Do you start reading unfinished series?

[RLB]

Crap, I did it again.

I just read A Game of Thrones in two days only to wake up and realize the series isn't anywhere near complete. The same thing happened to me with the WOT books, which I abandoned mid-series. Why can't these authors be content with plain, old-fashioned trilogies?

If there was one thing my dad taught me about fantasy reading, it was wait until the series is complete before you read it, a lesson he learned the hard way from Stephen King's Dark Tower series (which I read straight-through, only after they'd all been published).

So for those of you out there who don't care if the series is finished, how do you do it? Do you just keep rereading the series as each new book is published? Do you rely on synopses to refresh your memory and get you up to speed? Though by the ninth book of WOT, synopses weren't helping me at all, there were so many characters and subplots going on.

Anyway, now I'm kicking myself. And I'm headed out the door to buy the next book in the series. Crap.

[bethany]

I did the same thing with the Wheel of Time, it was very dissappointing. When I first started reading them I was taking off work and reading them as they came out.

A really cool discovery I just made was that Jacquiline Carey had a new trilogy, and all three were out. So even though I had to buy the last one in hardcover, I was able to read all three at the same time.

I haven't read the last one or two of The Game of Thrones, will wait until they're all out.

[SPMiller]

Even worse, Martin takes his sweet time with his writing. Which is good, because he turns out quality product. But he spent five years producing book 4, which also yielded a lot of material for book 5, so he split the characters in half. And that has taken three years with no end in sight.

Very messy. Book 5 will have most of my favorite characters, though I'll admit Jaime has grown on me...

[RLB]

Ok, I'm back from B&N with the next one. Seriously.

I did the same thing with the Wheel of Time, it was very dissappointing. When I first started reading them I was taking off work and reading them as they came out.

I swapped for the first WOT book in a hostel in France. I checked the pub date - 16 years prior - and figured I was safe. I was in for a shock when I got back stateside. I tried to follow them for awhile, but eventually gave up.

Even worse, Martin takes his sweet time with his writing.

Well, that's just awesome.


Very messy. Book 5 will have most of my favorite characters, though I'll admit Jaime has grown on me...

That dude's still alive? And a POV character to boot? Wow. I've got some reading ahead of me...

There are just seven planned, right?

[WriteKnight]

I first got burned by the unfinished series scam with Phillip Jose Farmer's "Riverworld" series. I bought the first book, not knowing it was a series. (Indeed, I'm fairly certain it wasn't meant to be) Loved it, read the second, loved it and eagerly awaited the third in the trilogy. It came out soon enough, with a forward that said "Sorry - this was supposed to be the last book, but my publisher convinved me to realease it as two..."\


Fool me once - shame on, won't get fooled again.

Yeah, I dumped WOT somewhere around the fourth book. Just lost interest, it seemed to be wandering - Like I was coming into the middle of some long running soap opera, okay, I can fathom out where the characters came from and where they're going - but this thing is never going to 'end' so I"m done with it.

ALMOST the same thing happending with Martin's series. I avoided it forever, especially when friends would say "YOU haven't READ this series! UNBELEAVABLE!!! Someone on the internet even copped a pic of me on horseback in armor, and posted it on their page as 'the perfect Eddard Stark' - so I finally got around to reading them.

Now I'm tapping my foot -- hoping it will all be fresh enough when the new one comes out.


I devoured the Harry Dresden files series - or the first six that were out when I started. Then the seventh came out - but really, those all stand alone. Thats like reading the Flashman series - or the Sharpe series. Just more adventures of a particular character. Not the same thing as having one through-line, one plot or goal dominating the series - like say "LORT".

[The Grump]

Trilologies changing into ongoing series. Is this one of the biggest peeves in SFF?

Friends and I have bitched about this for years. Why? Trilogies seem to be tightly constructed with all the pieces having a purpose. Series tend to repeat themselves and go soft, almost like rotten fruit.

This is an overgeneralization, I know. One exception immediately comes to my mind -- a writer using the same world with different characters, of which there are numerous examples.

Fortunately, SFF doesn't suffer from the syndrome as much as mysteries seem to do.

PS. Wish me luck. I've just accumulated Simon Green's Nightside series. My next reading project is reading them in order. I hope to learn as much as I did when I read Hamilton's Blake series. I just hope by the time he deals with his mother, the series ends.

[Bartholomew]

I read Eye of the World (Book one of WoT) and didn't realize it was a series until a year or so later. It was a brilliant stand-alone adventure. The other books just didn't resonate as well with me.

[Beach Bunny]

No, I don't wait for them all to come out before I read the series. The way some Fantasy authors write, I'd end up waiting decades for them to be complete. I don't have the patience. If I enjoyed a book enough to want to read the next one then I will happily reread the published ones.

What I find absolutely annoying is trying to figure out which is the first book of a trilogy or a series. But, the most annoying thing is to buy a book, get partway into it and find out that it is the second or third or fourth one of a series. :( Why is it so hard to number the damn things?

[Ruv Draba]

I like series in TV, and don't mind if they're unfinished. Firefly, Deadwood are both unfinished series that I enjoy.

In literature, I detest series written by any but the best authors though. A good author can give you a decent story per volume, conected by some over-arching theme. (Or do as Tolkien did and break a single story into multiple volumes, published concurrently). If the author does that, I'll forgive the story not being 'finished'.

Weaker authors don't do that, but just string out one story by needless padding. Jordan's Treadmill of Time (as it should be named) is the most egregious example of this.

[SPMiller]

What's interesting about some books is that they're released without any advertisement that they're the first in a series. Not just a small-print or otherwise inconspicuous note. I mean no note at all. So you can unknowingly get yourself into an unfinished series, and not for lack of attentiveness.

Fortunately, most of them are marked as being in a trilogy or series--you just have to be looking for it.

[WriteKnight]

Yeah, the prime example was DUNE - The first book should stand alone - period. End of story. Flogging the characters and world into a 'trilogy' just didn't work for me.

I don't mind 'episodic' literature. That is - a series of complete episodes featuring a character or setting. As I mentioned - The "Sharpes Rifle" series, or Travis McGee or James Bond, or Harry Dresden - where you're just eagerly waiting for their next adventure - and pray to God it NEVER ends. Sure, mystery authors make their bread and butter on this, thank Holmes and Watson. And lets not forget that Alexandre Dumas ORIGINALLY published the Three Musketeers as a serial in the newspaper... talk about upping subscriptions.

I think you can tell when an opus has been conceived as a complete 'series' - be it a trilogy or more - and when an author has stumbled on a concept and figures they can milk it. That's where I'm likely to get bored as they ramble about over hill and dale looking for purpose and plot.

[otterman]

The never ending series trend is really irritating. It suggests to me that an author (and his agent and/or publisher) is more concerned about selling another book than in completing a story properly (in an arc that makes sense). I avoid them because of this. I understand the market pressures but artists who really care about their work don't sell out in this way; they know what they want to create and stick to a plan. When finished, they start a new project.

[Tachyon]

Dude, I read the first three A Song of Ice and Fire books in grade seven. They were my second epic fantasy series after the Belgariad, which is what got me into fantasy (and I still haven't managed to escape).

I'm going into my second year of university now ... I'm going to have to re-read the first four books when the fifth one comes out, because I'm beginning to forget who these people are and why they matter to me. George R. R. Martin is an amazing writer, and his characters are enjoyable and complex. There's just so many!

I couldn't get into Wheel of Time. I think I read the first three books. :-/

My coworker has force fed me The Sword of Truth series--I realize these are finished, but it's relevant to the discussion of lengthy series. I really enjoyed some of the plots, but they probably could have been condensed into four or five books.

I don't mind lengthy series of characters in science fiction and fantasy as long as there's a story there. These two genres have the inherent pitfall of expecting an epic scale of conflict. Series that live up to this expectation and repeatedly charge the same characters with the fate of the universe can get boring quickly. TV series have this problem too. I love Stargate SG-1, but even the writers admitted that they were starting to get tired of writing endings.

[Darzian]

I really like the WoT. I like it so much that I'm an active member of www.dragonmount.com forums. However, I do agree that Jordan's world expanded unnecessarily and pulled in all sorts of sub-plots that could have been abandoned.

I started GRRM's Fire and Ice. Finished book 3. Didn't have access to the next one for some time. Now have access but dont want to touch until 5 also comes out.

Waiting for Harry Potter was a nightmare. I'm not going to start reading series unless only the last book is yet pending.

I myself began writing my WIP intended as a series (likely duology or trilogy) but I read a lot of posts on this forum and have decided to stop and plan it into a STAND ALONE with series potential. This is going to be really hard for me to do but I don't want to ruin my chances with agents/publishers. :D

[Rae22]

Personally, I end up rereading all the finished books again right before the next come comes out. I figure if I don't like a book enough to read it again to refresh my memory for a sequel, I probably won't enjoy the next one anyway.

That said, I do like being able to sit down with an entire trilogy or series and read it from start to finish. I have done this on a few occasions, but every time was because I either couldn't get hold of the books earlier, or I didn't know they existed until I saw them all on the shelf and decided I absolutely must have them.

[tehuti88]

I usually just don't even buy the books unless all of them are finished and available. Which means I probably miss out on a lot of really good series. :( Which is doubly stupid considering that I LOVE series stories, and write them almost exclusively! (Meaning, any readers I might have are in the exact same predicament; I do hope they're more forgiving!)

For me, though, it's not so much the having to wait and such (I do prefer to read all the books in a row, immediately, as my memory is lousy), it's just the kind of unreliable availability of series stories around here. Just because a store picks up the first book or two in a series doesn't mean they'll pick up the next. And just because they have Volume 13 doesn't mean they have all the books preceding it (e. g., those Spiderwick books and the "Series Of Unfortunate Events" or whatever). And I know I could just order it online or through the bookstore, but that's tedious, and it's hard for me to keep track of when books are coming out and such. Just too much work. It's easier for me to wait until a series is completed, then, if it looks good, to invest in getting all the darn things at once. I also then know that the author has really committed to finishing everything and that ALL books have been published. (Witness horror stories of the final book in a series never being released.)

I used to snatch up interesting-looking fantasy books whenever I saw them, but now, more and more often, they say things like "Second book in the Such-and-Such Series!" so I let them go. I always seem to miss a few volumes on the shelves. Ugh. Irritating. Although I love series, I do wish there were more solitary fantasy books out there, or else omnibus editions!

Not to mention that I'm not that interested in most fantasy out there anyway, but that's beside the point. I'm sure there are some really good series I'd enjoy if I could just find them in their entirety!

[ChaosTitan]

I don't mind 'episodic' literature. That is - a series of complete episodes featuring a character or setting. As I mentioned - The "Sharpes Rifle" series, or Travis McGee or James Bond, or Harry Dresden - where you're just eagerly waiting for their next adventure - and pray to God it NEVER ends.

Ditto. I've just started the Dresden and the Nightside books. I prefer these sort of episodic series, because I don't feel like I'm waiting for the next book. Stephen Woodworth's "Violets" series, Gena Showalter's Alien Huntress series, and most current urban fantasy series are like this. Which is probably why I love reading in the genre, and also write in it.

If someone is raving about a known triology or duology, I'll wait until all books are out before reading them. Now that I have all of the Dark Tower books, I can start on them (once I figure out what happened with my copy of The Gunslinger, dangit!). It's also why I'll wait and buy certain comic series as collected graphic novels (Buffy, season 8), rather than one issue a month. I like to sit down and read a bunch at a time, rather than in tiny niblets that leave me hanging.

[Fillanzea]

On not numbering series books:

I read in a Fantasy & Science Fiction editorial by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (this would've been about 1997, so things may have changed) that bookstores sometimes wouldn't order the third book of a trilogy unless book #2 sold better than #1. Which isn't really a reasonable expectation, because few people will pick up #2 if they haven't read #1...

Unless they don't know it's #2.

So I think publishers try hard not to scare new readers from starting in the middle of a series, even to the extent of disguising the fact that it IS a series.

[MattW]

Unless it's an author I know to be prolific (or really captivating) I think I might vow to never pick up an unfinished series.

That said, I never expected to be able to read every single volume of Steven Erikson's Malazan stories (10) in the time I've read one of GRR Martin's SoIaF novels.

I love both series, but while Martin set a high bar with his first, there's been enough time for many other fantasy authors to catch up before Ice & Fire is finished. The genre will continue to progress and innovate, but you'd hope that you could put the innovative stories of the 90's behind you by now...

[Rae22]

It's easier for me to wait until a series is completed, then, if it looks good, to invest in getting all the darn things at once. I also then know that the author has really committed to finishing everything and that ALL books have been published. (Witness horror stories of the final book in a series never being released.)

I've done this once, and actually wasn't happy about it. I'd heard a lot of good things about a trilogy a few years back (can't remember which one, now), but didn't have the money to buy the whole set at the time. Instead I went down to the library and took out the whole trilogy at once, then went home and started reading. I read the first book and loved it. I got about two chapters into the second one, and completely lost interest in the story, the characters, everything. I returned them within days of checking them out, and was very grateful I hadn't forked out money for them. I think that's probably one of the main reasons I don't wait for a series to be finished: just because the author has gotten to the end doesn't mean I'm going to like it.

[MattW]

I've done this once, and actually wasn't happy about it. I'd heard a lot of good things about a trilogy a few years back (can't remember which one, now), but didn't have the money to buy the whole set at the time. Instead I went down to the library and took out the whole trilogy at once, then went home and started reading. I read the first book and loved it. I got about two chapters into the second one, and completely lost interest in the story, the characters, everything. I returned them within days of checking them out, and was very grateful I hadn't forked out money for them. I think that's probably one of the main reasons I don't wait for a series to be finished: just because the author has gotten to the end doesn't mean I'm going to like it.Also a good reason to use the library to not take risk with your own money.

Unfortunately my local libraries get popular books most of the time, and rarer stuff from new authors doesn't get ordered as often, even though those are the books I'm less likely to take a chance on than a new series by someone I know. It works for the library, obviously, but maybe they could tailor themselves to my tastes.

[Alex Bravo]

So did people here wait for Harry Potter to be finished before starting to read it? I didn't. Ender's Game is another, although, I got disappointed when the third book didn't end it, and now I don't care to read anymore about Ender.

Every time a new Sharpe book comes out, I get excited, but then that is historical fiction and the series isn't chronological, so you could actually believe it ended, only to learn later there is a new book that happened between books one and two, etc...

Besides, just because the book is a series doesn't mean we are going to want to read the rest of the books as others have pointed out. If it's a good book, I want to read it!!!

[ChaosTitan]

So did people here wait for Harry Potter to be finished before starting to read it?

Harry Potter was also, if I understand correctly, written as a standalone story. If it had been an abysmal failure, then it would have been fine on its own.

For the record, though, I've never read the HP books. I have nothing against them or JKR, the subject matter just isn't my cuppa.

[MattW]

Steven Brust writes a series of standalones - I read those as they come out because they are loosely connected, non-chronological, and all revealing more about the world and character, but not an "onion" serial.

[Phoebe H]

I tend not to read series until they are complete, but if I care about them, I will *buy* them as they come out.

Because if they don't get enough sales, the publisher won't ever finish them.

[WinterDusk14]

I still haven't read the last book of Harry Potter.lol.

A Song of Ice anf Fire is just awesome. Its been eight years since the latest book. Although, its a sweet anticipation for me. Same goes with Malazan Book of the Fallen. There's always this feeling saying, "Damn what's going to happen next?!?!"^^;

[RLB]

Well I disappeared for a while to read all four of the Ice and Fire books. I was reading until the wee hours, sleeping for a few hours, getting up to read more. It was all-consuming. That said, I'm still mad I let myself start.

I don't mind series with the same characters and same settings, as others have said, but being stuck in the middle of a story as long and complex as this is just annoying. And I typically reread very few books. I mean to reread them, but there are always new books out there tempting me instead, so I don't know if I'd have the stamina to read these four again when the fifth comes out (which is still unfinished according to the author's website). So I'll have to count on extremely detailed synopses to get me up to speed.

In the forward to one of the Dark Tower books, King talked about how he'd gotten two letters from people who were about to die - one an inmate on death row, another from a lady diagnosed with cancer - begging him to tell them how the series ended. They even promised not to tell anyone!

I understand their frustration, though I'm not sure if I were about to die that finding out the ending to Fire and Ice would be my hugest priority...

Anyway, I enjoyed reading all your posts; thanks for sharing!

[DragonHeart]

I'm collecting several series at the moment, all of them unfinished. Generally if I like a series enough to collect it, chances are I'll remember the important stuff once I start reading the newest release.

So far the one exception to this is the Malazan series, but by time I'm done reading the latest one the next one is out, hah. Well okay, not quite, but damn those are some heavy books. I suppose part of this is due to there being several major plots all occurring at the same time, so things can get rather muddled anyways. Still a great series and I don't mind waiting. Gives me a chance to recover from the inevitable shattered soul as all the characters I like survive up until the last 20 pages, then all die...Sadly it's becoming predictable, which is all the more frustrating because I want them to live yet can sense that they won't so I don't want to like them too much, but do anyways...gah!

Now that I've completely sidetracked myself (yes, I am reading Toll the Hounds right now)...

Generally I'm patient, but sometimes I do get frustrated. For example, I'm still waiting for the third book of a series....eight years after the second one was published. The author appears to have dropped off the face of the planet or something. Website hasn't been updated, Google turns up nothing...it's maddening.

It's weird, I'll collect every book in a long series the second it becomes available, yet I never seem to finish trilogies...I'll buy the first two, read one, then nothing. I probably have a dozen unfinished trilogies right now.

I don't usually reread to refresh my memory, though I may peek at a Wiki page or two should something be foggy enough, it's rare but it does happen. I do reread for fun, just not very often.

~DH

[mrockwell]

I've gotten burned so many times eagerly reading the first few books in a series only to discover it went beyond three books and the next ones weren't due out for at least a year (two for paperback) that now I refuse to start a series that isn't already complete unless it consists primarily of stand-alone stories (like Dresden).

Honestly, I think if you can't wrap up a story line in the space of three books, you really ought to pare it down. Release several related trilogies if you have to (like Melanie Rawn's sunrunner books), but don't string readers along over 5,6, or 10 volumes with no resolution to the major story arcs unless you write very, very quickly.

-- Marcy

[Inarticulate Babbler]

I love George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire and have the patience for him to finish. Likewise with Robin Hobb's ever-expanding Farseer/Six-Dutchies books. For me it's the journey that makes them special (like LotR). The milieu is very important.

I loved the Dune series (and prequels). I also have bought Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of Seven Suns series as he put them out. As for Orson Scott Card's Ender-verse books, they were also intended as stand alones. Each one could be read separately. The same goes for his Alvin Maker series. However, I like his Bean parallels better.

As far as the Wheel of Time, I loved the first two, and liked the third. by the fourth, I was looking for and end; by the fifth I felt it was stretching on a bit...by the tenth, I was reading to say I had. IMHO - Robert Jordan milked it for all it was worth, but, hey, wouldn't you?

The Sharpe Adventure Series, as it's touted, are each separate adventures during real Napoleanic battles. Cornwell is great with that. All of his series are good in that way--even the Warlord Chronicles, which is his only forray into fantasy, is enacted throughout historically accurate battles. Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander books and C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series are more examples of this.

Stand alone novels set in one world with a cast of set characters, IMHO, is the best method for this. Each books satisfies its fans, each sequel already has a following that knows you are going to deliver and you can play around with the timeline and character arc.

[OremLK]

I really like Hobb's trilogy-based style. She writes them in threes, and she writes them close together, beginning, middle, and end. I wish more authors would follow her lead, but I suppose it's not financially the best strategy for writing fantasy novels. People seem to keep gobbling up these no-end-in-sight series even when they know they're getting into a possibly decades-long ordeal.

I just got done reading The Eye of the World for the first time. I'm actually decently well-read in the fantasy genre, but I'd been consciously avoiding Jordan's work for a long time because I knew how the series purportedly dragged on and fell apart toward the end. I don't think I'll read the sequels, certainly not until Sanderson finishes A Memory of Light, and maybe not even then. But at least I can say I've read the first book.

[Inkdaub]

I really like Hobb's trilogy-based style. She writes them in threes, and she writes them close together, beginning, middle, and end. I wish more authors would follow her lead, but I suppose it's not financially the best strategy for writing fantasy novels. People seem to keep gobbling up these no-end-in-sight series even when they know they're getting into a possibly decades-long ordeal.



Hobb also writes very quickly. Not Stephen King fast but pretty fast anyway. Much of the delay in Hobb's trilogies is publishing and sales based. So it's fairly safe to start a Hobb book knowing you won't have to wait too long for the next book.

Jordan was also delayed by publishing and sales once his WOT blew up like it did. Then his health deteriorated and that slowed him up even more. Still, the WOT will be done soon enough although I bet it will take Sanderson two books instead of just one. I have been reading WOT for close to fifteen years so I'm used to the slow pace by now.

Martin is the king of the slow writers, though. The problem isn't really that he writes slowly as much as it is that he works on many things at once. That coupled with his travel and appearance schedule makes for a long wait between SOIAF books.

Michelle Sagara West also writes pretty slowly and works of several things at once.

Anyway, as the above are my four favorite fantasy writers(Jordan RIP) I guess I just have to wait.

[Selcaby]

I like reading unfinished series, as long as I've got a friend reading it too so we can speculate together. That was part of what made Harry Potter such an awesome experience - the shared anticipation (not to mention the people I knew who didn't read fantasy suddenly discovering they liked it after all).

Also, if you wait until it's all published before you start, how do you know it's going to be worth the wait? I've sometimes started trilogies and not finished them because I just wasn't that into them. I read the first four WoT books in 1996 (at the time there were seven) then gave up because they were taking too much time and I thought the story was just too big for my taste - turned out to be the right decision, and I'll probably never finish it now. I only read the first Kushiel book, and although I liked it, I wasn't hooked enough to continue. I might pick up the rest some day.

You can trace my attraction to Robin Hobb by looking at what kind of copies I've got - paperbacks for the first four because I didn't discover them until the fifth one was out, then hardbacks for the next two (I bought Ship of Destiny on release day), then trade paperbacks of the Fool books because I was keen enough to read them before the smaller paperbacks came out, but not keen enough to buy them in hardback. I haven't read her next trilogy at all.

[Darzian]

I just got done reading The Eye of the World for the first time. I'm actually decently well-read in the fantasy genre, but I'd been consciously avoiding Jordan's work for a long time because I knew how the series purportedly dragged on and fell apart toward the end. I don't think I'll read the sequels, certainly not until Sanderson finishes A Memory of Light, and maybe not even then. But at least I can say I've read the first book.

The first 3 are very good. The others get progressively more boring, though still interesting enough to read.

[Nivarion]

wait! enders game is a series?

oh man i loved the first one, now i have to find the others.

[Shadow_Ferret]

That's weird. Why would you wait until the series is complete? What if it's NEVER complete? I assume taht the reason it's a series is because it's on-going. The author will never complete it until he is dead.

Why would I deprive myself of reading pleasure waiting until the author is dead?

No, I read whatever's available and then sit in eager anticipation for the next installment. I think that's the most fun of reading an on-going series, the wait for the new one. It's like Christmas when it arrives.

[StephenJSweeney]

I'm more than happy to start reading a series that is not complete. I do, however, have a few expectations,

1) If it's a trilogy, it should remain a trilogy. That's what I expect and why I am going to be reading it. I see the story as being tightly woven with little to no deviation.

2) The books should appear at fairly regular intervals. One per year would be good, but I'm prepared to wait two.

For me, it's a lot about the anticipation of the next book. That can make the series all that more exciting. Sometimes, being able to just walk into the store and buy the second and then third does dampen that enthusiasm slightly.

It'd be like a film or TV series that was just on all the time. No cliff hangers, no need to wait.

[Shadow_Ferret]

I guess I'd equate it to how I felt about comic books as a kid. Part of the fun was reading the adventure, but a big part was the anticipation for the next installment.

Also, the James Bond films growing up, the best part was eagerly awaiting the next installment.

The wait is delicious. And I say this as one of the most impatient SOBs on the planet. :)

[dirtsider]

I think I'm one of the few people who doesn't like Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. I tried reading the first one but keep putting it down. I think it's because I only like two of the characters (Jon Snow and the younger Stark daughter) but the rest just annoy me. And he's got such a huge cast that he splits up early on in the first book that I couldn't get into it. And WoT - forget it. I read the first couple of books because my friends liked it. Now granted, the first few were ok (I got further in them than in SoIaF) but the plot turned glacial in its pacing.

But Lynn Flewlling has a series out, the Nightrunner series. She openly admitted it wasn't a series. The fourth one just came out but all the books in that series are good enough to stand alone. She tells a complete story in each book but throws in enough hooks for the next one. And the hooks don't deter from the story she's telling at the moment.

[StephenJSweeney]

And he's got such a huge cast that he splits up early on in the first book that I couldn't get into it.

This is what ultimately stopped me from reading Kevin J Anderson's SAGA OF THE SEVEN SUNS. I wanted to get into a science fiction saga where I could eagerly anticipate the next novel in the series. In fact, I only got through 100 pages or so of HIDDEN EMPIRE before I gave up.

[SWickham]

I'm joining this thread late, but if you don't mind reading in a trilogy where you have to wait for the second and third...read Patrick Rothfuss' "The Name of the Wind".......he was GOH at VCON earlier this month, incredible person, LOVED his first book and I am definitely looking forward to the next one.

[Darzian]

1) If it's a trilogy, it should remain a trilogy. That's what I expect and why I am going to be reading it. I see the story as being tightly woven with little to no deviation.

Can you believe, that the Wheel of Time was supposed to be a trilogy? Now, it's a twelve book series. I am frankly astounded that the series turned out to be FOUR times longer than anticipated.:Shrug:

[StephenJSweeney]

Can you believe, that the Wheel of Time was supposed to be a trilogy? Now, it's a twelve book series. I am frankly astounded that the series turned out to be FOUR times longer than anticipated.:Shrug:

You serious? That's actually put me off it completely now! :)

[Nivarion]

i know one of the really good never ending series.

The Shannara series. Brooks releases the next part in a trilogy. each part is stand alone and resolves it's self. but the next trilogy takes place x numbers of years later where something new has come along and because of this family's legacy they get called on to fix things.

so each trilogy is the next part in the series, and it has an end at every part. but the series continues with each part. i love waiting for the next trilogy. and since he normally has the third finished by the time the first hits shelfs you don't have to worry about him dying off.

i rambled again

[chroniclemaster1]

Phew! I'm so glad some pro-series people finally came out of the woodwork, I was half-way through this thread thinking I was some kind of freak.

Isn't this the point of reading current stuff? Yes, I can dig up all of Isaac Asimov's robot novels, (an excellent idea if you've never done it), I can read Tolkien. These books are still virtually the pinnacle of their genres. I get reading a great series complete. But most books today are never going to be as good as books we still remember from the 20th century, precisely because we've forgotten all the other crap. Only the great ones stand out and are still around. In another hundred years we'll have a much better perspective on what's trash and what's treasure. Still...

I love reading unfinished series precisely BECAUSE they are unfinished. There is an energy that I can engage those books with (Harry Potter is a great example) which I can't to something that's complete. There's the air of mystery and excitement about what's going to happen. I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and no disrespect to anyone, but if you were born after 1980, you can watch the films but it's not the same experience I had. You cannot find any corner on earth where they don't know that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father. It's become part of world culture. You can't approach that text with wonder and excitement in the same way anymore. It's a known quantity. A new or unfinished series gives you the chance to explore and get excited in that same way. It's literature as an action in the present instead of the perfect tense. And that's something that brings it's own thrill to it. Even if I'm not reading the sci-fi equivalent of Beethoven. :)

[Rabe]

i know one of the really good never ending series.

The Shannara series. Brooks releases the next part in a trilogy. each part is stand alone and resolves it's self. but the next trilogy takes place x numbers of years later where something new has come along and because of this family's legacy they get called on to fix things.

Except for the Heritage of Shannara series - which was a quadrology (is that even right? Four books?) Which was the first time he did a connected series...through all of the Shannara and Landover novels they were all standalones until he did the Heritage. And then it seemed he couldn't write a stand alone to save his life anymore.

Not that I really mind of course. Cause his work is that good.

As for me, I will read the first of a series without it being finished because I am more likely not to like the book anyway. I'm not overly fond of planned series by first time published authors.

Normally, I'll check to see if there is a list of published books by the author which generally denotes if *this* book is a series or not and if it's not the first. I started doing this after I realized that a Jennifer Roberson book I was reading was actually the second of the Tiger and Del novels.

Very rarely have I wanted to continue reading a series and have been disappointed in not being able to finish the series because the last book hasn't been published. There is one - of course - which is from Melanie Rawn.

Anybody here know if "The Captal's Tower" is EVER going to get published?
(which, at this point, I think I'd have to reread the first two Exiles of Imbrai novels to recall what was going on anyway).

More likely, I'll read a series and see that the author has lost the entire sense of the story and does a really crappy ending to it. The Dark Tower comes to mind (oh no, not the actual ending - which I read and went "of course that's the way it ends!" but the last three books were crapfests as if King rushed to get them out).

Rabe...

[Elonna]

That's weird. Why would you wait until the series is complete? What if it's NEVER complete? I assume taht the reason it's a series is because it's on-going. The author will never complete it until he is dead.

Why would I deprive myself of reading pleasure waiting until the author is dead?

Well this has happened with WOT, there is one book left and Jordan passed away. It's not all tied up and complete. Of course, someone else is going to write the last book...can't think of his name, but not sure it will be quite the same.

And never ending series...Xanth series by Piers Anthony. Though most of those really are stand alone stories. And maybe he has ended it by now, I haven't read anything past Vale of the Vole

[Darzian]

Well this has happened with WOT, there is one book left and Jordan passed away. It's not all tied up and complete. Of course, someone else is going to write the last book...can't think of his name, but not sure it will be quite the same.

Brandon Sanderson: Author of Elantris and Mistborn.

[OremLK]

He's a good writer, too. Very clever with magic systems, worldbuilding, and plotting.

[Nivarion]

the High Druid of Shannar was a good stand alone.
even if the ending dissapointed me. i got the impression of a drive slaming the breaks while he taco bends the stearing wheel. he didn't end it with any grace.

i have no problem with series, i am planning a series. i even have no problem with series by new authors. (my first seems to not be a series so i think i will be able to get it published)

i did start reading a game of thrones, but i quit. i get very imersed in my reading, the more discripteve the author is, the more real i see everything. the scene with jamie and... oh whats his sister's name in the abandoned keep. (shudders) that was not the image i needed burned into my brain. i managed to press on until the scene with the twelve year old (shudderes again) i decided that it would be better to quit then than to step on any more mental land mines.

[Rabe]

the High Druid of Shannar was a good stand alone.
even if the ending dissapointed me. i got the impression of a drive slaming the breaks while he taco bends the stearing wheel. he didn't end it with any grace.

High Druid of Shannara?

That was the title of the trilogy that included: Jaarkus Rhuus, Tannequil and Straken.

Or did you mean "First King of Shannara"?

I also forgot that the first of the Word/Void series were interconnected but stand alone books. Which does negate my "can't wrote a stand alone to save his life" theory. But he does seem to not want to write the 800 page opuses and would rather split it up into three books. Me, I'd rather write the 800 page story than try to pad a trilogy.

I've got one series planned that's broken into two 'trilogies' but each one is a connected but standalone story. I'm trying to get the fourth book written but it's been difficult to get out. Though there are two other possible books in that world. As well as a few short stories.

Rabe...

[Nivarion]

it was high druid, right at the end of straken. Action is still climbing in the last fifty pages, then i JUST STOPS!! i got the impression of being slammed into a seat belt while a white knuckled driver slammed the breaks.

i mean, one page he pen is kicking demon butt, saving his aunt, and the next they are back at the tanquil with his girlfriend. and in about twenty pages, he tied up almost half a dozen plot strings and covered three days worth of time.

[Liosse de Velishaf]

High Druid of Shannara?

That was the title of the trilogy that included: Jaarkus Rhuus, Tannequil and Straken.

Or did you mean "First King of Shannara"?

I also forgot that the first of the Word/Void series were interconnected but stand alone books. Which does negate my "can't wrote a stand alone to save his life" theory. But he does seem to not want to write the 800 page opuses and would rather split it up into three books. Me, I'd rather write the 800 page story than try to pad a trilogy.

I've got one series planned that's broken into two 'trilogies' but each one is a connected but standalone story. I'm trying to get the fourth book written but it's been difficult to get out. Though there are two other possible books in that world. As well as a few short stories.

Rabe...


There's such a thing as a "duology", people. Not every split has to come in the form of a trilogy. Just a thought.

[ElsaM]

I try never to read a series unless the last one has been published because of the Amtrak Wars, the Wheel of Time and the Obernewtyn Chronicles. The Amtrak Wars will most likely never be finished, the Wheel of Time will be finished by a different author, and I started reading the Obernewtyn Chronicles 17 years ago and she still hasn't finished the darn thing. I have nothing against series, I just like knowing that I will get to find out how the story ends.