World, Writing, Wealth discussion

What's your favorite sequence-independent series and why? The characters, the story universe, the writing quality? Sequence-independent series are books in the same world and many times the same characters but each book is more-or-less standalone.

As an example, Nancy Drew: #1-64 quickly comes to mind. I believe that Storm Front would also qualify as a serial.

Do you like sequence-independent series more than sequence-dependent series (like, for example, a trilogy or the Harry Potter series)?

Alex, what is your difference between a series and a serial? When you say "more-or-less standalone" what does that mean?

I think that I got it wrong, but many people use series and serial interchangably. Reading up on "serial" and "serialized" in wikipedia and on the Hugos website led me to change it.

I did some research. For a series, maybe using the Hugo Awards definition of the Best Series is the most acceptable. In this case, a series could be a set of books (1) that are connected such that they have to be read in a specific order or it could be a set of books, (2) any of which could be read stand-alone without requiring another book to have been previously read.

So, maybe we could call (1) a sequence-dependent series and (2) a sequence-independent series.

Best Series
A multi-volume science fiction or fantasy story, unified by elements such as plot, characters, setting, and presentation, appearing in at least three (3) volumes consisting in total of at least 240,000 words by the close of the previous calendar year, at least one volume of which was published in the previous calendar year. (see https://www.tor.com/2016/09/30/worldc...)

Here are some examples from the 2017 ballot:

The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
The Craft Sequence, by Max Gladstone (Tor Books)
The Expanse, by James S.A. Corey (Orbit US / Orbit UK)
The October Daye Books, by Seanan McGuire (DAW / Corsair)
The Peter Grant / Rivers of London series, by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz / Del Rey / DAW / Subterranean)
The Temeraire series, by Naomi Novik (Del Rey / Harper Voyager UK)

Interesting selection. Something to keep in mind for future reading.

Great!

I also corrected and clarified the OP.

Alex wrote: "What's your favorite sequence-independent series and why? The characters, the story universe, the writing quality? Sequence-independent series are books in the same world and many times the same ch..."

My all time favorite if i determine it based on how often I have reread the books - Anne McCaffrey's Pern books, which has some standalones, a trilogy, and a slew of sequentials. As a teen in the 70s when I first read it I feel in love with the characters. Lessa is a strong female role. I reread it because it is like a visit home, safe, comforting, know everyone and her world feels real.

Lizzie wrote: "Alex wrote: "My all time favorite if i determine it based on how often I have reread the books - Anne McCaffrey's Pern books, which has some standalones, a trilogy, and a slew of sequentials. As a teen in the 70s when I first read it I feel in love with the characters. Lessa is a strong female role. I reread it because it is like a visit home, safe, comforting, know everyone and her world feels real. "

I read just before I get ready for bed. If I've read a Pern book, I sleep better. Her writing is "comfortable".

Definitely any Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett.

Al Philipson's Holy Christian Empire series (which isn't blatantly Christian). I hope he'll write the book that tells us how it got its name.

So far, he's published:
Last Train from Earth, which kicks it off and...

, God's Assassin