Bookish Rants or Raves: Standalone Novels X Series!

Filed in Bookish Rant or Raves , The Crazy Lover Posted on May 20, 2010 @ 8:01 am 11 comments

Time and time again I ask myself why do I favor Book series so much more than standalone novels. I mean, cliffhangers are a killer for me, so standalone books should always be my drug of choice, right?

Hell no! I think I might be a masochist for reading a great book and willingly suffering for months until the next installment comes out. If it’s a successful series? Then i am really screwed, because then I will be waiting years until I get all my answers and a conclusion to the story.
Why do i do that? Why do I keep adding series to my already full roster? The answer is simple, I can’t help it!
Book series give you so much more than a standalone novel. You get more of your favorite characters, more action or romance and more everything else.
I know series can be annoying and leave you hanging for a long time, waiting for that couple to get together or that mystery to be solved. 
I just can’t help it, I guess I am a glutton for punishment, but what would my life be like without Cat & Bones, Kate & Curran, The Demonica series demon brothers, the Women of the Otherworld and so many more series that have conquered my heart for good? I just can’t live without them!
How about you? Are you a Series Lover or One book is enough?

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11 Comments

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  • pattepoilue May 20, 2010 at 8:21 am

    Ohh this is an interesting question!

    I read a LOT of series and I HATE cliffhangers…so I ask myself the same question. Why do I keep on reading? Like you I want more than what a stand alone would give me, so series are great like that…but I need to know that the series will end at some point. I need closure.
    I think that's why I read more and more historical romances…they have their HEA in each book!
    I read series hoping they will end, how is that for weird huh? lol

    So I found a good compromise between Stand alone an series…I read 'series' like the Hathaway books by Lisa Kleypas where you can see the characters from one book in another and still have separate HEA!

  • Stella (Ex Libris) May 20, 2010 at 8:44 am

    I'm a series fan Larissa! Since I'm fairly new to UF and PNR, I'm in the very fortuante situation that most series have already several published novels, so I don't suffer from withdrawal and cruel cliffhanger torture when one book is over, i can start the next one.

    I prefer series because if I love a book, a story, an author's style and writing, I want more! And it's comforting to know there are 7-8 further volumes in the series. I also love that the H/H of book X appear as supporting characters in book Y and we can see what has happened to them after the end of book X.

    Definitely a series gal here! 🙂

  • Scorpio M. May 20, 2010 at 9:15 am

    I like loosely tied series, that don't run more than 3 or 4 books. And nothing that forces you to HAVE to read the next installment for closure.

    I know alot of authors do this but I don't particularly care for it when *all* or many previous characters keep popping up in later books that don't play a major part. It's too distracting, they had their HEA, leave the spotlight on the current couple is what I say 🙂

  • Larissa May 20, 2010 at 9:46 am

    @Pattepoilue

    LOL I agree with you! Books with an HEA in each book is awesome and getting to see the characters that already had their HEA and not having to worry is a great plus =)

    @Stella

    OMG I LOVE that too! starting series that already have like several books out already! its awesome and a great way to avoid the crazy waiting period =P

    @Scorpio

    sorry, I have to disagree! you have all the right to feel the way you do… but I just LOVE getting to read about characters that already had their HEA and see how they are doing! =))

  • JenM May 20, 2010 at 1:02 pm

    I hate the cliffhangers and I hate waiting for another book in a series, but on the other hand, I think my reading experience is so much richer when a continuing character is followed through several books.

    I love to see my favorite characters grow and change. In a single book (esp. in a paranormal where there is so much world building to get through), there just aren't enough pages available to do the characters justice. Consider Mercy Thompson, or Kate Daniels, or Sookie Stackhouse – it just wouldn't be the same if each of them only had one book.

    I deal with my frustration by trying not to start a series until there are at least two or three books out LOL.

  • Isabelle Santiago May 20, 2010 at 2:33 pm

    I'm a series fan too, Larissa! I can't help but be. I always get so sad at the end of a book, when the characters I've grown to love leave me. Series help me spend time with those characters again in some form or another, help me meet new characters in the world I may have fancied, or even help me spend time in a word I adore (Karen Marie Moning's Fever series comes to mind!).

    Something about a series really helps immerse you the story/stories and keeps you coming back for more.

  • joder May 20, 2010 at 2:50 pm

    I love reading series! I enjoy seeing characters evolve through each book and that sense of family it gives me to be a part of that continuity. I do like the cliffhangers and that sense of anticipation for a new book. It's like Christmas when each new book is released.

  • Larissa May 20, 2010 at 4:55 pm

    @JenM

    OMG I do that too! I like waiting for at least a couple books have come out to start a series =)))

    @Isabelle

    I have the Fever series, but Im waiting for the last book to come out to read ot LOL I've heard so much about this extreme cliffhanger that I just cant deal with it LOL

    @joder

    I absolutely agree with you! I hate and Love cliffhangers at the same time! =)

  • Beth May 21, 2010 at 12:11 am

    I do like stand alone books but I prefer series. You get more of the 'world' or friends or family. But even there I'm a little picky. Very few of the series I read follow one main character through all the books. A few trilogies and maybe two others that I still follow and haven't gotten tired of yet. Most have a different couple(or more)getting there own story in each book. Sometimes there is a background story line that goes through several(or all)of the books, sometimes not.

  • Sullivan McPig May 21, 2010 at 1:17 am

    I love series as it gives you more time with a character and world you love, but when there's romance involved I want either the couple to take a while to get together or if they do get together to stay together. Nothing annoys me more than couples breaking up, getting back together, breaking up etc….

  • Larissa May 21, 2010 at 7:51 pm

    @Beth

    I agree! you get much more world building in series =)

    @Sullivan

    LOL That annoys me as well! series with an HEA in each book are good because of that =P

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