The Trouble with Trilogies

I may have a slight OCD problem. If I know a book is part of a trilogy, I won't read it until all 3 books are published. Then I'll read them in a marathon. Is anybody with me on this or am I weird?

(small rant alert) What about reading a great book only to be left hanging at the end because you didn't know it was the 1st book in a trilogy and maybe if you're lucky the other 2 will be published before you forget what book 1 was about. I want books to be clearly marked "part of a trilogy"

Ah the trials, tribulations and troubles with trilogies about tribbles.

How would you cope with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts, only to be confronted with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : A Trilogy in Five Parts by Douglas Adams?

I know what you mean. While I don't necessarily want to read series back to back, I want them to be ready - it depends on how much I like it, sometimes I will intersperse other things (particularly if it's more than a trilogy) The whole numbering or making it clear that things are part of trilogies (or more) is something I'm currently really frustrated by. I picked a book off my shelf to start a few weeks ago (not going to admit to how long it's sat there) and discovered it was part 3 of 4 - nothing on the front cover or the back indicated this. The first two books are not in print here and I've had to track down second-hand copies from the US. While waiting for those to arrive, I picked up two books that my sister gave me for Christmas (1 this year, 1 last) and discovered that 1 was book 2 of 3 and the other was 3 of 3 - again there was no indication of this on the covers.

Another series I've been reading is frustratingly long between parts - the first part was issued in 1987, Part 5 was issued in 2008, and the final part hasn't yet been published. It's a good series, but with that kind of gap between parts, I can barely remember the characters!

#3 I could not cope with that.

#4 I hear you loud and clear my friend.

>1 pollux: I don't mind not reading them all together, though if there's only a few books, yeah, I prefer they all be published so I won't read one/couple and then wind up having to wait years for the next one and no longer be familiar with the details. But if it's a long series with a number of books already, then I don't mind, because I can space them out enough where there's not long waiting, but close enough that I'm not foggy.

>4 Peace2: I agree, it's incredibly irritating to pick up a book and then find out it's #_ in a series! Even when they do mention it, they never say what number it is, either, so you're left to go doing research! At least these days it's simple enough to find, but I still remember when I'd stand there in the bookstore looking through various copyright dates to get the order!

My strategy to deal with the problem expressed in the first post is to read the first book. When the second one comes out, I read the first book again, then the second book. When the third comes out, I reread the second book, then the third book. It worked for Harry Potter. Fortunately, by the time I read The Lord of the Rings, the entire trilogy was published.

I agree that it is better if they are all out before you start.

I just bought, because I knew I had to have them, all three volumes of the Old Filth trilogy. I have no idea whether I will read one, two, three, or none at all.

I wasn't going to read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and still haven't, but I saw the first movie in the Swedish series and rushed upstairs to buy the second volume. I knew after that that I was going to read the third volume but only in paperback. It didn't come out and didn't come out despite availability in English in England. That led to my first use of The Book Depository, and a happy relationship ensued. I read it almost right away. I eventually saw all three Swedish films and the first American film, but I have no idea whether there has been or will be any continuation of the American series of films.

There are at least three volumes in Jonathan Israel's enlightenment series. I've read one and would like to read the others, but I haven't been in a rush to do it.

I haven't picked up the last volume of William Manchester's life of Churchill, written by somebody else, despite my affection for the first two volumes. I may read it once I have it in paperback.

Robert

> 1

I don't think you're weird. But I wouldn't do that.

And what do you do about books in a longer series? Particularly when you don't know (and maybe the author doesn't even know!) how many there will be eventually?

A well written trilogy will permit each volume to stand alone; however, it is a bummer to begin in mid-sequence. Then there are trilogies that expand beyond the original series. For example Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy expanded to include a prequel and two post sequels. You never had a chance to read them in order for the first time.

#9 I have Old Filth on my reading list. I had no idea it was part of a trilogy. Thanks for the heads up.

# 10 I read a lot of series and understand that I might expect a year or so between books. No problem. My problem is with trilogies or even the rare 2 book treatment. Just tell me when it is not a "stand-alone' book.

Sometimes "stand-alones" or spin-offs (which might eventually have sequels) happen without the author having planned it. Writing's like that.

Yeah, trilogies.

Personally, I think the novella/short novel is usually the perfect length for science fiction: take an idea, get in, tell a story about the idea, finish it. I don't much like sequels.

I'm not a big fan of 800-page doorstops in the first place. I understand the appeal of huge, seemingly endless stories - find a fictional world you like, you might want to linger there - but they're not for me.

And I've been burned twice too often by sequels.

1) DAW and the C.J. Cherryh Chanur books: the second book (second? I may be mis-remembering) was a paperback original that was actually part of a larger story arc. I got near the end, and started wondering, "Gee, how is she going to tie all this up with only xx pages to go?" Answer: she isn't.

The book just STOPPED on a cliffhanger, with no mention anywhere on the book that it was Part I of a multi-volume story. Stopped dead. I kept flipping the last page back and forth, wondering if my copy was missing a signature.

I'm still mad about it. It put me off Chanur, it put me off Cherryh, it put me off the publisher, it just about put me off SF.

2) A year or so later, David Gerrold started his War Against the Chtorr series at Pocket Books. Two volumes come out, they're OK, OK enough that I'll follow the series, why not?

And then he changes publishers.

There's a noticeable gap before Vol. 3 comes out, now from Bantam - and REVISED EDITIONS of the first two come out from the new publisher.
I have too much to read to want to bother re-reading the same books just because.
And now it's years before Vol. 4 ever sees the light of day.

Which not only ends on a cliffhanger - but Gerrold has now been keeping me waiting over TWENTY YEARS for the last volume in the story.

So now I wait before the entire series is in print (and in my hands) before I start reading.

14 (@gwernin): Sometimes "stand-alones" or spin-offs (which might eventually have sequels) happen without the author having planned it. Writing's like that.

Yes, but either they know by the end of the first book that it's going to be a series, and then there's time to put it on the cover. Or they don't, and then the book can be read as a stand-alone (I would hope, or it would be a very bad author). In that case it doesn't matter so much that the first book doesn't say it's part of a series, as long as the sequels do mention it.

10 (@lilithcat):And what do you do about books in a longer series?
Or when the author dies halfway through? In the case of WoT, the readers that hadn't given up yet were lucky that Brandon Sanderson was willing to take over.

7 (@PolymathicMonkey): At least these days it's simple enough to find, but I still remember when I'd stand there in the bookstore looking through various copyright dates to get the order!
I'd forgotten about that! But yes, that was very annoying, plus, in some books they would list all the books in the series that were out at the time of printing except for the book itself. Other books by this author, or other books in this series. So great, you knew which books went together, but you still didn't know which book you were holding in your hands. If it was a series with more than 3 books published, you could figure it out, but otherwise...

I tend not to wait until a series comes out, except in some cases, like the Game of thrones books. I've heard to many people complaining about their frustration in having to wait for the next part...

Another series that is being written rather slowly is Rosemary Kirstein's The steerswoman books. These books are so good that I'm willing to wait, however. And each book has a decent story arc by itself, no cliffhangers. Those are just plain stupid.

All in all, I often loose interest in a series exactly because I couldn't continue in the sequels straight away. Of course, this means the series were not the best to begin with, but they are often still good enough to enjoy, and if the sequels had been available, I might have continued. But with so many other books I want to read, they get pushed to the background, never to be seen again...

I last got burned on The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin . The story was great and I was really enjoying it until I got to the end. WHAAA..T, HUH!! Cliffhanger. That was in 2010. No mention anywhere, including the author's website that it was 1 of 3.

When book 2 The Twelve came out in 2012, I dutifully bought it and there it sits on a shelf.

Book 3 is tentatively scheduled for release in late 2014. I will buy it and start from the beginning but I now have 4 years invested in this trilogy. And I resent having to re-read The Passage as I can't really remember much about it. Life is too short and there are too many good books waiting to be read for the first time.

And let's not forget Jean Auel, who writes at the speed of glaciers...

Melanie Rawn presents the nightmare scenario. Wrote the 1st two books of a trilogy in 1994, 1997; has written umpteen books since then, but not one of them the conclusion to that trilogy. Says she might never, since it's been too long now (!)

I don't really mind cliffhangers leading to unpublished sequels or even picking series out of order.
I seldom buy full trilogies, and even less longer full series ahead of reading.

Either the book didn't convince me and I don't really care if the others are out or not, I won't be holding my breath.

Either it was good enough that the world and characters sort of go on living their little lives in a corner of my imagination. In a way, it's just as good as obtaining Word of God about what *does* happen.

I do appreciate clear labeling anyway.

I did write on the back of my first book that there would be others about the same characters but I think I put enough in to make it OK to read each one as a stand alone. The first and third books can certainly be read on their own. I am trying to release more copies of the middle book at the moment because it is topical (about floods!) but I would not advise new authors to write trilogies. If you haven't got a lot of readers for the first book, you won't sell the second!

Update to #17
I am happy to report that book 3 of this trilogy will finally be published May 24 2016.

I'm with you, pollux. I don't mind waiting for books in a series that carry the same characters over time, but i really don't like to be left hanging at the end of one book just so I'll buy the next book to see how the story continues. I often will read reviews of books to look for cliffhangers. I'm a victim of my kindle in this respect, I think. It's so easy to finish one and buy the next immediately. I find I've also lost a lot of my capacity to watch ongoing TV story lines, too, although I don't watch TV as much as I read.

I don't normally mind waiting for sequels to come out. I spent ten years waiting for the conclusion to the Wheel of Time, read it and said "That was awesome but I don't think I'll ever do something like that again." Then six months later I started reading Song of Ice and Fire. Must just be part of my reading personality. The impatience is part of the deal.

But I do get burned on sequels sometimes. Last year I read Madwand, not knowing it was a sequel to another book I hadn't read. Confusing, but I got on with it alright...until it ended on a cliffhanger. Still, not so bad, I can always track down the next volume, right? Nope. The author died twenty years ago and as far as I can discover no conclusion was ever published. So there goes that plan.

So yes, authors, write long series! But publishers, please tell us they are part of a series! And where they belong relative to the other books!

I read Patrick Rothfuss' books The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear and enjoyed them both, only to discover that there is a long delay before the third and last book comes out. Rather frustrating.

Christmas 1966 some kind soul sent me The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring. Problem was, we were in India at the time, and I had no way of getting hold of the rest of Lord of the Rings. That particular friend of my parents never made it back up into my favourites. We went back to the US summer 1968, so I had 'only' about 20 months before reading on.

>24 Amberfly: Oeh, particularly frustrating!

I'm as #8. Read the first, re-read for subsequent editions/episodes/volume/books (what is the proper noun for the next part of series that isn't confusable with anything else?

But yes it's really the publishers who should be indicating especially for mid-series when it's really obvious. It would also be useful if they'd continue to make the earlier components available!

Pegasus anyone! It was commissioned as a standalone - that's all McKinley writes. Except hat it isn't it's the worlds worst cliffhanger with no future books likely for a long while.

#15 - I expect trilogies, hence if I'm on book2 I'm not expecting it to be complete. Duologies do exist, but they're rare. I've got a vast amount of series where I'm still waiting for me to find/buy/have written the final volume. Some authors of course don't know where it will end, but I think I prefer Jim Butcher's approach, where Harry dresden has a pre-planned arc of 18books. It might be +/- one depending on the muse, but from very early on he knew where the series was going.

Biggest gaps in the series I've struggled with is gunslinger which was 20 years in the completing. Not sure it was worth the wait myself.

I picked up an interesting book at a local bookstore sometime in the early 1990s, and just fell in love with this historical fiction set in 19th century Russia (leading to history binges on the early CD-ROM encyclopedias not even for school!). I really had no way to find the rest of the series, but as luck would have it I ran across the third book on a discount table. At least now I knew the title of the second book (i.e. other books by this author/in this series), and pursued my only apparent options of asking in every book store I could visit. It took months, even being able to eventually provide an ISBN at various national and local chain stores. In retrospect a more indie bookseller probably could have helped me more, but finally at last I got a hold of the second book, read it and then also finally the third book. I still have them: The Crown and the Crucible, A House Divided, and Travail and Triumph.

Thanks to this serendipity, my car even now is named "Sergei"

>29 amarie:
Apparently there are now seven books in this series: http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Russians

#29 - looks like an interesting series - first book just added to my Kindle wishlist; TBR list too long to get it straight away;)

>28 reading_fox: Pegasus! Aaaaargh!! >:-

>28 reading_fox: and >32 Ennas: Pegasus, yes! That was another one. Though I read the Amazon reviews of that one first, something I almost never do for books, and they warned of the cliffhanger. Still, it'd be nice to finally see the end...

>30 Crypto-Willobie: Yeah and I've read both four and five to some disappointment. It went from a co-authorship to only one author that apparently I didn't take to as much. The first three have a solid arc for the characters, so the remaining go into the next generation. Truly, the trouble with series that go beyond their original plans :)

>31 john257hopper: Enjoy when you get to it! The first 40ish pages are actually a condensed history of Russia, an attraction to this history major but YMMV.