Do you follow an author or just the series?

phantom000

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A long time ago i was reading Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. I was asked if i was a Stephen King and i said i was not. A fan of Stephen King would finish The Dark Tower then go on to read his other books, Carrie, The Stand, Salem's Lot, From a Buick 8 etc. I never did, after i finished The Dark Tower i moved on to Arthur C. Clarke's Odyssey Series and when i finished that i went on a reading hiatus for a few years.

So you see what i mean? there is a difference between being a fan of the author and being a fan of a particular book/series.

The first time i actually read an 'author' was with Isaac Asimov mostly because a lot of his work is actually tied together so in a way its like one very long series.

What about you?
 

Marlys

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Depends. If I like a book or series, I'll almost always try another by the same author. But I won't stick with it out of sheer loyalty if it doesn't grab me. One of my favorite mystery/romantic suspense authors ever did a long-running series that I had to give up on because I just didn't care for it.
 

Brightdreamer

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I'm more likely to try something new by an author I've enjoyed in the past (and less likely to try something new from one I haven't enjoyed), though I don't know that there are any authors I feel fanatically devoted to/can do no wrong. Some haven't disappointed me yet, others have.

As for series, if I get invested in the world and characters, I sometimes read longer than I probably should. (Sort of like how I would sometimes watch a TV show past its shark jump, riding the memories of its glory days and hoping against hope they might return. Once in a blue moon, it would happen... usually not.)
 

Cobalt Jade

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As for series, if I get invested in the world and characters, I sometimes read longer than I probably should. (Sort of like how I would sometimes watch a TV show past its shark jump, riding the memories of its glory days and hoping against hope they might return. Once in a blue moon, it would happen... usually not.)

That is well put.

I have a tendency to not finish series, for a variety of reasons.

1. The series becomes just too big and clunky (Wheel of Time, Dune)

2. I can't get past the awful writing and plot twists (Wither, Ringworld)

In the latter case, I rely on Wikipedia and Goodreads to tell me how everything ends up.
 

HaHs

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I've found it depends on how I feel about what the writer offers. By that I mean their general writing style but also their capacity to craft the plot, the characters, to build and break and do all of those other lovely things. I used to read a lot of traditional YA and found as I grew older that I'd read sequential books in a series because I'd become attached to certain characters and wanted to see where their stories went, but it wasn't the writing style or the craft of the story that particularly interested me, so I wouldn't check out many follow-up books by some of these authors unless the premise was particularly interesting. Then there are other writers - the obvious example being JK Rowling - where I'm as much in love with their writing as what it is they've written, where the quality is so strong that I'm inclined to see what else they come up with, simply because they've earned my trust, so to speak. I never had any interest in crime thrillers and yet it was inevitable that I picked up the first book in the Cormoran Strike series because I trusted JK Rowling as a writer - and low and behold, I just finished the third book and love the series. But there aren't a huge amount of authors who I'll automatically follow, just a special few! I think looking at it as the writers having earned my trust is the best way to describe it. Hope this jibberish has made some sense to you!
 

HarvesterOfSorrow

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It's strange. I'm one to follow authors throughout all their releases. I'm a huge Stephen King fan. Love him to bits. How many Dark Towers have I read? One. The Gunslinger. I have every intention of reading the whole series; I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Especially when the man has written almost sixty novels at this point.

Another example is Dennis Lehane. I'm really getting into him now. How many McKenzie/Genarro novels? One, as well. A Drink Before the War. But I've read Mystic River, Shutter Island, Corronado: Stories, and I just started his new one, Since We Fell (which is amazing so far. Read it!). And I think there are five or six Mackenzie/Genarro novels. I have Gone, Baby, Gone, but I wanna read 'em in order. Next up is Darkness, Take My Hand.


 

Chasing the Horizon

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Certainly if I love a book or series, I'll check out additional books by the same author. That's no guarantee I'll like/read the other books, though, and there are lots of authors I'm generally fans of who have some books/series I don't like. Ironically, I'm a big Stephen King fan in general but DIDN'T like his Dark Tower series. I adore Joe Abercrombie's style but couldn't get into that YA-ish series he was writing. Of course I continue to keep an eye on my favorite authors even when I dislike what they're working on, as their next project may be something I love.
 

Emermouse

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I was initially introduced to Libba Bray via A Great and Terrible Beauty. I then proceeded to devour the sequels to that book, devour her stand-alones, and am loving the heck out of her Diviners' series.

As for Stephen King, I generally like him, but I don't enjoy all his works. It's kind of obvious he was coked up out of his gourd when he wrote Tommyknockers and he, himself, said something along the lines of, "Tommyknockers has the makings of a good 350 page novel, but unfortunately, it's a 700 page one." I remain something of an outlier regarding a the Dark Tower series; could never get into it. In fact, I can't really get into any of his series, not the Dark Tower series or the Bill Hodges trilogy, and I felt The Shining was much stronger when it didn't have a sequel. I'm not quite sure why I feel this way, but I suppose there's no accounting for taste.

But I will always have a soft spot in my heart for King because On Writing helped demystify the craft of writing, get me to thinking, "Y'know, maybe I can do this." Every writer has a similar experience with a book, whether fiction or nonfiction. I understand the complaints people have of On Writing, but the advice works for me, so I follow it.
 

airandarkness

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Usually, if I like a book I've read, I will try something else by that author. But unless I really REALLY loved the book, I won't necessarily read something that doesn't sound interesting to me. For instance, the first book I read by Maggie Stiefvater was The Scorpio Races, and I fell in love with it so much that I knew I would read anything by her (and to date, have loved pretty much everything she'd written except for one book, which I felt was just okay).

On the other hand, to also use Libba Bray as an example :D - I'm reading her Diviners series, and am interested in her Gemma Doyle series. But she's also written a lot of books I have no desire to read. I think this happens a lot with YA authors, because they sometimes will swing between genres, and some genres I'm just not interested in reading, even if I've liked something else the author wrote.

And then sometimes, it's just the book. I read Graceling by Kristin Cashore and liked it a lot. I read her book Fire and absolutely loved it, and have reread it many times. Her third book, Bitterblue, I couldn't even get into. So in that case, as you said, I really consider myself of a fan of the one book, and not so much the author as a whole.
 
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s_nov

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I'm definitely an author follower. I feel like when you really read a lot of an author's work, it feels comofrtable to slip into their head again. It's strange sometimes, too, because you'll pick up on little things they do consistently - like Maggie Stiefvater uses "this" more than other authors I read, and Jenny Han usually has someone with food on their faces, to name a few. Stephen King does a lot of structural/voice stuff that I adore, and it is more prevalent in his earlier work, but comes around again later.

@airandarkness I TOTALLY agree about Bitterblue. Fire is one of my top five favorite books of all time, and I liked Graceling, but it took me a crazy long time to read Bitterblue. I saw she's releasing a new book soon, so it'll be interesting to see how that turns out.
 

RaiscaraAvalon

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I tend to follow authors rather than a particular series. Like I'll read anything they put out immediately (assuming necessary funds are there) without question. Lynsay Sands could suddenly write a horror book and I'd be all over it! Amazon makes me happy in that sense, where everything is up on an Author's Page (assuming they have one) so I can one click my way to happiness.
 

Chris P

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I read mostly mainstream contemporary, where series are less common. If I read and enjoy two books, I'm quite likely to binge and read everything that person writes, no matter how shark jumpy it gets. I've vowed several times to have read the last book I'm going to read from certain authors only to give it one more try. . . I imagine I would with series too.
 

Cindyt

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If I like the series, I follow the author. That's how I stumbled upon MacDonald. If I don't like a book I never read another by him/her.
 

StoryofWoe

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I think I'm more conscious of authors because I'm a writer. I'll usually check out an author when I'm looking into later books in a series, and certainly before starting another standalone. I like knowing a little bit about them as people, especially if their work has elicited a strong emotional response. There are definitely authors I've followed across multiple genres, even genres I don't usually read. I have a lot of fun picking out my favorite authors' quirks and beloved tropes. For example, one author I follow has a thing for "feral children," so they show up a lot in her work, whether she's writing horror, mainstream contemporary, or romance.
 

RWrites

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The book has to be good. If I hate it after reading, why should the next book get my attention? The only authors I have followed are J.K Rowling and Cornelia Funke, both child authors and both great. I probably will pick up a book from the same author, because it is right next to the one I am already looking at. If I don't find those books to be good, I'll bring them back, sell them, you know the drill. I don't think following the author and buying all their works is necessary, unless they are amazing!
 

Sweet Escape

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For me the choice is totally random. Sometimes I do pick another book from an author I have read one book (series) of, sometimes it is just one book series that I have bought from the author. Or just one book from one author, not having much interest to look for other books they have written. It is not something I think about consciously, when I am in a curious mood to check out more books by an author I look it up what else they have written and if it seems interesting to me.
 

autumnleaf

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Mostly, it's the author. If I enjoy Book 1 of a series, I will read Book 2 next, and so on. But if the book is standalone (or end of a series), I'll just look for another book by the same author.

I have become wary of starting a very long series (anything more than 5 books). Very few authors can keep up the pace and quality over a long series, and there's always the danger that they'll never finish. I like knowing there'll be some conclusion eventually!