pretty sure I started reading this series at 3001, so needless to say, I had to do a bit of back-tracking. I remembering really enjoying both 2001 and 3001, but I can't remember enough of the two in between to say whether or not it will improve for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malefic Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 The only series books that I have read are the Hobbit / Lord of the Flies etc books and then the Dark Tower (well, still reading the last few books) by Stephen King, oo and just remembered The Green Mile by King as well (came out in a mini sized book when it first came out). The only downside of series books is if you have a book thats not as good as the first 1 or 2 its a bit hard to pick up part 4. Either way they still get read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggiesfan Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 i am reading a series by a fairly new author called June Hampson, she has only written 3 books so far with a fourth due out soon, all of her books revolve around the same characters and are set in the 1960's, i have really enjoyed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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