Confessions of a Serial Reader – The Ridiculously Long Ones
>> Friday, July 29, 2011
Looking at all of my series I’ve listed on my FictFacts page, the average length of series turns out to be 9.26 books. Eighty percent of them are under 15 books. There are a handful in the 15 to 20 books range.
Then there are the ridiculously long series. Today I’m going to take a look at the series on my list that are (as of today) 20 or more books.
(Images are the most recent book in the series that I’ve read)
The China Bayles Series by Susan Wittig Albert
Last read – Bloodroot
Current number of books in the series: 20
How many I’ve read: 10
Odds of ever catching up or completing the series: Probably not. I tend to read one or two of these a year and the author is still adding to the series.
The Dirk Pitt Series by Clive Cussler
(the last few books co-written with his son Dirk)
Last Read - Black Wind
Current number of books in the series: 21
How many I’ve read: 18
Odds of ever catching up or completing the series: It could actually happen. Even though the writing and the stories have both moved on to a second generation, I’m still enjoying them. It will depend on how often a new one comes out since the books lately have been coming out every other year rather than every year.
The Eve Dallas Series by J.D. Robbi
Last Read - Purity in Death
Current number of books in the series: 34 (there are more if you count the short stories and novellas published in anthologies but I’m skipping those and only reading the full length books)
How many I’ve read: 18
Odds of ever catching up or completing the series: Only if I outlive Nora Roberts by at least 10 years.
The Moreland Dynasty Series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Last Read - The Founding
Current number of books in the series: 34
How many I’ve read: 1
Odds of ever catching up or completing the series: Unless I can get my hands on that time turner that Dumbledore loaned Hermione the odds on me finishing or catching up with this series stand at
What about you? Is there a number that makes a series ‘too long’ for you to even bother reading the first book? What long series have you stuck with through the years? What’s the longest series on your current series list?
No stars – I couldn’t even finish it
1 star – I didn’t like it but I managed to finish it.
2 stars – It was OK. Not good, but seriously just OK.
3 stars - I liked it. I didn’t think it was great, but I thought it was good entertainment.
4 stars – I really liked it. I really think you might like it too.
5 stars – It was amazing. I’d recommend this to just about anyone.
4 comments:
This post got me wondering about the series that I'm reading (and even got me to update a few of the lists on my series blog).
As far as I can tell, I have two series in the "over 20 books" category: Thomas and Charlotte Pitt by Anne Perry (there are 27, and I've already read 24) and Alex Delaware by Jonathan Kellerman (there are 26, and I've already read 24).
I started both of those series many years ago. I can't imagine starting a series at this point that has more than maybe 5 existing books ... although I better never say never.
P.S. I just spent a couple of hours playing around at FictFacts. What fun!
Is there a way to create the kind of stats you mention at the beginning of this point - or did you manually compute those?
I have read via print or audio the China Bayles series, I sporadically read Dirk Pitt series, I gave up on ...IN DEATH series when I couldn't tell which I'd read or listened to and which not.
I used to adore The Cat Who series like candy and then they got less interesting and I stopped.
I don't worry too much about the length of a series and I don't worry too much about finishing one. Though I do try to start at the beginning of a new-to-me series.
I am better off just avoiding long series like these... Especially if they have been around for a while. If I start them from the very beginning it is okay, but it is daunting otherwise. Like the In Death series? I probably will never catch-up in that one...
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