# Book Series that fizzled as they went on.....(open spoiler alert!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-that-fizzled-as-they-went-on-open-spoiler-alert/331338 "2005-11-16T17:05:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-that-fizzled-as-they-went-on-open-spoiler-alert/331338/81 "2006-01-03T07:25:30Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > Donaldson’s second _Thomas Covenant_ trilogy, people. Just what I came in here to scream. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-that-fizzled-as-they-went-on-open-spoiler-alert/331338/82 "2006-01-03T07:26:48Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Dare I say _Discworld_? The most recent one was very dull indeed. I’ve found them to be on/off for me recently. Loved **Thief of Time** and **Going Postal**. Not so big on **Night Watch** , **Monstrous Regiment** , and **Thud!**. Susan ---
**Author:** ![J.Gelert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/53a042/32.png) [@J.Gelert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J.Gelert)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-that-fizzled-as-they-went-on-open-spoiler-alert/331338/83 "2006-01-03T08:45:05Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ll third this. Wizard’s First Rule was one of the best fantasy novel’s I’ve read. I devoured the last 400 pages in an evening, something I’ve never done before. It was amazing. Guess I might as well fourth the motion. _Wizard’s First Rule_ was amazing, especially so since my sister thought enough of it to read it aloud for the entire family over the course of a long weekend. Last three hundred pages can still make me bawl. Actually, the first five, up till about _Soul of the Fire_ were rather good, but since _Faith of the Fallen_, it’s gone nowhere but down. Goodkind completely turned Richard’s character into a Randian, speechifying, arrogant jerk, to the point where the most recent book was essentially an 800 page speech on the stupidity of…what? I don’t even remember. I’m crossing my fingers that he puts that down for the new one, but I’m not holding my breath. I’ll wait. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-that-fizzled-as-they-went-on-open-spoiler-alert/331338/84 "2006-01-03T09:16:07Z")
Bah. Hitchhiker remained good. So Long and Mostly Harmless were indeed a different kettle of fish, but still brilliant. I also enjoyed the Incarnations stuff by Piers Anthony much longer than most: the series definately went steadily downhill, but the second to last book about Satan actually was fairly interesting in light of the rest of the series. Unfortunately, the last book, the God one, was so boring that I can’t even remember a SINGLE detail about its characters or its plot other than maybe something to do with a whale, a rock band, and the Gaia character. Interestingly enough, I think the boredom factor for that series was in part dierctly correlated with how long it took the characters to become Incarnations. It took progressively longer each book, at least for the first five: more time spent slumming around in the dull lives of a bunch of shapeless malcontents. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-that-fizzled-as-they-went-on-open-spoiler-alert/331338/85 "2006-01-03T10:52:27Z")
**Dune** - books 1-6: Great good so-so uh-oh oh no! what the hell just happened? I’m probably the only person who actually likes the \*\*Dune \*\* prequels, mostly because I prefer to read books which make actual sense, even if they’re not terribly well written. I also feel that Asimov’s **Foundation** series was much, much better at the beginning…you can agree to differ. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2006, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-that-fizzled-as-they-went-on-open-spoiler-alert/331338/86 "2006-01-03T12:27:13Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Unfortunately, the last book, the God one, was so boring that I can’t even remember a SINGLE detail about its characters or its plot other than maybe something to do with a whale, a rock band, and the Gaia character. You’re confusing _And Eternity…_ with _Being A Green Mother_, the one about Nature. The God one had the pedophile judge and teenage hooker. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-that-fizzled-as-they-went-on-open-spoiler-alert/331338/87 "2006-01-03T13:40:25Z")
Ok, so then I really don’t remember ANYTHING about the last one. Just that it was painfully bad. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-that-fizzled-as-they-went-on-open-spoiler-alert/331338/88 "2006-01-03T17:37:34Z")
I’m-a go with Louise Cooper’s **Indigo** series. It started strong and engrossing, and by the time all’s said and done, the the story has abandoned its premise and the conclusion is narrated through the eyes of the main character’s animal companion. Ugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-that-fizzled-as-they-went-on-open-spoiler-alert/331338.md?page=4)