Last week I blogged about falling out with a series before it finished, and why I still engage with the ones I’m still reading.
I had some great responses and it was surprising how many people mentioned the same two or three authors they stopped reading, and considering at least one of the is still an international best seller it did make me wonder if there’s a bit of “ the Emperor’s new clothing” going on with some publishers.
But onto a more positive thing. That blog, and it’s responses got me thinking which are my favourite series, which have concluded, and therefore I know I didn’t, and couldn’t give up on.
The first one that really hooked me was Robert Ludlum’s Bourne Trilogy. In this I only include the three originals written by Ludlum and not the follow on books by, and in collaboration with Eric Van Lustbader.
Those books were huge at well over 500 pages each. The story was continued through each, and never once did I feel that they were being stretched out.
The next series is Stig Larsons Millennium series featuring Lisbeth Salander
I came late to Larrson’s Millennium trilogy, all three had been published, and unfortunately the author himself had died, in what some people considered suspicious circumstances.
Each book could be read as a standalone, but the running theme throughout the three made the series greater than the sum of the individual books.
The books got a bit near the knuckle at times but never stepped over the line into “bad-taste”. I would love to have known if the series might have expanded had Larrson not died.
My final series was the first series that had me queuing up on publication day. Tom Clancy’s Hunt for Red October hooked me straight away and not one of the Jack Ryan books, which were written solely by Clancy disappointed.
Even when Ryans political career took off the books were addictive and believable.
Some of Clancy’s work was frighteningly realistic. Years before the terror attacks of 9/11 he had a rogue terrorist fly an airliner into the Capital Building in Washington DC.
These three series are all brilliant, but they bring another thing to mind.
All of these series were carried on by other people either in collaboration, at first, or after the original authors death.
Not one of those extensions to the series matched up to the original writing. So why sully the memory and reputation of the original series by allowing others to pen lesser work.
nigeladamsbookworm 