So, recently a couple of my favorite series have ended. Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series’ last book came out yesterday, and Last Sacrifice, the final book in the Vampire Academy series, came out in December. I’m usually okay with a series ending, as I’m a big believer of leaving before you’re thrown out, but I find that I’m not so anxious to give up some of my series anymore.
Reading a series is like eating comfort food: you know what to expect, you’re familiar with the flavor, and it always satisfies. Sure, some books aren’t as good as others in the series, but I know the characters and feel like I have a vested interest in the outcome of their story from page one. With a book featuring new characters I have to grow to like the characters. Sometimes that never happens. Sometimes I’m only sticking through their story because I’m waiting for that moment when everything falls apart.
Either way, I much prefer reading a new book in a series than something completely new. Maybe it’s because my reading roots are in fantasy, where a series can have eleventy billion books, but I hate leaving characters.
So, what do you think? Are series something you like, or are you strictly a stand-alone type person? Or do you just pick up anything that grabs your attention?
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4 comments:
I like both. Although, the series has to keep me interested. Usually one bad egg in the series causes my readership to drop off.
I love you forever for using the word "eleventy".
Personally, I have a strong preference for the series books that don't necessarily have to be read in order - books that are more of an "array" than a series. Pratchett's Discworld for example, or Ellis Peters' Cadfael mysteries, or the Redwall books. I one of the problems of the series books is that the shape and nuance of each particular book CAN be forfeit to the needs of the series, and I think that's a shame. A book needs to be true and whole *itself*, you know?
Still, my kid cried and cried when she got to the end of the Percy Jackson series, and my husband and I shed a few tears when we read the last pages of Harry Potter out loud. There certainly is something to be said for sticking with a group of characters for the long haul.
@LM I'm one of those people who usually will stick through a series even through an abysmal installment, but I do have a few exceptions. It usually depends on whether the awful book was earlier in the series or not.
@Kelly Eleventy isn't a number, yet. And I also make myself crazy with reading a series in order. Like the Xanth books? You don't really have to read those in order, but when I was a kid I accidentally checked out the third or fourth book, and then went crazy until I could read everything from the beginning because THINGS MUST BE IN ORDER. Still that way.
I love series. I really do. There are just some characters who are too big to be contained in a single book. :)
Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse
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