The publishing industry is getting lazy. All they seem to want are series novels. Now I'm not knocking series, but it does seem to make authors a little lazy.
Let's face it when you right 10 + stories about the same characters things are going to suffer at some point. Have you heard anyone rave about the new Stephanie Plum, Temperance Brennan or Hannah Swenson novel?
Probably not.
Why?
All these books are well past their saturation points. Joanne Fluke's Swenson mysteries are 
around book 14. Evanovich has hit book 18, and I've lost count one Kathy Reich's Brennan books. (BTW I'd rather watch Bones, the show is more entertaining)
You just can't keep things interesting that long. At some point the characters start becoming like family members that are just too darn predictable. That's not to say we don't love them, but we know them too well.
If you look at the reviews for the newer books, you'll see more and more 1 and 2 star ratings when the first books in the series at more 5 stars.
Its sad, but I think writing long term series novels sap the creativity of the authors. They really only know one set of characters and when they stay in their comfort zone for many many years, well the stories suffer.
Do any of you know any long running series that have stayed excellent?
1 comment:
The best of them seem to be trilogies or tap out before 10. Anne Rice was probably wise to quit. The vampire books did hit a lag, but by the end kind of sprung back. I haven't read The Dark Tower, so my verdict is still out.
Post a Comment