Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Discussion with WRI: Giving Up On A Series That's Too Long

@NicoleMHewitt @ShannonMiz #LetsDiscuss2015 

I got to say it. Janet Evanovich please stop. I got into reading the Stephanie Plum series years ago. A woman I worked with at the time would go to the library and get audiobooks. Why she took the time to get them for several of us I will never know. A Stephanie Plum book (it wasn't the first book that isn't that great) was one of the ones she kinda made me try.

The Good:
Stephanie Plum, friends, and family are funny. This is chick lit. The humorous kind not the weepy type. There is always something going on. It's wacky. It's funny. It's kind-hearted. It's a light and quick read.

The Bad:/:)
At the time of this post there are 22 books in the series. Yes twenty-two books! They are all the same. If ever a book has been written by an outline it is the Stephanie Plum books. Stephanie is a horrible bounty hunter but is also horrible at everything else so she has no choice but to be a bounty hunter. I don't find her to be that strong of a character since she is almost always rescued by a man for a situation she put herself in.

Lula is a stereotype of a loud and fat black woman. Connie is a competent office manager or whatever her title is. Vincent is a creepy jerk. Grandma Mazur is a nosy horny old lady always ready for an adventure. Stephanie mom is a constantly concerned about what the neighbors think. Joe is the solid bad boy turn good guy cop. Ranger is the hot Latino with a mysterious nature. Stephanie bounces back in forth between Ranger and Joe.  Now just insert an obscured criminal chase and there you have it the plot for all the novels. Oh and at some point a car will blow up or get totaled in some way.

There has been no development in the character of Stephanie. She is the same character she was in book one especially in her relationships. It is time to either put the book to rest or make a major shake up already! I mean have her pick a man for heaven sake. And the choice is easy. Do you want the man who wants a future or the man who will never settle down? Hell have her have a baby even. Do something different.

Now the series is on its own timeline. So even though the books come out once a year it may have only been a few months in Plum time. Knowing this doesn't make the stagnant nature of the series more bearable. I have long since stop reading the series. I just can't do it anymore. Nothing changes in that world. I have experience a couple of ruts in my life the last thing I want to do is kept reading a series that's stuck in one.

You turn: Is there a series that you liked but now think the end should come...swiftly?




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6 comments:

  1. The longest series I've invested myself in was the House of Night books, by PC and Kristin Cast. -_- I was around book five, thinking I had one more book to go ONLY, when I discovered there were some more left. I gave up there. The plot was dragging. It felt like the authors were just adding conflict because UNKNOWN REASONS.

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  2. 22 books is just TOO long. I can't make that sort of commitment, which is why I don't really read those types of series.

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  3. @Pamela - Right. It gets to a point where it feels like they are just writing books because the series is popular but they have nothing else left to explore with the characters

    @Nicole - It is too long. I mean who wants to start a never ending series especially when it is the same thing over and over again.

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  4. Yeah, I gave up on her around book 12 or so. Sue Grafton's series is also super long--up to X on an alphabetical scale--but at least you figure the end is in sight, right? Also, there is SOME development there. Not a ton, but some.

    I also read the first six Anne of Green Gables books, but never went on to Rilla's books or any other L. M. Montgomery.

    Oooh, Anne Perry's series never die either. I think mystery series are more likely to have that issue. But some, like Elizabeth George and Reginald Hill could keep writing for centuries, as far as I'm concerned. I'm still pissed that Hill DIED and I never get any more Dalziel and Pascoe.

    I remember back in the day that V. C. Andrews continued to release Flowers in the Attic books long after her death, which is extra creepy. I didn't read them, but worked in a library when her posthumous stuff was coming out.

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  5. @Wendy - You're right. It does seem like mystery novels have that problem. At least with many of them they have a different case to try to keep you interested. Like James Patterson's Alex Cross series. The characters are the same but at least the people he (Cross) is looking for is different or evil enough to keep pages turning.

    But when the main focus of the book is on the main character who never changes, the surrounding cast never changes, and the cases are just about the same, it's time to let it go, let it go...that damn Frozen song just enter my head.

    I have heard the Grafton series but you're right. Seems like she only has two left.

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  6. Just found your blog through the discussion link up :) And oh gosh, there's lots of series out there that I think should have ended a long time ago lol. I'm not a big fan of series in general, and prefer singles. I'm currently only following 5 series, and two of those are new/waiting for second releases.

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