The Sword and Laser discussion

I just received the ARCs for the Anniversary Day Saga in the Retrieval Artist Series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. They are 8 books in the saga and I was thinking about what has kept me reading this excellent SF Thriller series.

For me, it has been the main characters of Miles Flint and Noelle De Ricci. Their contrasting personalities and character development into who they have become in each book has kept me reading the Retrieval Artist Series.

What is it for other readers? The characters? The setting or world-building? The theme? Or the plot or storyline?

Just wondering what keeps readers hooked in an ongoing series?

Marion

It's always the characters for me. Most of the time, once the characters hook me I really don't care what they're doing or where they go. I'm interested in a long story arc sure, but it won't matter in the end as long as my favorites are still alive.

Mystery series is the most obvious example for me, there's no doubt going to be a death, clues and mis-directions, and an ending to each book that solves the crime. I like clever crimes and criminals, but for me it's all about the detective/s.

Characters 70%, plot 30%. I have to be invested in the characters to care about what happens to them.

The first book in a series had better be incredible or else I'm never going to read the second. Too much good stuff out there to suffer through a bad first book.

I can forgive the first one or two books for being "meh" especially if the character isn't very sympathetic. I keep with it because I expect there to be some growth and I enjoy reading a character's transformation into what makes the next books shine.

Of course, there's exceptions to my general rule.

I really like the Retrieval Artist series much for the same reasons Marion stated! I love the two main characters, the setting and the tech, and the thinking I have to do when confronted with alien laws that conflict with human laws. I listen to them in audiobook and I think Jay Snyder is fantastic for the series.

For me, the plot is the most important. I can forgive weak characters, or characters that I simply do not identify with if what is happening with them is interesting. Of course, it's difficult to completely separate the elements of a book, since the characters are after all part of the story, and the story is shaped by its setting etc. If one of these elements is particularly strong I think a series is worth reading even if the others are not.

Characters! What keeps me coming back is that I want to find out what happens to them next, how their relationships have progressed, what has transpired in their lives.

Good writing.

I like the character of Harry Dresden, for instance, and I like the world Butcher has created, but man those first two books were slogs.

Heck, even workmanlike writing.

Taylor Anderson is never going to win an award for his prose, but I keep coming back to the Destroyermen series because the writing doesn't get in the way of the story, unlike Butcher, where I feel like I'm hacking away through the underbrush to find the trail.

The world is probably most important for me. If the world is rich in history and well built, I can forgive the series if it gets slow in parts or if the characters are a bit boring.

Leesa wrote: "I can forgive the first one or two books for being "meh" especially if the character isn't very sympathetic. I keep with it because I expect there to be some growth and I enjoy reading a character'..."

Leesa,

I believe we are reading kindred spirits. Your post sums up exactly how I feel about this question. For example, I think The Disappeared the 1st in the Retrieval Artist Series is more of a set-up book for the rest of the series. It is not my favorite book in the series. Paloma is my favorite so far.

Good to read someone else who enjoys this series as well. I wish Veronica and Tom would choose one of these books as a book club pick. :)

Marion

Characters first, followed closely by world building.

But good writing has become increasingly important too. With so much out there to read I have less tolerence for bad writing and have refined my tastes in that regard a bit.

An interesting setting and good stories can keep me in a series (or a book) after I lose interest in the characters. Good characters in lousy settings or boring plots have a harder time keeping me in the book.

The larger the series, the more important the setting becomes. Writers can use setting as the common element bringing together a variety of stories, characters, and themes.

I agree with the Pixar philosophy "Story is King"

Great characters and setting are essential but will not save a poor story.

Tassie Dave wrote: "I agree with the Pixar philosophy "Story is King"

Great characters and setting are essential but will not save a poor story."

Interestingly enough, I have seen most Pixar movies, but would need to put in some effort to recount the plots of most of them in any detail, while I have no trouble naming all the great characters they have.

Characters are really what does it for me. I can read books for just the world building or just the story and really enjoy them, but all my favourites are primarely my favourites because of the characters.

I need a good balance of both characters and plot. I feel if the book is lacking in either then I won't continue reading.

Aaron wrote: "An interesting setting and good stories can keep me in a series (or a book) after I lose interest in the characters. Good characters in lousy settings or boring plots have a harder time keeping me..."

That's it I'm getting a profile pic this is gonna drive me nuts otherwise. I'm looking at this going I don't remember posting that.

Aaron wrote: "That's it I'm getting a profile pic this is gonna drive me nuts otherwise. I'm looking at this going I don't remember posting that. "

That's why I made my username unique. There are thousands of Daves and Davids on Goodreads.
Not as many from Tasmania ;-)

Any and all of the above really. It depends on the series. I do find it more difficult to commit to a long running series these days though unless the first book blows me away.

Geoff wrote: "The world is probably most important for me. If the world is rich in history and well built, I can forgive the series if it gets slow in parts or if the characters are a bit boring."

Me too. Ian Irvine keeps writing about the same world, and I'm hooked. The events might be hundreds of years apart, and the individual books follow completely different characters in different story arcs, but I like to find out what's new, what's happened in the world since I was there last, or what went on waaaay before I visited.