General book question

[sanctuary6284]

I'm not exactly sure if this is the right place for this question but.....

Are there any series of books that don't share a main central character?

For example are there different main characters in each book while the world or the background is what remains?

Are these books ever interesting or do they manage to hook a reader?

[writermom]

Chronicles of Narnia… the main characters changed throughout the books while Narnia remained the same.

[sanctuary6284]

Thank you. You're right I had forgotten about that one. If anyone else knows any more please post them here. I would really appreciate it.

[Sage]

Gee, I hope so, since both my WIP are in the same world w/ different MCs.

I think you get that a lot in fantasy. Besides Narnia, there's also the Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Dianne Wynn Jones (the same character's in them, but I think is only the main character in one of them, & a supporting character in the others) that I think of off the top of my head ('cuz I'm rereading them ;-) ). I believe, altho I have only read one, that the Xanth novels are like that... after a while they change cast because the main characters age & have children (someone can correct me if I'm wrong). When I was looking to research fantasy that was not targetted as much for children, I saw many series that had different characters on the covers, or where the backs would mention a main character for one & a different main character for another.

Outside of fantasy, you might find it more rarely, but I can remember reading things in the past, probably mysteries, where there'd be the same town, but different people being focused on. Oh, for YA, there was Fear Street at the very least.

Anyway, yes, there is precedent for it.

[Jamesaritchie]

I can't for the life of me remember the series, but I know there's at least one where a minor character form one book becomes the main character in the next book, and a monor character in that book then becomes a main character in the next.

[SeanDSchaffer]

I believe the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey is like that. Also, the Halfblood Chronicles by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey tend to have different main characters throughout that particular series.

Another one I can think of off the bat is Piers Anthony's Xanth books. Each one has different main characters throughout the series.

[Richard]

Discworld has a whole set of characters for different story types, as does Iain M. Banks' Culture series.

[Linda Adams]

Also Tamora Pierce's young adult books. She has about three or four series running that are based on the same world, do bring in characters from the different books, but each series has different characters. One of her series (the only one in a different world from the above), Circle of Four, starts out with four children who become mages and then the four books that follow is dedicated to one of the characters.

[thewritingbug]

James,

If you come up with the name of the series, please send me a message. That sounds very interesting! :)

[MillyBecker]

I can't for the life of me remember the series, but I know there's at least one where a minor character form one book becomes the main character in the next book, and a monor character in that book then becomes a main character in the next.

I've written two books of a five-part series like that.

[sanctuary6284]

Thank you I only ask because I am working on a 5 (maybe 6) book series. Each one has different main characters and the stories are separated by gaps in time. Of course with this formula they are also each stand alone.

I just hoped that people would still read books like this.

[reph]

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

[Hummingbird]

The Animorph series is kindof like that. The different books take turns being from one person's view to the next. As in one book could be about the girl Cassie, the book after would be about Jake. I haven't read them in a while, so the names could be wrong, but it was fun reading the books from the different person's point of view.

[Stacey Sweeney]

A lot of Romance novels do that. The characters are all related, or something along those lines, but each book talks about a different character.

All of my favorite romance novels fit that description. I don't like to let go of a character when the book is over, and love getting glimpses of their lives in another story. Maybe the character from the first book is only mentioned briefly, but it still makes me feel like the character is still 'alive'.

[My-Immortal]

In Fantasy - Terry Brooks' Shannara series - different main characters in many of the books but there is a generational relationship between them. MC in the first is grandfather of the MC in second and MC in second is father to MCs in third. (if I remember this correctly)

Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth series - in one of his books (can't remember the title offhand), the MCs from the earlier 5-6 books made an appearance at the end for the last few pages otherwise it was entirely new MCs that ended up being connected to the MC.

The Hobbit / LOTR

Good luck with your writing...

[Avalon]

Jennifer Roberson's Cheysuli books. Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover. Both of those series cover long spans of time and have many different protagonists.

[Monet]

I've read quite a few books like this. I am working on a series (a family saga) now, where each book is of another member of the family, but the location is the same.

There is a lot of this type of writing in the Romance genre.

[Mike Coombes]

A plethora.

Asimov's foundation series. Tolkein - the Hobbit, LotR and Silmarillion have disparate MC's. Ian M Banks's SF - the majority is set within the same universe but at different points in the timeline, with different MC's. There was also a series of books I read as a teenager about different members of the same family throughout history, but don't remember why by right now.

There are others that don't spring to mind at the moment.

[pdr]

Roland Welch wrote a series of books about the Aubigny family starting with the Crusades and ending with the First World War. I think that might be the series Mike is referring to.