2 ms·
It's interesting that they mainly start around more recent series, mentions older ones "Les Mis", but don't say how this is and always has been a thing. I remem
by davidwparker 11y ago
It's interesting that they mainly start around more recent series, mentions older ones "Les Mis", but don't say how this is and always has been a thing. I remember reading most of the Xanth series (first book published in 1977!) when I was in high school (1999)- and there were already 20+ books in the series.
I like long stories about characters I care about. When I stop caring about the characters (or if the plots get too out there), then I stop reading the books.
I think it's fine if people want to read singular episode books as well. As @teirce says, this is why I also like Neil Gaiman (currently my favorite author). His stuff is self-contained and quite enjoyable.
It's up to the author to decide what they want to do with their characters, and I'll be game for it either way.
- svachalek 11y agoAs I remember them, the Xanth stories had an order but mostly stood on their own, like the detective novels TFA mentions. In contrast, there's hardly anything in Game of Thrones that isn't tied tightly to everything that precedes or follows it. The division between books is largely arbitrary and you could have divided them up in a million different ways that would be no better or worse than the way they are now. Not that this is qualitatively better than the older series or serial style, but I do agree with the article that it's "different".