SOS: Serious Overload of Series discussion

HMWY: Is it Ever Too Late to Start a Series?
Do you have a limit? If a series reaches 10+, you'll skip it? 20+? None?

So, what do you think? You've receive many glowing reviews about a series, everyone says start it NOW, but it's 10+ books long already .... do you dive in and go for it? or pass and move onto one that is either brand new or only a few editions old?

Oh I dive right on in! I love it when all/most books are out, then there's none of that stupid waiting lol. I like going all the way through a series all at once, I get more into it, remember details etc. Sometimes if there's a long wait, I forget why I liked it so much. Tbh, I suppose I'm more the opposite, if the series only has 1 or 2 books out, I tend not to go for it :)

To me it depends on how hard the 1st books are to get. If I can't get the first books easily and cheaply then I will probably skip it.

I love long, established series, as long as they're not outdated (very outdated technology, for instance). I love to read all the books back-to-back, some times for weeks at a time (as was the case with Dark-Hunter). I agree with Mary, though, that I'm disappointed when I can't get the first book(s). I'm less likely to start a series if I can't start it from the beginning.

I usually prefer to read an established series rather than a brand new one, though I do have some favorites among the new ones.

As long as I can find the starting place, the length of the series wouldn't bother me. I'm such a voracious reader that I'm always happy to discover someone new to read.

Like Josie, I like when all/most books are out. That way, I can work my way through the series at my leisure instead of (im)patiently waiting for a new release. I don't usually read books in a series back-to-back, but I like having the option.

Also like Mary, it depends on hard the book is to get. If there are 5+ books in a series at $7.99 a book, I'll be hesitant to start it due to my limited book budget. But if my library carries all/most of the books, I'll go for it because the books are FREE!

I agree with Lethal. I rarely read a series back-to-back which I'm doing at the moment and I like having the option. I do think that if I had started some series once they'd finished I would've read them all instead of dropping them midway through because I'd lost interest by the time the next one comes out.

Sometimes I get a weird sense of satisfaction when I start a series with only a couple of books in it because in a flash I can say "Oh look, I've caught up!" whereas with long ones it's "2 down 20 to go". It's a little daunting.

I can't usually read more than 1 or 2 in a row of a series. Even with great writers-they start to feel like the same book over and over. I have to space them out.

Lately, if I see a book that looks good and I find it's part of this 20 book, seemingly never ending series-I just put it on my paperbackswap reminder list for later. Because I just have too many series going and too many books to start on yet another never ending series.

I rarely read series books back to back but I like to have a long series available so that I can read the whole thing if I choose or at a rate of 1 or 2 a month. I am reading through Harry Potter for the first time and I like knowing that we have all of them in the house already. I have many series that are longer series that I haven't started yet but plan to like Dark Hunter and Vampire Academy. Hopefully I will get to them this year or next. :) Also on the list of completed series/many books out series I am working on: Narnia, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, Spiderwick, Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, Sookie Stackhouse. The list goes on and on LOL.

I agree with Josie, I hate waiting for the new releases. And when a new release comes out, I tend to re-read the previous books anyway.
I love long series. The longer the better.

The "ooh-that-sounds-interesting-factor" is the deciding factor, rather than length. Also, price & availability of books. It's fun when it turns out to be part of a nice long series, because there's more to enjoy, but it certainly doesn't have to be.

I also hate waiting a year for a book, especially when the author has finished it at some point quite aways before that (OK...publishing companies polish & publicize, etc. to make 'em more enticing which is all well and good, but I just wish they could do it a little faster!)

Judithe wrote: "The "ooh-that-sounds-interesting-factor" is the deciding factor, rather than length. Also, price & availability of books. It's fun when it turns out to be part of a nice long series, because ther..."

Yep I'm with you Judithe. If the first book is gripping, I'm usually in with both boots on. But if it's a bit ho-hum I'd probably abandon the series if it was an established one. And the converse is true: if the first book is a bit meh and there's only a couple more after it, I'd probably keep reading, just to see if it gets better.

even though I hate waiting a year for a book I rather do that b/c I have so many books to read anyway. But I hate when I stumble upon a series and it has like 10 books, only b/c I'm not too sure about the series I have stumbled upon series about 10 books read the first one and it didn't convince me to read the rest, and all of them happened to be at least 9-10 books...ARRRGHH..but I never read books back to back anymore, it may bore me a bit reading about the same characters non-stop for weeks. I'll switch between different series.

as for waiting I only tolerate it for at least a year. I had read fever back to back , only amazing series I do the read back to back thing...haha, but yea. that freckin wait for torture and it was longer than a year.

Since I don't particularly care if I read a series in order, I'm likely to just pick up a book if it looks interesting. However, if I don't like it or just am bored by it, I won't give the series a second chance. On the other hand, if I do like it, I'm likely to buy all the books the author has written (eventually-not all in one frenzied shopping spree!). Occasionally I'll read series books back to back. I usually have four or five books going at any one time, so burning out on a series tends to be less of a problem.

Us Sandras must be alike, I do exactly the same Sandra J. If I find an author I like I buy everything they've ever written (sometimes in a frenzied shopping spree. LOL) And I too occasionally read series back to back, but I don't often have more than 3 going at the same time.

It must be the name! :-)

I have heard people be discourged by the Dresden Files (which now has 12+ books) and Anita Blake (which in my mind I put that it ends somewhere between 9-12 because of the downturn I hear it takes). I recently started both of these series and they were both so good that I am plowing through them. I read all of the available Dresden Files in a few months and now am waiting on the edge of a huge cliff for Ghost Story. I am now on #7, amost #8 of Anita Blake and am loving it. I can see why the sheer number of books is discouraging, but for me it is a bonus. I know I will be kept busy for awhile, theoretically (unless I read the books like a maniac, like I did with the Dresden Files), I shouldn't have to wait for the next one to come out. But I also don't have a problem with dropping out of a series if I am not interested.

Although I do feel the same way when I look at the series by Kenyon and Cole, I think -- wow, I don't see how I could ever get through those books.

Regina wrote: "Although I do feel the same way when I look at the series by Kenyon and Cole, I think -- wow, I don't see how I could ever get through those books. "

Kenyon and Cole are worth the long ride, IMO! ;)

I thinks so, too!

Don't forget the In Deaths as well. Great books.

A series that I never hear much about and haven't read myself is: Rogue Angel by Alex Archer. That series is up to like #29. Insane! Seriously? Is it still good? Still new and exciting? Leavin' fans biting their nails for #30?

I don't know that I'd be able to start a series that long. Knowing my personality, if it started suckin' around book #5-10, I'd still feel a masochistic need to finish the &^%$ thing. LOL! I'd rather not inflict that upon myself, so I steer clear.

Mostly though, I try not to let the # of already published books keep me from starting a new2me series. Maybe I read so many #1s each year is b/c I'm always lookin' to get in on the ground level of a great series after missing out on the beginning of so many others? Who knows?! That's gettin' too deep into me for me. LOL!

I'm pretty sure that Rogue Angel series is written by different authors just using the one author name.

I've read #2 and it was pretty good. I thought it would make a good movie script. Half a dozen countries, mysterious artifacts, mysterious cults etc etc.

It's always struck me as a series that would make a good show/movie, too. Didn't realize it was more than one author. I haven't read of them. But, I see them at the store all the time and there always seems to be a new one out.

I put the first Rogue Angel book on my paperbackswap reminder list. I need to finish up soem series I own already before I start adding any others to the list. Especially ones longer than a trilogy.

Thank you Lisa. :)

Another one that seems really long is the Wheel of Time series, it is fantasy but each book is about 800 pages and there are like 14 or something. And it is still going (even though the original author is dead). I am interested in starting, but it seems overwhelming.

Regina wrote: "Another one that seems really long is the Wheel of Time series..."

I love the Wheel of Time. It is awesome!!

Have you read them all Zaanodes? I know my brother read them, and he initially loved them, but then said Jordan went off & rambling, and he gave up on them. He was going to wait until Brandon Sanderson finished the series and see what other people said about the wrap up before he committed back to the series.

I have the last one that I haven't read. I didn't take it as Jordan rambling. But I am 'easy' with an author and just wait to see where it goes. I try not to anticipate what is meant or what is coming.

Bear in mind that I'm paraphrasing here, but I think he just felt like the books were starting to read like bridge or set-up books--you know, when a book seems like it's only purpose was to set up stuff for the next in the series (kinda like how I felt about the last Sookie). And then the next book felt the same, and so on. I know he said it felt like Jordan was dragging out the series, and he got tired of it.

But I do know he loved the first ones. We're huge GRRM fans, and he's a big fantasy reader in general, so I had asked him if he had read any other fantasy series that were similar to GRRM's Ice & Fire, and he said he would love to rec the Wheel of Times to me, but he couldn't until he saw what Sanderson did with them.

Wheel of time is ALMOST complete. Last one to come out next year, woohoo! There was a little chunk of time where fans didn't think the series would ever come to a close.

The first few books are pretty awesome, but I stopped at book 8 years ago, because the middle books (starting at 5 or 6) get a little long-winded and slow moving, so I decided to give it a "break" until the series came closer to a close. I like Sanderson's writing, and have good heard things so I'm more likely to finish it up now.

I would say the series is definitely worth a try :)

I have heard that Sanderson did well with them. Jordan had most of it done and Sanderson mainly did 'polishing'.

Usually a series length doesn't stop me from reading it. The only time is has (and it's only delaying, not stopping me) is with Wheel of Time. I have so many unread books on my shelf, that I don't want to commit to starting that series yet. Oddly, I had no qualms about starting Dresden (which I love!) and it has 12 books now, I think. Nor did I have any problems starting Anita Blake, back in the day when there was only 13 or so. Maybe it's not just the series length, but how large the individual books are in it. *shrug*

I rather read a 3-5 book series than something longer b/c I am rather busy and my TBR shelf is growing bigger and usually the longer series are not that good from experience of the ones I have started that had like 10++ books, but hopefully I can start them when I have nothing to read =D