Series you've stopped reading

I gave up on any Piers Anthony after I realized that only the first or second book of any of his series were readable. Then I found out about Thatham Mound and Firefly. Oh, hell, no.

Orson Scott Card got redundantly repetitive and then wanted me imprisoned so I stopped reading him.

I, as a young teen, got only part way through Book three of the Thomas Covenant books and gave up in disgust at Thomas's whinging.

I read 1.5 books of SoIaF and Wheel of Time. Neither of them held my interest. Though I know a teen who devoured the entire WoT series over a summer and wished for more.

Mercedes Lackey is losing my interest. Even with her Elementals series.

Anne McCaffrey got repetitive soon after Dragondrums and boring not long after that. (Though I disagree with those who say Pern was becoming higher tech than the founders intended. 1) I think they were regaining tech the founders did intend and 2) I don't know that founders intent should guide descendent's decisions to that extent. If anything, AVIS was too paternalistic in that regard for my tastes.)

I've been amazed at how well Lois McMaster Bujold has been able to hold my interest. I didn't much like her last novel, but she' turning out novellas that I'm gladly paying $3.99 for and they're worth it.

Wheel of time
Ender's game
Way of kings
Name of the wind
Game of thrones
Hyperion
Pern dragonriders
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn
Thomas Covenant (didn't read new series)
Amber spyglass
Kushiels Dart
Wizard's first rule


Actually, just... Every epic fantasy series I've ever started, thinking about it. Except LOTR and Assassins Apprentice. Plus a few non epic FA. This is probably why I spent years and years thinking I didn't like fantasy anymore.

autumnleaf said:

The first 6 or 7 Stephanie Plum books were entertaining, but they started to repeat themselves and I finally gave up at book 12 (was loaned them by a friend -- would probably have given up earlier if I'd been buying them myself).

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Exact same with me. Friend lent me the books, and I quit around 13 or 14 when it finally hit me that years upon years were passing (we could see a background kid be conceived, born, age) and the titular character HADN'T CHANGED A BIT (Stephanie STILL waffling on the SAME TWO GUYS, STILL self-loathing despite the same two guys fighting over her, STILL refusing to use a gun despite the job, STILL has her pet hamster...). I kept up as long as I did because I loved the side characters. But I just could not follow the MC anymore.

I gave up on the Eragon series after book three. Just too much time between releases, and my passion for it cooled. I still say Brazuln knurlnien every once in a while though!

Ender's Game (After Book 2)
Game of Thrones (After Book 4)
Harry Potter (After Book 3)
The Chronicles of Narnia (After Book 2)

I may return to some of these, though. Gotta READ READ READ! :O

ULTRAGOTHA said:

I gave up on any Piers Anthony after I realized that only the first or second book of any of his series were readable.

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There's the name the came to mind immediately for me. The first four Xanth were wonderful, then I got through the next six or so with hope, ever hoping (I was in high school and thought I owed it to the series to continue reading) but finally the series became too cute for my taste, and the Xanth world was no longer dangerous. No edge.

I gave up on Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments and Dark Artifices series right before the last book in both -- I couldn't stomach her writing anymore. I also gave up on Game of Thrones after the second book, just because I got burned out. (High fantasy isn't really my thing, anyway.) I still haven't read the fourth book in the Lunar Chronicles series, though I definitely intend to, so I'm not sure if that's giving up. I barely remember them, but I gave up on Marie Rutkoski's Winner's trilogy as well, though I have faint memories of liking the first two books? There's also a ton of trilogies or series I've only read the first book of -- Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Walk on Earth a Stranger, Throne of Glass, An Ember in the Ashes, Percy Jackson, Six of Crows...

I guess the summation of all of this is that I really don't have a problem dropping a series if I don't feel like reading it anymore, no matter how much time or money I've invested in the previous books.

Reading through this thread I'm starting to think I give up on every series I start. The only ones I can think of finishing for sure are Harry Potter and Hunger Games.

A sampling of what I've given up on:

LOTR (after Two Towers)
King's DARK TOWER (after Gunslinger)
ASOIF (100-ish pages into Book 2)
Stephanie Plum
Sookie Stackhouse
OUTLANDER (although I made it through book 5 and the first Lord John Grey book)
Oh, and Nancy Drew and even Little House on the Prairie. I started abandoning series early, I guess.

Hunger Games. Read the first one and enjoyed it, but couldn't stay the course with the rest. Probably has something to do with the movies, but then I never watched the last movie to the end on Netflix, either.

ElaineA said:

Oh, and Nancy Drew and even Little House on the Prairie. I started abandoning series early, I guess.

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Uh-oh -- definitely didn't finish these series, either. We're in the early abandonment club together!

James Patterson's Alex Cross series, because they became repetitive and boring.

Oh, yeah, I barely got through the first Dark Tower book.

I just do not understand the appeal. Hm.

audibob1 said:

A Series of Unfortunate Events--I think I stopped either in the middle or at the end of book 3. The first one was good, the second one was good, and the third one was good, too, but they were too repetitive for me.

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I know you posted that some time ago, but you might revisit the series. Book 4 takes a dark turn, and the story keeps getting darker and more morally ambiguous after that.

kevinwaynewilliams said:

Piers Anthony's "Xanth" series wore out for me in the late eighties....

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Exactly what I came in to mention. I gave up on it after book 4, but I've read one or two of the others.

I suppose that I also gave up on Harry Potter. I haven't read anything after Hallows, but maybe those books are considered supplementary material.

Two that I've been forced to stop reading are the Talisman series by Stephen King and Peter Straub and the Moonlight Bay series by Dean Koontz. As far as I know, neither series is in the process of being continued.

Frank Herbert's Dune. I couldn't finish book three, I just stopped caring about the characters completely, it start to feel a little recycled to me. I couldn't even finish the first book in either Steven Erickson's A Tale of The Malazan Book of the Fallen or Markus Heitz's The Dwarves series. Which is saying something because I've fought through and finished pretty much every book I've started.

fyrefyghter33 said:

Frank Herbert's Dune. I couldn't finish book three, I just stopped caring about the characters completely, it start to feel a little recycled to me.

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I quit at book four, God Emperor Of Dune, because it read like he wanted to keep it going to keep it going. After he'd passed away and his son continued the series in its various branches and variations, I knew I couldn't/didn't want to catch up.

I also was stunned how many series I stopped reading, looking through this thread. Some, like Dune, I never started.

Did finish HP but skimmed the whole thing. I read the whole thing because my kids were reading it, the timing was right. They still want me to read it in depth but I've no desire to do so.

A series I didn't see mentioned here is one I picked up on a whim - Mark Frost's Paladin trilogy. First book was intriguing, second book was icky and so I didn't buy the third.

Wheel of Time, Amber Spyglass, Series of Unfortunate Events (gave up on the last book! For shame) Gentleman Bastards,.. not even gonna count series' where I didn't get through the first book XD

Quite a few of the books named here, seconding Harl on not thinking I liked fantasy for years and years (though Memory, Sorrow, Thorn and ASOIAF I liked).

Mockingjay I quit with 30 pages left, never looked back. Vampire Chronicles, I gave up on Armand. And WoT, gave up after fifty pages.

I couldn't get through Ancillary Justice. I really liked the idea and the POV of the main character and use of pronouns were awesome. Otherwise, a little dull (IMHO) and the whole Evil Space Empire things felt a little cliche to me. Gave up on the Inheritance Trilogy on Broken Kingdoms, no strong feeling against it but it felt a little plotless. Might try it again. Oh, yeah, and I will NOT be returning to Bas-Lag any time soon, I think China Mieville is awesome but you cannot pay me money to try picking up those books again.

ETA- And, to really court controversy on this one, I've tried both the Mistborn and Stormlight Archives series and decided Sanderson was not for me. Similarily gave up on the Powdermage series, the setting was great but I couldn't get into it. Oh, yeah, and Malazan, apparently I'm missing something but I couldn't see it.

Harry Potter. I actually bought the whole set. Dug in. Dug out. Boring. I have friends who are nuts about that series, and I just don't understand why.