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Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings, where the blog's owner Heidi discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.
Here is what is on deck this week:
DO YOU PREFER SERIES OR STANDALONE?
The short answer is, I honestly don't have a preference. As long as the story needs a certain space to unfold, I'm on board with either of them. Of course, there are authors (sometimes at their publisher's gunpoint, so to speak) who capitalise on writing a number of books where the story could probably have been cut shorter. Then again, I sometimes read reviews for standalone books where the reader complains about them being 100 pages too long or something, so I suppose it can go either way 😉.
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| Whichever gif I'm looking for, I always seem to end up with a Who one. BUT no Tennant this time! Such restraint on my part 😅. |
Some of my favourite books are standalone - others belong to series. Personally, I haven't yet come across a series that I though was an unnecessary expansion of the original book, or that dragged too much IMO. According to my fellow bloggers, though, it happens. However, I suppose that's a little beside the point. The thing is...I don't necessarily need a bunch of sequels in order to spend more time with a character (or in a world), also because I'm a re-reader, and I can revisit them when I want. But I'm always happy when it happens. As happy as I am when the book I'm reading is self-contained. Really, you can't make me choose!
Well, that's it for now. And if you're interested in participating, here is the TMST prompt list for the rest of April and May:
- April 24th: Do you still accept review requests? Why or why not?
- May 1st: What are things that annoy you right now in the book market?
- May 8th: Do you really read excerpts when featured on blogs?
- May 15th: Are most of your review books for publishers or are you reviewing books of your choice?
- May 22nd: Are you more inclined/less inclined to read books that are compared to other popular books or authors?
- May 29th: Debut authors/New to me authors. What books have you read lately by new authors that you want to read more from?
My next TMST will be on April 24th, but I plan on participating in all the following rounds, except May 8th and 15th's. There are a few things that I'm DYING to write about - and to hear your take on!
Now tell me something...would you rather read a series or a standalone? and do very long series annoy you?
YOU MUST CHOOSE.
ReplyDeletelol I'm partial to stand alones myself - for reasons I stated in my own TMST post but now that I'm reading more for fun (not for reviews/hype reading) I imagine I will shift to your opinion and enjoy it all.
Karen @ For What It's Worth
Of course it's easier for me - I read few selected books, plus I re-read a lot, so it's less likely that I forget what happened in book X when I get to book Y. But you can do it! Especially since you're reading more for fun now. I suppose this might rule out some hyped series in genres that had you burned out.
DeleteMy pleasure! I'm loving these prompts 🙂.
ReplyDeleteCarrie (brightbeautifulthings)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you; I love everything, and I want them ALL. I'm an avid re-reader too, so I can visit my favorites any time in a stand-alone. But I think I do love series a little more. I'm hugely character driven, and series offer so much extra room for character development. (That's not to say a stand-alone can't, just that it's easier when you have six more books).
I'm beginning to think that I'm less fond of trilogies though. A lot of them have been falling flat for me lately, especially in the second book. Trilogies have a horrible tendency to not need to be trilogies, and the second book ends up plotless and mostly functioning as a bridge between the other two (The Grisha trilogy and Divergent come to mind. What was the second book even about?). This isn't always the case, but it bothers me! I'd rather read ten books in a series with characters I love and semi-ridiculous plots than one boring middle book.
(Also, I suddenly can't leave comments without logging into accounts I don't have, so sorry if it looks funny! Why is AIM an option? It doesn't even exist anymore?)
Quote: "Trilogies have a horrible tendency to not need to be trilogies, and the second book ends up plotless and mostly functioning as a bridge between the other two".
DeleteLOL, I haven't read that many trilogies to be honest, and it looks like I got lucky with the ones I did read, so I don't know - but "middle book syndrome" must be a real thing, since lots of people (you among them) mention it. Duologies seem to work well though - I've read a couple so far, one spectacular (Dark Passages by Ilsa J. Bick) and one very good (When We Wake by Karen Healey). The only long series I've read is Thirst, and I may be biased, but I feel like you do about that one - even when Pike pulls some weird move (like what he did with Seymour when the original series got more sequels), I'm hooked.
About the login problem...I had to turn off the Anonymous comment option, because I was getting too much spam that didn't get filtered (apparently, Blogger decided I got popular and every comment was legit). But I saw you use a Blogger profile account before? That one should still work the same...I don't know what you see now when you try to comment - the option I have turned on is "Registered users"...Sorry if I caused any inconvenience. I only hope it doesn't discourage legit would-be commenters from engaging...
The duologies I can think of off the top of my head (Six of Crows, The Girl From The Well, Anna Dressed in Blood) worked really well. I think more series writers should consider them, especially for readers who like faster moving plots. No matter how weird Thirst gets, I'm pretty sure I'd still read it no matter what. xD
ReplyDeleteAhh, spam is never fun! You're totally fine. I don't think I do have a Blogger account. The options are Google, LiveJournal, WordPress, TypePad, AIM, and OpenID. I've never even heard of some and had no idea LiveJournal was still active. xD It's not a big deal. It was just confusing in the moment because I don't really use any of those things.
Ah, yes, I forgot Anna (though the second installment didn't do much for me, to be honest)...and TGFTW is still on my TBR list! (Getting there...slowly 😅).
DeleteGranted, Blogger has been acting weird lately. For a few weeks I've ended up in Blogger jail (as my friend Karen calls it) on 3 different blogs...then I got "rehabilitated" 😂. While comments who look like spam a mile away regularly end up with the legit ones waiting to be approved on my blog (and my spam folder stays empty). I don't really know what TypePad is myself LOL. Live Journal and AIM ARE a bit dated - maybe Blogger needs to get a grip 😂 (though it's still more tolerant than Tumblr...). Well, at least there's OpenID, that apparently is an open source model, and isn't owned by any corporation...
I read a lot of short horror which is mostly stand-alone but I also enjoy a well put together series where you really get to love the characters. I think I'm happy as long as there are good plots and characters, regardless of series or standalone.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree 🙂.
DeleteI prefer standalones, but that's because my reading isn't organised enough to commit to a series. I usually start by finding a middle volume in a charity shop, then spiral out for a couple more, then get distracted and forget to search out the end (or the beginning!) of the series!
ReplyDeleteHa! That's a valid reason to prefer standalone. I'm the opposite of you though, sort of a control freak...so I can't even imagine doing that LOL.
DeleteStandalones for me. I prefer properly wrapped up standalones than series that are dragged through book after book just for the sake of it. When it comes to series, I usually prefer trilogies or duologies. Almost never long series, mainly because I'm so impatient and the wait usually kills either me or my anticipation...oops.
ReplyDeleteWith series I did mean trilogies, quadrilogies at most...I wasn't even thinking as far as the seemingly neverending ones LOL. (Personally, I only made an exception for the Thirst series by Christopher Pike...). The fact is, most stories don't even need to be expanded into so many books, and they do drag. Or the next installments ruin what good there was in Book 1 sometimes. Then again, being picky, I usually don't get disappointed by series. But I see the appeal of a well-wrapped standalone!
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