True enough. I was thinking of a series as a bunch of books that really can’t be read as free-standing books, independent of the others. Like O’Brian’s books (well, I guess they can be read independently, but they assume knowledge of things that happened and characters that were introduced in prior volumes).
A series which I certainly like; but with considerable reservations. I love the essential premise, and the main characters and the milieu in which the books’ events take place; but there’s just so much of it all ! Multiple sub-plots with a multitude of characters, and a vast amount of background information: the author’s historical research is impressive and admirable; but – accuse me if you wish, of having a pathetic attention-span – the sheer volume and quantity has always been greater than I’ve been comfortable with. Although much liking the basics of the series; with all of the most recent few books in it, I’ve done a fair bit of skipping.
I’ve enjoyed – and found altogether more manageable – the author’s essentially crime / mystery novels and novellas featuring Lord John Grey: a prominent and sympathetic character in the “Outlander” series; but these books with him as hero, stand outside and independent of the series.
Sattua, I take it that your regret at your nearing the end, refers just to the end of the series so far – IIRC, it’s got only to the early stages of the War of Independence. I learn that another novel in the series, is due out next year…
Yeah, but she never talks about the difficulty of disposing of giant piles of dragon shit. 
My favorites on that list are Vorkosigan and Temeraire. I did a re-read of all the Vorkosigan books last year and still found them utterly absorbing.
I really liked the Felix Castor books and Butler’s Patternmaster books.
I think I’m going to like the Discworld books, although I’ve only read a few. I started with Guards! Guards!, and it’s still my favorite so far.
I loved the first of Kage Baker’s books about The Company, In the Garden of Iden, but the rest of the series has been uneven.
There is a lot of it, but I cut my literary teeth on Victorian triple-deckers (and 18th century ones… so far I’ve read every novel mentioned in the Outlander books, ha!), so pretty much any 20th century novel is insanely entertaining to me. And GRRM hardened me to long books with many plots and characters to keep track of. I’m just enjoying the long, slow trudge through Gabaldon, in no hurry to finish it all. And yes, by sorry to reach the end, I mean the end of what’s currently available. The publishing date of the eighth book in the series was recently pushed back from March to June, ogdarnit.
Including “Don Quixote”? My hat’s off to you.
Agreed, they did tend to be wordy in past centuries – though maybe not always going into such multitudinous by-paths as our Diana does. (Unless they were Victor Hugo – I struggled a couple of hundred pages into Les Miserables, and then gave in, and baled out.)
Come June if that’s what it turns out to be, I shall no doubt get the next volume – and skip a good deal of it…
Agreed, but this thread is mostly people geeking out about Fantasy/SF, rather than mysteries, so non-SF observations probably won’t get much traction. I’ve got Connelly’s **Black Box **sitting on my desk now, about to be devoured.
I think Richard Bolitho is much better.
In the realm of SF, there is always the Sten Chronicles by Chris Bunch and Alan Cole. If only for the recipes (and the shaggy alien stories Alex tells).
Some helpful insights here…brief responses that I will extend later (I’m at BWI awaiting a flight).
No, I think it did wrap up well at 5, and I think Carey leaves well enough alone if he never goes back to it.
That’s exactly what I thought it might be! Your and Little Nemo’s comments are reassuring, so I’ll continue the series.
This and the other Temeraire responses may move this to the bottom of the list.
I forgot about this series, the first five books are fantastic. But I do think it should have ended there.
Thanks everyone, and happy Thanksgiving.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. The audiobooks read by the author are mesmerizing, but the movie (The Golden Compass) with Nicole Kidman was lame.
They do get a bit anvilicious, though, and (IMO, of course) slide in quality as the series progresses. Subtle Knife is a bit less wonderful than Golden Compass, and Amber Spyglass is a bit less wonderful still. But they’re a good read for all that.
I suggest you skip ahead in the series to A Civil Campaign and Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance. They are each different books from the rest, and a lot of fun. If you like those, you can fill in the rest at your leisure. Or not. I love the entire series, and have trouble not grabbing one off my shelf when I walk by. If you don’t care for them as much, de gustibus …
I don’t think it’s a good idea to skip Memory–it’s a pretty major development in the series, and really needs to be read in its proper place in the chronology. (And I wouldn’t advise reading A Civil Campaign before reading Komarr either.)
I am fond of Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series. For years he managed one a year.
The theme is crime/psychology.
But it’s possible to do so. You miss a lot of details, but that’s what happens when you skip around in a series. I think Bujold provides just enough background in easch book that it can pretty much be read stand-alone. And A Civil Campaign and Captain Vorpatil’s Alliance are so much fun - a disasterous dinner party, a food fight, a problem with moles at ImpSEC, getting to see Ivan’s “hidden shallows” (because Bujold said he does not have hidden depths). Fun!
Winston Graham’s Poldark series. The TV adaptation was so perfectly cast, I can’t read the books without picturing Robin Ellis, Angharad Rees, et al.
I quite liked the one Crowner John mystery that I’ve read so far. I hope that the other books in Bernard Knight’s series are as good.
George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series, which ended with the death of the author, but with numerous other stories hinted at for the future, such as Flashy appearing as a spy for both the Confederacy AND the Union in the Civil War. He referred to Abraham Lincoln as a “genial blackmailer”, which implied at least one book, maybe more. Also wasn’t there a mention of Flashy at the Boxer Rebellion?
Just “IMHO”, and many fans feel otherwise; but I greatly liked A Civil Campaign, except for the food fight, and the latter stages of the dinner party – which parts of the book I found cringe-makingly, embarrassingly silly and over-the-top. I rather wish overall, that LMB had never thought of those bloody butterbugs…
An ex-GF of mine was gaga about them. I don’t think I even finished the first book. I should try again some time.
**
YES.** (can you tell I’m gaga for those ?).
It’s a big series, but there’s not really much continuity going on - events from prior books might be referred to or joked about, and of course the outcome of one book will somehwat impact the opening of the next within that particular sub-setting of DW, but you won’t be lost picking one at random the way you would by picking, like, a Batman comic or watching an episode from the middle of the 3rd season of The Wire. There’s no need for confusing “Previously, on THE DISCWORLD” opening montages 
The sprawl is further limited by the thing I alluded to earlier : it’s not one continuous series. There are a few stand-alone ones (like Mort or Moving Pictures) and the rest can be divided into :
- the Watch books (which follow a bunch of guards slash cops and typically parody murder mysteries & police procedurals)
- the Rincewind books (which follow one inept and cowardly wizard and parody high fantasy)
- the Witches books (Shakespeare send-up turned philosophickal)
- the Susan books (more meta, typically deconstructive be it of rock music, fairy tales or death itself) and recently
- the Moist von Lipwig books (which are “how things were in the 18th/19th century that got us where we are today” : the birth of modern banking, modern journalsim, modern postal systems & internet, and now taxation. But, y’know, fun :)).
He’s also got a side business in the Tiffany Aching books, which are a sort of spin-off the Witches books but technically written for children/young adults. They’re still a lot of fun.
FTR, I wouldn’t necessarily read them in chronological order : the first books are not all that in retrospect and it was some time before Pterry found his groove in the “sneakily telling serious things about important topics and being a big softy under the camouflage of hilariously funny stuff, silly puns and extensive footnotes” niche.
I’d open up with Mort, Guards ! Guards !, Wyrd Sisters or possibly even Reaper Man.
Yes, indeed: also, mentions of his having spent time in Australia; and IIRC, having been involved in the catastrophic episode of the Mexican Empire under Maximilian. In fact, he seemingly played a part in every major historical event (and some minor ones) world-wide, from about 1840 to the turn of the century. Any one person’s genuinely “being in everything” this way, would be highly implausible; one has to remind oneself now and again, that the Flashman books are basically satire and humour, though with many serious insights.