Let’s Talk is a new discussion based linkup. Here’s today’s topic:
What are your thoughts on series? How many books in a series is too many? What authors do you think handle longer series well, as opposed to ones who seem to stretch it out less successfully?
Okay, generally speaking, I’m good with series and I really enjoy them. Some of my all time favorite books are from series. Immediately coming to mind is the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty and the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I grew up on those books, and I appreciate that there was more than one book in each so that I could continue to grow with them. In fact, the Alice series is still going after 20 something books! It’s almost come to an end, but for now, I’m happy that it’s still going since I’ve been reading them since I was about ten years old. I will miss those characters terribly when it finally comes to an end. I cried my eyes out when I finished the last Jessica Darling book. So. I love series for that fact that I can continue to get to know characters and story lines that I’ve come to love. It makes me feel like a part of those worlds.
On the other hand, I feel series-reader-guilt sometimes when I fall behind on my series. Now, don’t maim me, but I STILL haven’t finished Harry Potter (read the first four) or the Hunger Games trilogy (read the first one). I WANT to finish those series because I really enjoy them, but I just haven’t yet. I always have other books coming up first. Also, the other bad thing about series is of course finishing a book, having to wait forever for the next one to come out, then forgetting a lot of the story or how it ended when the next one finally does come out. I felt like this about All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin. LOVED that book, waited several months for the next to come out, and now that it’s out, haven’t read it yet because I kind of forgot some of the first one. Had the sequel already been out, I would have read it immediately. I WILL read it though, don’t you worry! Also, loved Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel, which I read over TWO YEARS ago and the sequel still isn’t out… not until 2013. Three years is way too long to have to wait, but I will. For these reasons, I also love and read a lot of stand-alone novels.
Also, I am really anal retentive about series. If I see a book and it looks good, then I discover it’s a part of a series, I HAVE to read from the beginning, even if they can be read alone.
I don’t really have any thoughts about how long series should be. Of course, there are plenty of series that I wish had never ended, like Jessica Darling, and series that I wish WON’T end, like Alice. I know all good things must come to an end at some point though, but I wouldn’t mind there being an infinite number of books in my favorite series, as long as there are still stories to be told!
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