# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/21 "2017-06-28T23:48:01Z")
David Brin. It wasn’t a specific series but his novels in general. He released _Kiln People_ in 2002. He then took a ten year break before releasing _Existence_. And he hasn’t released another novel in the five years since. In the first nineteen years of his career (1980-1999) he released twelve novels. In the second eighteen years of his career (2000-2017) he released two novels. As far as I know, he’s never given a reason why he decided to cut back so severely. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/22 "2017-06-29T00:02:49Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Also, the elephant in the room, George R.R. Martin. Martin has admitting he abandons series. He says he gets bored. He wrote that he’ll think of an idea for a series and it will inspire him. So he’ll start writing with great enthusiasm. But that initial wave of enthusiasm soon burns out and he has nothing left but the hard work of grinding out the series one book or one story after another. Meanwhile, he’ll come up with a new idea for a different series. And he’ll compare the enthusiasm he feels for the new series with the apathy he now feels for the existing series - and then he’ll start working on the new series and effectively abandon the old one. He justifies this by saying he produces better work when he’s enthused by a project than when he’s forcing himself to write. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/23 "2017-06-29T00:19:51Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > 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. ☹ He’s also my nominee for abandoning the Empire of Man series. He writes the outlines, and John Ringo takes it from there. I love that series, but Weber won’t write any more outlines. (I’m sure Ringo could handle the entire load but contracts.) > [@Oredigger77](#): > > 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. In this time period Jim Butcher also got divorced, finished his second book series, found a new love, and got engaged, and started a third series. Prior to now he has been very consistent. I’m going to chalk it up to burn out with a heavy dose of real life getting in the middle. (The [proposal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPoCQgGp4Cw) is adorable.) ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/24 "2017-06-29T00:33:44Z")
James Ellroys American Underworld series. American Tabloid 10/10. First half of The Cold Sox Thousand 10/10…then the second half of that book and Bloods a Rover plotzed. Its also a problem with using historical people in your fiction: You lose freedom to change a characters course. ---
**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 29, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/25 "2017-06-29T00:36:47Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > In this time period Jim Butcher also got divorced, finished his second book series, found a new love, and got engaged, and started a third series. Prior to now he has been very consistent. I’m going to chalk it up to burn out with a heavy dose of real life getting in the middle. (The [proposal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPoCQgGp4Cw) is adorable.) What series did he finish? I generally enjoy his writing and the only finished series I knew of the the Codex and he wrapped that up in 2009. I had no idea on the personal life stuff but that certainly seems like things that could distract you from your day job especially when you don’t really need the money. Hopefully, you’re right that it is an aberration. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/26 "2017-06-29T00:40:16Z")
I don’t blame Butcher for abandoning Dresden. It has been floundering, and trying to top the previous book every time gets really old after what - 15 of them? That’s what happens when there’s one storyline and one main character in the series. Compare/contrast with Iain M. Banks or Peter F. Hamilton where they didn’t have to wrack their brains about how to do something even more exciting in their next book. I wish he’d just write the finale and be done with it already. A good series is like a good sitcom - it can end in good time or jump the shark. ---
**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 29, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/27 "2017-06-29T00:44:12Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > 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. ☹ He finished the Safehold series, but judging by the last book he lost interest in it as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/28 "2017-06-29T01:15:50Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > What series did he finish? I generally enjoy his writing and the only finished series I knew of the the Codex and he wrapped that up in 2009. I had no idea on the personal life stuff but that certainly seems like things that could distract you from your day job especially when you don’t really need the money. Hopefully, you’re right that it is an aberration. Crap - you’re right about Alera. I guess I just remember it fondly. Time flies. :smack: OK - He had Skin Game (Dresden) and Aeronaut’s Windlass (Cinder Spires) in 2015. Nothing in 2016. Nothing 2017. Personal stuff as above. I think he’s just been taking some me time. He’s starting to pop up more on twitter, he’s started working on the next book. Promising signs. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/29 "2017-06-29T01:17:19Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > 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. ☹ Yeah, even the last few “new” books in the series have been mostly a retelling of the same events from a slightly different POV. Sad! ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/30 "2017-06-29T01:20:01Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > 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 only fair, since I got bored with it three books ago. ---
**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 29, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/31 "2017-06-29T01:26:10Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Crap - you’re right about Alera. I guess I just remember it fondly. Time flies. :smack: > > OK - He had Skin Game (Dresden) and Aeronaut’s Windlass (Cinder Spires) in 2015. Nothing in 2016. Nothing 2017. He’s got some short works coming out this summer, along with involvement in card games and an RPG. [See here](http://www.jim-butcher.com/faq/upcoming-works). Dresden Files, Cinder Spires, and an anthology are in the works but dates to be determined. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/32 "2017-06-29T02:15:17Z")
Patrick O’Brien went guns a blazing for 20 Aubrey/Maturain novels then quit abruptly with an outline of the 21st. Some people would say dying is a good excuse. Not me dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/33 "2017-06-29T02:42:04Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Christopher Stasheff, David Gerrold and Jerry Pournelle have all abandoned series in mid-arc. I **wish** S. M. Sterling would. No, no. Gerrold _ **swore** _ that if Obama was elected for a second term, the next Cthorr book would be out before he left office. So, golly–it _has_ to have come out before Jan 20, 2017. :rolleyes: Some poster who was with Tor books (? I think) used to post here and he was pretty optimistic that the next Cthorr book was just about at the final about-to-be-turned-in stage, so Gerrold was apparently lying to Tor too. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/34 "2017-06-29T14:14:38Z")
> [@Mr.Goob](#): > > Patrick O’Brien went guns a blazing for 20 Aubrey/Maturain novels then quit abruptly with an outline of the 21st. > > Some people would say dying is a good excuse. Not me dammit. Same with Avram Davidson’s Peregrine sequence. Twenty five years after reading Peregrine Primus, I discovered that there was a Peregrine Secondus. Only after reading that did I discover that there was supposed to be a third which was never written ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/35 "2017-06-29T14:28:06Z")
Ed McBain always said the last volume in his 87th Precinct Mysteries would be EXIT. He died without writing it. DAMN. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/36 "2017-06-29T15:00:46Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > 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_. If we’re counting wandering off **mentally** , the poster child for that is Dave Sim and _Cerebus_. Started off light, got serious, then went very, very wrong. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > 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. Well, poop. I was hoping for the other two SoG books too. I’d rather have them than yet other Thursday Next one, to be honest; I think there’s a shark circling very near the ramp there. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/37 "2017-06-29T15:32:08Z")
I had to check Wikipedia to see if Orson Scott Card ever finished his “Alvin Maker” series. Apparently he still plans to, but it’s been 14 years and counting since the last book was published. ---
**Author:** ![moojja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@moojja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moojja)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/38 "2017-06-29T19:40:52Z")
> [@Mr.Goob](#): > > Patrick O’Brien went guns a blazing for 20 Aubrey/Maturain novels then quit abruptly with an outline of the 21st. > > Some people would say dying is a good excuse. Not me dammit. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/39 "2017-06-29T20:18:24Z")
> [@moojja](#): > > I agree. Meh, he killed off some good characters, and ran out of the Napoleonic Wars. Edwin Thomas did three very good books of a Nautical Flashman, tricked and coerced into working for the Post Office (the intelligence agency of the British during the Napoleonic Wars) and coming out a very unhappy hero. He achieved his ambition, commanding a prison hulk where he could keep his girlfriend in his cabin. Thomas’ editors quit accepting them. He writes in another genre now. - The Blighted Cliffs, Chains of Albion \*and _Treason’s River._ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092/40 "2017-06-29T22:12:54Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I had to check Wikipedia to see if Orson Scott Card ever finished his “Alvin Maker” series. Apparently he still plans to, but it’s been 14 years and counting since the last book was published. If it ends up going the way his more recent books on “Ender’s Universe” have gone, it’d be better if he didn’t. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-that-wandered-off-mid-series/790092.md?page=3)