Books: Series

I avoid getting involved with series of books. As a rule, sereis take up too much reading time and therefore make reading feel monotonous. People are always trying to convince me to try this or that series, and I've tested a few, but most I don't get past one or two books. There's just too many of them, and if you start in too late it takes too much effort to catch up.

If a series promises to be relatively short, I'm more apt to give it a try. Or if the books themselves are not too long. Ideally they come out regularly, like one a year. That's just the right amount of time between books in a series.

Now of course I read Harry Potter. And the Anne Rice vampire books. All the Hercule Poirot novels, too. That was all back in the day. I read Diana Wynne Jones's Chronicles of Chrestomanci as well, which were very good (there's only the four, and they're different enough not to feel all alike).

People suggested Jim Butcher, and I tried both Dresden and the Codex Alera, but never made it past the first books of each. With Dresden there were just too many, and with Alera . . . Eh.

I read the first couple Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde, too. I liked them all right, I guess, but feel no driving need to read more of them. (Though since Hamlet is my favorite Shakespearean play, I should probably at least give Something Rotten a try.)

What I really liked by Fforde was Shades of Grey, and I'm waiting . . . and waiting . . . for more of that series. But I think he's planning to do a prequel before he gets around to a sequel. Ugh.

I started reading that whole Game of Thrones bit but didn't make it past the prologue. I'll try it again later, perhaps.

I did like Greg Keyes' Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series, though it started stronger than it ended. I tried the Age of Unreason series but didn't even finish the first book. It wasn't bad or anything, just not what I was in the mood for at the time.

There are currently only two series I actively search out and read now. The first is Imogen Robertson's Crowther and Westerman books. There are four, but I've only just started the third, Island of Bones. I really like these characters and Robertson's writing style, but the books can be heavy, so I space them.

The other series I read is, of course, Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant novels. And this series is the one I most love. I eagerly await each installment and devour it in a handful of days (or mere hours if the kids stay out of my way). The next one isn't due out in the States until next year, though I think I'll be able to grab a copy while in London. I shall pencil in a bookstore visit on my schedule. I find this particular series worth my time and commitment. Which do you?