The Kid: You read that wrong. She doesn't marry Humperdinck, she marries Westley. I'm just sure of it. After all that Westley did for her, if she does not marry him, it wouldn't be fair.
Grandfather: Well, who says life is fair? Where is that written? Life isn't always fair.
The Kid: I'm telling you you're messing up the story, now get it right!
Grandfather: Do you want me to go on with this?
Ok, so I don’t know whether this Princess Bride quote is a worthy contributor to the subject of this post, but whatever. That’s right; I just “whatevered” you.
I have almost finished my current read, a novel called The Whisperers which is the ninth novel in the “Charlie Parker” series by John Connolly. More on that particular series in my next post, but reading Book 9 got me thinking about series in general.
A good friend of mine once called herself “geeky” because she insists on starting with Book 1 of a series. If she’s geeky for that, I too am guilty.
Look, there are certain series that you can read out of turn—Lee Child’s Jack Reaper series, for instance. If you start with Book 5, you might not be as familiar with Jack Reaper or you may have to read over a reference to an occurrence in a previous book, but you’re still going to be in a position to enjoy the plot.
On the other hand, you’re not going to start with The Two Towers. If you do, you’re a moron. You have to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy in sequence or not read it at all. Same with Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. How about Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series? If you continue to suffer through that one, you have my undying admiration. The series outlasted even Robert Jordan!
Notwithstanding the fact that you “can” read series like the Jack Reaper series out of sequence, I cannot do so. I’d feel I was missing something even if I wasn’t. So, I need to start with Book 1.
I have read “The Killing Floor,” the first Jack Reacher novel. I’ve also read “Lions of Lucerne,” the first Scot Harvath novel by Brad Thor. Both were fine. Neither wowed me. I enjoyed each for what they were—fun rides. For me, the commitment starts with Book 2. I’d better be prepared to read ‘em all if I go on to Book 2. And that hasn’t happened with either series. That’s mainly a personal failing in that I’m just not in a place in my life where I can make such a time commitment.
And how about the series that shouldn’t be? You know the ones. Did “Dune” really need multiple sequels? How about “Ender’s Game”?
Anyway, this post arose from my curiosity about others’ views on series. Not that I expect any feedback. Not that anybody is still reading. I know you’re not.
If you are out there (hellooooooooo), post your favorite series. Your guilty pleasure. Even if they are romance novels (I'm not reading those, but whatever. Yeah, I whatevered you again).
Live long, read and prosper. We’ll leave the lights on for you.
Rob's favorite book is Ender's Game. I have yet to read it, so I can't weigh in on whether it needed sequels. You'll have to wander by his office to get an answer to that one.
ReplyDeleteHere is my guilty pleasure series: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. The third of the trilogy is being released at the end of August, and I pre-ordered it two months ago. Yes, it's for teenagers. Yes, I read both books inside of a week.
Here is a pleasure I don't consider at all guilty: Harry Potter. I think it's brilliant. I think Rowling's writing improves markedly over the length of the series, but her plot line is totally consistent from the first pages of book 1. The summer book 4 was released, my family and I really got serious about it. Just about every dinner time conversation revolved around Harry Potter. Then book 5 was released right before Rob and I took the bar exam. Those were tortured days: knowing everyone else out there was reading and finishing it, knowing we couldn't risk losing study focus by even having it in the house. We bought the book the same day the bar exam ended, and then had to borrow another copy from a neighbor so we could read it at the same time. We raced to the end; Rob beat me by about 10 minutes and then waited impatiently for me to finish so we could debrief.