Books in Series
I am a big fan of Jim Butcher. I’ll just state that and get it out of the way now. In particular I adore his Dresden files series. This has been a matter of great amusement for several folks that know me. In one conversation it came up that I was reading, Small Favor, number ten in Butcher’s series. The friend I was talking to is a Robert Jordan fan and found it odd that I refused to read all 13 volumes of the Wheel of Time series, but yet I’d devoured ten Dresden books and have plans to accquire any others. (The latest news I read on Butcher’s site (www.jim-butcher.com) was that he was signed through book fourteen.) This set me to pondering why I was looking forward to more books in one series and running screaming from more in another.
The first difference that comes to mind is genre. WoT is High Fantasy and Dresden is Urban Fantasy. UF has a tendency to be a bit lighter in tone and a faster read, so I believe that contributes to my enjoyment of the set.
Next is point of view. Many high fantasy series use an omnicient point of view where the story switches around between characters allowing the reader to see the story from many eyes and see many aspects of what’s going on. This is interesting because of the complexity offered, but can again make for a slower read. I find I tend to have favorite characters and I groan when their thread is abandoned for half of a book and I have to wait to pick it up again. A first person or limited third doesn’t offer as many viewpoints and therefore fewer threads and complexity, but it tends to be easier to sink into the character point of view and follow through. If you like the main character this will keep you well and truly hooked, and if you don’t…well, you don’t keep buying more books hoping that the threads for the characters you do like will show up in this one.
Another issue that I have is character growth. I like seeing characters change and grow and remember the mistakes that have shaped them. In some series the character seems to freeze in time and repeat the same mistakes over and over again, never learning or becoming better people. It’s fine for characters to make mistakes, it’s actually part of what makes a character well rounded and relatable with, but to make the same mistake ad nauseum? That strikes me as being stupid, not funny and not a good character arc or series plot.
I also prefer series where each book is a contained episode. They all connect together and things that chronologically happened before will be referred to, or make a difference to what follows, but each book has a starting place a plot arc, climax and closing. The continual quest that just keeps going and going…I have patience for about 5 books and then I’m generally done.
I can think of other things, but these top my list. What about you, gentle reader? What aspects will keep you reading, and what will drive you away?
~J
