# Authors that wandered off mid series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092 "2017-06-28T22:40:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/1 "2017-06-28T22:40:00Z")
So, I was just doing some searching for my favorite authors to see if they’ve released anything for me to add to my summer reading list. Brandon Sanderson? Yep, novel and novella. James Islington? Yep, novel. Craig Schaefer? Yep. Jim Butcher? Nope, . . . Huh, I haven’t read anything by him in a while when is the next one coming out? Ummm . . . he just started on the Dresden Book and the last one was released in 2014 and his last novel period was 2015. Most authors seem to be on an every other year release pattern for large novels while guys like Schaefer that write tiny ones can pump out one per year. I stopped reading George RR Martin when I didn’t remember what had happened in the series anymore when his latest book came out and I didn’t want to deal with rereading it to figure it out and it looks like Sanderson is heading down the same path. What authors do you know that just wandered off and left a series hanging? I wouldn’t count Robert Jordan since he ensured his series could be finished without him. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/2 "2017-06-28T22:45:11Z")
Melanie Fucking Rawn! Some of us have been waiting over 20 years for the third book in her Exiles series… Also, the elephant in the room, George R.R. Martin. And Patrick Rothfuss. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/3 "2017-06-28T22:45:16Z")
Christopher Stasheff, David Gerrold and Jerry Pournelle have all abandoned series in mid-arc. I **wish** S. M. Sterling would. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/4 "2017-06-28T22:50:59Z")
Jasper Fforde has left his Last Dragonslayer and Shades of Gray (_not_ 50) series hanging for a while now, to my annoyment. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/5 "2017-06-28T22:50:59Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > I stopped reading George RR Martin when I didn’t remember what had happened in the series anymore when his latest book came out and I didn’t want to deal with rereading it to figure it out and it looks like Sanderson is heading down the same path. I meant Butcher not Sanderson as an example of someone wandering off. ---
**Author:** ![Marci\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Marci\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marci_Al)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/6 "2017-06-28T22:54:08Z")
The Dune Anthology starting from Book 2. Slightly recovered at Book 4. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/7 "2017-06-28T22:58:29Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Melanie Fucking Rawn! Some of us have been waiting over 20 years for the third book in her Exiles series… > > Also, the elephant in the room, George R.R. Martin. And Patrick Rothfuss. I did mention Martin as an example. I didn’t realize Rothfuss wandered off. He’s been on my list to pick up and give a try too. Thanks for the heads up and why I started the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/8 "2017-06-28T23:00:09Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Christopher Stasheff, **David Gerrold** and Jerry Pournelle have all abandoned series in mid-arc. I **wish** S. M. Sterling would. (bolding mine) I wish I had $10 for every time _A Method For Madness_ was just about to be published. At least Mr. Pournelle has had good excuses for not finishing the last Janissaries novel. I’ll offer up Stephen R. Donaldson’s _The Man Who_ series. I really loved them and he said he was gonna write more, but he hasn’t since 2001. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/9 "2017-06-28T23:04:13Z")
So has Stasheff. According to him, a grand total of 11 of us bought his _Starship Troupers_ books. As much as I’d like the series to continue, the man **does** have to pay his rent.😃 ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/10 "2017-06-28T23:04:56Z")
I came in to mention Gerrold, but people have been using the OP’s phrase to also mean that the series went off the rails despite continuing, so I’ll toss in the “Gor” books. Started out as a decent SF take on “sword and sandals” and degenerated into psychosexual weirdness. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/11 "2017-06-28T23:10:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > At least Mr. Pournelle has had good excuses for not finishing the last Janissaries novel. That fact that he is a stark, raving, bark at the moon lunatic is not an excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/12 "2017-06-28T23:18:59Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > At least Mr. Pournelle has had good excuses for not finishing the last Janissaries novel. > [@silenus](#): > > That fact that he is a stark, raving, bark at the moon lunatic is not an excuse. Perhaps Snowboarder Bo was referring to the stroke Mr. Pournelle suffered? As for Butcher - I don’t view a slowdown (a year gap between novels when we’ve been accustomed to a novel a year) as “wandering off”. Writing a novel is work, and if a prolific author wants to take a break so what? Better that than turning out dreck, or dropping from exhaustion. And if “going off the rails” counts I nominate Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, which went from interesting occult detective and zombie raising to bad fan fic porn after _Obsidian Butterfly_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/13 "2017-06-28T23:23:42Z")
The damn of it is, even if _A Method For Madness_ gets published, that won’t be the end of the series. There are supposed to be two more after that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/14 "2017-06-28T23:23:58Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Perhaps Snowboarder Bo was referring to the stroke Mr. Pournelle suffered? Not buying that one, either. _Storms of Victory_ was published in 1987. Jerry’s stroke was December 2014. Even allowing for him to be distracted by the cancer, that was discovered in 2008. 21 years is without excuse. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/15 "2017-06-28T23:25:57Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Jasper Fforde has left his Last Dragonslayer and Shades of Gray (_not_ 50) series hanging for a while now, to my annoyment. I would think the Shades of Grey was done in by the other title. It’s also possible the book didn’t sell well enough for the publisher to continue the series. That happens sometimes. If the books don’t sell, the publisher drops them. There are also other reasons why a publisher doesn’t continue the series: change of management, different editor etc. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/16 "2017-06-28T23:27:34Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > I did mention Martin as an example. I didn’t realize Rothfuss wandered off. He’s been on my list to pick up and give a try too. Thanks for the heads up and why I started the thread. We’ve been waiting for The Doors of Stone for 6 years now and there’s no indication it’s going to be released in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/17 "2017-06-28T23:29:20Z")
Does The Last Dangerous Visions count? It’s been 44 years! ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/18 "2017-06-28T23:38:51Z")
David Weber has apparently lost interest in the Honor Harrington series, just as he was about to get to the final crux of what caused the whole kerfluffle in the first place. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/19 "2017-06-28T23:45:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s also possible the book didn’t sell well enough for the publisher to continue the series. That happened with the 3rd book in the [Metaplanetary series](http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/cobwebbed-solar-system) (which had one of the craziest basic science errors I’ve ever seen.) ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/20 "2017-06-28T23:47:33Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > As for Butcher - I don’t view a slowdown (a year gap between novels when we’ve been accustomed to a novel a year) as “wandering off”. Writing a novel is work, and if a prolific author wants to take a break so what? Better that than turning out dreck, or dropping from exhaustion. Well, his last Dresden book was released May of '14 considering he just started writing the next one I’d be surprised if it is released before Fall of '18. so that’s a lot more than a year off. Yes, he released a different series in there but that’s at least looking like he’s bored with the Dresden Files. That’s basically the length between Martin’s 3rd & 4th book then Martin went to what 6 years between 4 & 5. I won’t be surprised to see Butcher follow the same path though I agree it’s probably too early to say he’s equally as bad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092.md?page=2)