4 ms·

Oh God yes. I look back my days of reading D&D novels (Krynn and TFR mostly) with some fondness. Yes they were part of much larger series, but the books were u

by smegel 11y ago

Oh God yes. I look back my days of reading D&D novels (Krynn and TFR mostly) with some fondness. Yes they were part of much larger series, but the books were usually fully contained novels with strong story-lines and conclusions. Sci-fi is in a similar situation (if you did not consider sci-fi to be fantasy in the first place). Remember reading (possibly your parents collection of) Isaac Asimoc novels? Or possibly novelettes by today's standards. Amazing stories and imaginations in what would be the prologue of a 1500 page monster today. And without the constant graphic violence that has become a hallmark of modern sci-fi.

gknoy 11y ago
I've read great short fiction, but nearly every time I read something Really Awesome or Interesting, I end up wanting to read more exploring interesting things in that world. Parallel events, precursors, Lore, etc. I dislike when there's a constant "To be Continued...." (Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones), but love when there's a series of related books that each can stand alone, but also enrich a shared lore. I absolutely devoured nearly everything in the Dragonlance novels and Star Wars extended universe books, for example. Whenever I read the first book of a book like Dune, or Foundation, or Earthsea, or Anne Leckie's Ancillary Justice, or the Diamond Age (or Snow Crash) I end up wishing for more from that same universe of Lore. Sometimes this ends up being something amazing, like the Foundation series, other times the sequel fails to hold me, or goes off the deep end like some fantasy serieses seem to. I think I end up gravitating towards trilogies. I know there's more to the story arc than just one book, and but enough written that I (in theory) won't be left in the lurch. :-) Then again, I also read all [at the time] of the Honor Harrington series, because I loved the characters and political story arc(s), but ended up getting burned out and never reading the more recent novels. I don't even know or recall if it was a feeling that it jumped the shark, I just didn't feel I had the energy to devote to it.
caseysoftware 11y ago
Huge Krynn fan here too. My annoyance with the mega-novels are the sheer number of characters and threads which are happening simultaneously. In the Wheel of Time there are three main characters - which is a reasonable number of threads - but in one of the books, one of them was hardly included at all. It's weird coming back to a character after 300, 400, or even 600 pages. They start to feel like afterthoughts. And GOT is even worse. There are dozens of threads and some of the characters names are similar enough to be annoying.

by smegel 11y ago

gknoy 11y ago

I've read great short fiction, but nearly every time I read something Really Awesome or Interesting, I end up wanting to read more exploring interesting things in that world. Parallel events, precursors, Lore, etc. I dislike when there's a constant "To be Continued...." (Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones), but love when there's a series of related books that each can stand alone, but also enrich a shared lore. I absolutely devoured nearly everything in the Dragonlance novels and Star Wars extended universe books, for example. Whenever I read the first book of a book like Dune, or Foundation, or Earthsea, or Anne Leckie's Ancillary Justice, or the Diamond Age (or Snow Crash) I end up wishing for more from that same universe of Lore. Sometimes this ends up being something amazing, like the Foundation series, other times the sequel fails to hold me, or goes off the deep end like some fantasy serieses seem to. I think I end up gravitating towards trilogies. I know there's more to the story arc than just one book, and but enough written that I (in theory) won't be left in the lurch. :-) Then again, I also read all [at the time] of the Honor Harrington series, because I loved the characters and political story arc(s), but ended up getting burned out and never reading the more recent novels. I don't even know or recall if it was a feeling that it jumped the shark, I just didn't feel I had the energy to devote to it.

caseysoftware 11y ago

Huge Krynn fan here too. My annoyance with the mega-novels are the sheer number of characters and threads which are happening simultaneously. In the Wheel of Time there are three main characters - which is a reasonable number of threads - but in one of the books, one of them was hardly included at all. It's weird coming back to a character after 300, 400, or even 600 pages. They start to feel like afterthoughts. And GOT is even worse. There are dozens of threads and some of the characters names are similar enough to be annoying.