SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I've just gotten a hold of a large number of #1 books in various series. Having been a little slow on the uptake and recently trying to get back into reading I've gotten into series that are pretty far along.

If you had the chance (because I am sure you are all better at keeping up with series that I) would you read through a series without interrupting it or skip around from series to series?

For example, I have recently gotten into A Song of Ice and Fire. Late I know but now that I have finished the first two (and #5 has a release date), I have the ability to read through the series pretty much back-to-back. However, I've also got the first book of Malazan, Liveship Traders, Demon Cycle, Chronicles of the Raven and Alex Benedict waiting for me . Along with The Wise Man's Fear. Yeah I know...

So what would you do? Thanks!

Personally, I tend to focus in on one series at a time until I've read everything in that series. If it's a long one, then I'll take an occasional break to read a different book/series just to keep from getting mindwarped into one style. The longer the series, the more breaks needed.

And if it's a continuing series, then you have to take your reading duration and your memory into account. Can you re-read a book quickly before the next one in the series comes out, or will you remember enough to just keep going?

From what you've listed, I'd say if you're a quick reader then take a break from ASoIaF and read something else. Maybe the liveship trilogy. Then come back to ASoIaF with enough time to read the next two before the fifth comes out.

Depends. If I'm coming to the series after it's finished or there are a few books published, and the story really grabs me, I'll read straight through.

Not always though, I've come to really like Peter Hamilton's stuff, but after finishing The Reality Dysfunction, all 1100+ pages of it, I needed a break. Reading that book took me three months and it was the only book I read during that time.

I'm a slave to my book clubs, which dictate most of my monthly reading. :)

If the series is complete and the individual novels less than 500 pages each, I'd probably read it straight through. However, most of the series I read are comprised of tomes and volumes which can take a week or more to read for each installment. So for epic fantasy, I need a break occasionally.

I instinctively want to read straight through, if a series grabs me, but sometimes I make myself read more slowly to savour it. I've read 2 of 3 of the Brent Weeks 'Night Angel' series and have put myself on a forced break rather than diving straight into the third one, because otherwise I'm reading them way too fast! :)

I'm torn... I've been waiting so long for The Wise Man's Fear to come out, I should get to it right away. But, I also only have one Miles Vorkosigan book left, (I've read 5 in a row), and would really like to get to it. Argh!

I know what you mean, Laurel! I want to start my reread of NoTW so I can read WMF right away after it, but I've decided to tie up a couple other obligations first, so I can be free and clear to start. But I figure I've waited this long, a week or two more won't kill me :)

I couldn't wait. A week or two probably would've killed me :P

I still don't have my damn WMF copy anyway. *shakes fist as slow shipping and checks status again*

When I was younger, single, with more reading time I would go straight through a series before starting another. Now, with less time for reading I skip around, often dropping a series mercilessly if it gets less interesting. Maybe I'll go back to full series reading if I get more time to read, but for now my hours are too scarce to continue through the low spots of a weak set of books. I kicked ASoIaF to the curb until I retire, for instance.

It depends on how closely tied the books in the series are and my general excitement level. I read the first five Amber books back to back but some series have taken me years to finish.

Nowadays I tend to skip around. I did pretty well read the Anita Blake books right through and some other series, as well, John Carter of Mars, but I do like the variety now.

I read multiple books at the same time, but with a series, I won't even start it until I have all the books. I hate it when I really get into a series and then have to wait a year for the next book! So now I won't.
That's what makes a good part of my library, unread series still unfinished.

That may sound weird, I don't know. It's just how I go with it now. There are plenty of one shots and finished series out to keep me busy until the others are finished.

The only time I will take a break from a series is if the writing is especially dense. A lot of technical stuff and just 'heavy' literature. If you know what I mean. Then I'll read something totally different, fast and easy to cleanse my mental palate! -grin-

If a series has been published in full when I start reading them, then I tend to read straight through - at least if I liked it.

Also, if I'm doing a reread of a series, I'll usually do that straight through.

But I also read a lot of current series that I read as they come out, and I don't go back and reread all the previous ones - unless it's a series I absolutely love, and there aren't many of those.

Back in the early 90's I read all ten Amber books in a row, with no other book in between. And I love Zelazny, but by the time I was on the last couple of books, I was really not getting much enjoyment. It felt like work.

I did it again for the six Corum books (and again, Moorcock is one of my favorite authors) but it once again felt like a chore by the time I got to the end, and I was extremely eager for the series to end.

Since then, I have never read a single series straight through, and always ensure that I get lots of variety.

(I did, however, read all three Lyonesse books last year in a quick period from Jan to Feb, but I did take a book or two break in between. And accordingly, the series never became a burden and it was sheer joy to keep a regular pace of Vance's masterwork without restricting myself to his unique voice alone.)

It all depends on how much I love the series from reading the first book. All the ones that I love I read them through expect Wheel of Times, I skipped around until I really appreciated the series, just read the first three and Winter's Heart.

I skip around the books I read. I have a pretty good memory so don't need to reread the previous books in a series. If I feel I need a quick refresher I just look it up on Wikipedia :P

I mostly buy used books. I have several trilogies where I have two books out of three--and am waiting for the third book so I can start the trilogy.

For longer series--I usually wait until three or four are published. I do not like to read more than four books in a row by one authors. (Like any statement, there are, of course, occasional exceptions.)

Fortunately, since joining GR my TBr pile has a lot of stand alone books that I am searching for!

"I make the occasional exception for fairly episodic series, like Dresden, or for things that are subdivided into smaller series, like all the Riftwar trilogies/duologies/etc., but generally I just have to read things straight through. It bothers me otherwise. "

Nicki, at the moment Dresden is my in-between-books-of-a-series book since they are quick reads and require little memory of the previous storyline. So I understand that.

Bryan wrote: "Back in the early 90's I read all ten Amber books in a row, with no other book in between. And I love Zelazny, but by the time I was on the last couple of books, I was really not getting much enjoy..."

I think the Chaos books were not quite up to the level of the earlier Amber books.

It depends on the size, complexity, publishing dates & the length of time since the series has been completed. My interest level & real life time availability also plays a big part. When it takes decades for a series to be completed or available, of course there are other books read in between.

I've often re-read, in order, parts of Fred Saberhagen's Dracula series & Gordon R. Dickson's Dorsai series multiple times because they were published over decades. After a decade & hundreds of other books, I'd need to at least skim the previous ones. They were enjoyable & complex enough that I wanted to remember every little detail. I also read Dickson's books in a different order. I don't recall for sure, but I think the main character's chronology matched neither the published order nor universal time.

Chronological time in a series can be another reason for a re-read. L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s Recluse series, another I've been reading since it was first published, is best read the first time in published order. A second read in chronological order is even better in some ways.

Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series didn't get a re-read like that. The books were bigger, not quite as enjoyable (actually, I gave up on book 4 or 5, I think) and I had other books I wanted to read more.

Depends on the length of the series for me as well ... or rather overall wordage. I've been inserting other books in between volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire, but can read Narnia straight through. I took breaks in between the Baroque Cycle, too.

If i like the series i am reading and have access to all the books published i read it straght through. But if i think the series is just ok, i read other books in between.

I tend to do a mix. I primarily work on the series but I might take a short break for a book or 2 that is different. The only time I take a longer break is when I am reading a series and the next book hasn't come out yet or I do not have access or cannot afford the next book.

Depends on the series for me. I don't tend to read many super-long series. Most I'll read a book or two, put down for a while, read the next, and so on. The exception is if I'm so drawn in that I have to know what happens next as soon as it's available: Jo Walton's Farthing and its sequels, or the Hunger Games books.

This thread reminds me of my first pass at The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I had picked up Fellowship on a whim, gobbled it up like candy, and finished it in the middle of the night. I can't remember what was going on in my real life at the time, but it was several days before I could get to a bookstore and buy the other two books. (MY PRECIOUS!)

Some series are a slog - ditto what Richard said about the second set of Zelazny's Amber books. They felt like he was writing with video game adaptation in mind.

I came late to The Dresden File, and plowed through them like Godzilla through Tokyo. I'm having more trouble with Butcher's fantasy series - all of the books are sitting on my shelf, but I've only read the first one. I liked it (a lot, actually), but for some reason, I'm putting off diving back in.

I like to read a series in order, but have a number of series on-the-go so each is spread out. Gives me some time to reflect a bit between each book, which I would miss if I jumped straight from one book in a series to the next.

It might depend on what sort of series it is. If it's something like The Lord of the Rings, which is really one long novel divided into three volumes for publishing reasons, of course you don't want to stop a third of the way through the book. Other series may be more episodic, with a complete story in each book. The author may still be good enough to send you into a feeding frenzy, but that's a different matter. :)

I never read series at a time... I like to let them sit, think about them, let them grow inside me and then, after two or three books on other genres or themes, I continue the series.

You make it sound like carrying a baby, or being seeded by an Alien that's about to pop out of your chest :P

I tend to stick with a series if it continues to be good. I have a lot though that are continuing series with books yet to be published.

I like to have all in a series before starting so I can read all while the story is still fresh in my mind. I hate starting a series and then find I have to wait till next in the series is published as I tend to forget where the last book finished

I'm not very proactive in my reading, I used to get my books from used book stores. I discovered a lot of books after the series they were part of was already finished. Which is not always a good thing. Reading a lot by one author in great huge chunks reveals all the little things that the author does over and over but go unrecognized. Fortunately I don't need to read in chunks, I can read books at stop lights, three sentences at a time, makes no difference to me.

So far I am skipping around. I have not plowed through a series yet.

Just got a bunch of Sanderson books at the library, hopefully he'll be readable.

Marc wrote: "Just got a bunch of Sanderson books at the library, hopefully he'll be readable."

His books are amzaing, does not matter what book you start off with all of his books are great and readable. Also his characters are amazing, especially his females ones, all of which are based on actual people that he knows.

I've read the Sanderson books and they were great though I didn't know the characters were based on people he knows

Depends partly on the series. Some are self contained stories featuring the same characters (eg Alex Benedict's mystery series - got put off him by some serious time line errors & have not read them all). Others are part of one long story, such as Wheel of Time, or Peter Hamilton's Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained - how can you leave it with a guy going over a cliff?! His 3000 page Void series is also difficult to leave. And of course it depends whether the series is finished yet! With a series like Wheel of Time, with the huge time gap between 11 & 12, I reread the whole series at one go before 12 came out, although I only reread 12 when 13 came out. My son, on the other hand, has reread the whole series twice, if not 3 times! There are so many threads in the story that sometimes fall out of the story for 2 or 3 books, and details from the very beginning of the series that help with understanding, that it is hard to read them one at a time, and Sanderson has done a masterful job of picking up on all of it.

I just got Elantris and I think it's the whole Mistborn trilogy.

My preference is to read straight through a series, with maybe a break here or there. Often I will just hold onto the books I have til the series is completed. Then there's times when I really just want to read a book because I've heard so many good things about it, so I'll go for it and read the rest as they come out. But if it's been a while, then I have to re-read the previous books because I will forget a lot of what happened. That's mostly why I prefer to read straight through a series, my poor memory. And it's more fun for me to be able to go from one book to the next. I'm not known for my patience, lol

Marc wrote: "I just got Elantris and I think it's the whole Mistborn trilogy."

Elantris was Sanderson's first novel, a stand alone. The Mistborn series is a separate trilogy.

Charlotte wrote: "Marc wrote: "I just got Elantris and I think it's the whole Mistborn trilogy."

Elantris was Sanderson's first novel, a stand alone. The Mistborn series is a separate trilogy."

Yes, I got 4 books total. Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Hero of Ages,Elantris, and Warbreaker

Marc wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "Marc wrote: "I just got Elantris and I think it's the whole Mistborn trilogy."

Elantris was Sanderson's first novel, a stand alone. The Mistborn series is a separate trilogy."
..."
You should have one more if you have the full Mistborn trilogy: The Well of Ascension

Charlotte wrote: "You should have one more if you have the full Mistborn trilogy: The Well of Ascension."

So I don't have the trilogy then. Okay. I once read a four book series backwards and outside in. Didn't bother me to much.

I think I'm going to break my rules about reading a series straight off as reading Ian Irvine's Fate of the Fallen and it's taking a bit of getting through just like the Well of Echoes did and think I will read some thing a little lighter after each book

i skip from series to series. but it is not because of any lack in the series i read, it is because i like to prolong the pleasure. once its over, its over, and if i can put off the ending for a while, that's great. i don't like to get it all done in a quick wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am rush.