# Favorite novel series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 6, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191 "2023-12-06T19:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**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:** [December 9, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/102 "2023-12-09T15:09:54Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I tend to disagree. I feel first time readers can start with _Shards of Honor_ or even _The Warrior’s Apprentice_. So does LMB. [Here’s a direct link to her own discussion of the reading order.](http://www.dendarii.com/reading_order.html) She says (with bolding added by me): > [@](#): > > Shards of Honor and Barrayar. The first two books in the series proper, they detail the adventures of Cordelia Naismith of Beta Colony and Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar. Shards was my very first novel ever; Barrayar was actually my eighth, but continues the tale the next day after the end of Shards. **For readers who want to be sure of beginning at the beginning, or who are very spoiler-sensitive, start with these two.** > > The Warrior’s Apprentice and The Vor Game (with, perhaps, the novella “The Mountains of Mourning” tucked in between.) The Warrior’s Apprentice introduces the character who became the series’ linchpin, Miles Vorkosigan; the first book tells how he created a space mercenary fleet by accident; the second how he fixed his mistakes from the first round. Space opera and military-esque adventure (and a number of other things one can best discover for oneself), **The Warrior’s Apprentice makes another good place to jump into the series for readers who prefer a young male protagonist.** > > After that: Brothers in Arms should be read before Mirror Dance, and both, ideally, before Memory. > > Komarr makes another good alternate entry point for the series, picking up Miles’s second career at its start. It should be read before A Civil Campaign. > > Borders of Infinity, a collection of three of the five currently extant novellas, makes a good Miles Vorkosigan early-adventure sampler platter, I always thought, for readers who don’t want to commit themselves to length. (But it may make more sense if read after The Warrior’s Apprentice.) Take care not to confuse the collection-as-a-whole with its title story, “The Borders of Infinity”. > > Falling Free takes place 200 years earlier in the timeline and does not share settings or characters with the main body of the series. **Most readers recommend picking up this story later.** It should likely be read before Diplomatic Immunity, however, which revisits the “quaddies”, a bioengineered race of free fall dwellers, in Miles’s time. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/103 "2023-12-09T15:16:29Z")
Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants, hands down. My Mom was a big fan of David Baldacci, and lived just long enough to read the last book in what was at the time his latest series. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/104 "2023-12-09T21:32:11Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Diana Gabaldon’s _Outlander_ series is among my favorites. My wife loves them, but I couldnt get past the torture. > [@E-DUB](#): > > F. Paul Wilson’s “Repairman Jack” series. Interesting series, we enjoyed it. > [@muldoonthief](#): > > The Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian. Twenty examples of the best historical fiction I’ve ever read. I still re-read it every 4 years or so, I think/hope I’m coming due soon. I still contend that the Hornblower series is better. One thing about O’Brian when you binge re-read his series- having Jack call out Stephen to look at some scrap of sail or vice versa the Doctor pointing out some tiny dot of a rare bird gets old. And O’Brian playing Lucy and the Football with their finances got really old really fast. Still, the series is well done, .and is the second best in that genre. > [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Lee Child _Jack Reacher series_, I loved the series, except where Childs makes horrible errors about guns. > [@jadielyn](#): > > I wish under the “central character” premise that I could recommend the Wild Cards series, edited by George R. R. Martin, It was a shared universe and got way WAY too rapey later on in the series. > [@MrDibble](#): > > Pratchett’s Discworld Excellent choice but no central character- there are three- Wizards, Nightwatch and the Witches. > [@Oswald\_Bastable](#): > > I actually always preferred Ben Aaronovitch _Rivers of London_ books, Fantastic series and very re-readable. > [@Oswald\_Bastable](#): > > Naomi Novik’s _Temeraire_ series Sadly, Noviks started to hero-worship Napoleon and make the brits the bad guys. Dresden files- excellent choice. > [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Just on a tangent, the first season of the recent Reacher Amazon Prime series to The actor there is very believable as Jack. > [@Jack\_Burden](#): > > Also recommend The Flashman Papers by George MacDonald Fraser. Good but uneven. And then of course- the very best mystery series starring the best detective team of all time- Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/105 "2023-12-09T21:39:57Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > I really should read those. The film was brilliant and I wished they’d made more. They’ve definitely missed the boat with the original cast though. Was it a fair representation of the books (if you’ve seen it)? No. Neither main character really resembled the those in the book – Aubrey too dark and bullish, Maturin too sensitive and frail, and neither possessed of the charisma of the originals. There were quite a few ahistorical changes in the plot which really put me off. Despite all this it was a good film. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/106 "2023-12-09T21:44:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Excellent choice but no central character- there are three- Wizards, Nightwatch and the Witches. Well, Death is always there, at least, since Colour of Magic, and could serve as a constant character. But seriously, I consider Discworld qualifies - it just could qualify as 3+ _separate_ series, the ones you mention, plus Death as a probably 4th focus, Moist being a 5th. And a number of largely one-shot novel length stories (Pyramids, Moving Pictures, etc). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/107 "2023-12-09T21:47:11Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > But seriously, I consider Discworld qualifies - i Like i said- an excellent choice. Just that it may not meet the OPs guidelines. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/108 "2023-12-09T21:47:15Z")
Besides the Aubrey-Maturin series, I also have great esteem for Hilary Mantel’s quartet on Thomas Cromwell, advisor to Henry VIII, and the five books Marilynne Robinson set in the very small Kansas town of Gilead between the 1860’s and 1960’s. I don’t keep books any more unless I intend to re-read them, and the only other series on my shelves is the Ursula LeGuin Earthsea set. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/109 "2023-12-09T22:39:23Z")
Series I’ve read and like that I haven’t seen mentioned: Kim Harrison’s _Hollows_ series (urban fantasy that’s titled as parodies of Clint Eastwood movies) Seanan McGuire’s _Wayward Children_ series (she has written/is writing about 4 other series, all of which are entertaining) Faith Hunter’s _Jane Yellowrock_ and _Soulwood_ series, which share a universe and some characters. Scott S. Phillips’ _Pete the Drinker of Blood_ series, featuring a squeamish, lovelorn vampire as the hero ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/110 "2023-12-09T23:03:05Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > What’s that ? Google sent me back here ! I’m pretty sure it’s the Travis McGee series by John D. Macdonald. Unless it’s Fletch. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/111 "2023-12-10T01:17:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sadly, Noviks started to hero-worship Napoleon and make the brits the bad guys. That sounds _interesting_, I love Sharpe, Aubrey-Maturin, and the rest of the Napoleonic historical series, but I confess I stopped reading Sharpe because I was tired of the British always winning, Temeraire didn’t hold my interest when I read the first novel, but I may have to give it another chance… ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/112 "2023-12-10T01:29:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A question for the Vorkosigan fans here, have you read any of Bujold’s other books? If not, I recommend you at least read _The Curse of Chalion_, it’s one of her best books. It’s on my Christmas wish list this year! > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I tend to disagree. I feel first time readers can start with _Shards of Honor_ or even _The Warrior’s Apprentice_. You can, yes, but _Shards of Honor_ is not the best book by a long shot, and _Barrayar_ is one of the best. I would hate for someone to read _Shards of Honor_ and think that is representative of the quality of the series. It’s kind of cool because it tells a different kind of love story with a different kind of couple, and it sets a lot of stuff up, so it’s worth reading IMO, but it doesn’t really reflect the sheer magnitude of awesome that is the series. There are scenes in the _Warrior’s Apprentice_ you can’t appreciate as much if you haven’t read _Barrayar._ I actually didn’t have much use or interest in book series until the Vorkosigan Saga, because I didn’t realize the kind of rich character-building you could do with that format, and the books just get progressively and progressively better, which is the opposite of what you might expect. My favorite book in the series is _Mirror Dance,_ which is entirely dependent on the setup of the previous books before it, #8 in the series, and one of the most beautiful redemption stories ever told. Confession: I still haven’t finished _Cryoburn_ or anything after it. I know what happens in _Cryoburn_ and I cannot deal. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/113 "2023-12-10T01:49:38Z")
Since no one’s mentioned Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins novels yet, I will. Set in L.A. starting in the early 1960’s they provide a very interesting counterpoint to series with white private detective protagonists like Marlowe, Archer or Parker For a different cultural milieu, the Albert Campion novels by Margery Allingham are similar to the Dorothy Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey books, but I found them to have a lighter touch and more fun, if that can be applied to stories of murder. A series that is more an exploration of a time and a class, without any crime or criminal mystery elements, is the “A Dance To The Music Of Time” books by Anthony Powell. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/114 "2023-12-10T02:18:41Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Confession: I still haven’t finished _Cryoburn_ or anything after it. I know what happens in _Cryoburn_ and I cannot deal. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one. 😢 Personally my favorite is Memory, but it’s not in anyway useful as a place to start, more of being the critical point where everything _changes_. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/115 "2023-12-10T02:29:13Z")
_Memory_ is incredible. There’s a certain point you get in the series where it’s just one masterpiece after another. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/116 "2023-12-10T02:57:49Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > You can, yes, but _Shards of Honor_ is not the best book by a long shot, and _Barrayar_ is one of the best. I would hate for someone to read _Shards of Honor_ and think that is representative of the quality of the series. I agree. _Shards of Honor_ is the first book Bujold wrote and she had not hit her peak yet. So it’s not a fair book to judge her overall work by. That said, you really need to read _Shards of Honor_ before _Barrayar_ - the story in _Barrayar_ literally begins the day after the story in _Shards of Honor_ ends. As for the issues you have with _Cryoburn_, you can bypass that book and read _Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance_ which was written after _Cryoburn_ but takes place before _Cryoburn_. And as a bonus, _Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance_ is one of the best books in the series. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/117 "2023-12-10T03:08:16Z")
> [@Oswald\_Bastable](#): > > Naomi Novik’s _Temeraire_ series I enjoyed these, but i don’t think they are here best work. I guess they fit the “series” theme of this thread better than her other stuff (the scholomance trilogy, like the Lord of the Rings, is really one extended story over three books) but it’s SO much better than Temeraire. And her stand-alone mythological stories are awesome. It’s hard for me to think of another author who has written so well in so many different styles. > [@Frodo](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > Sadly, Noviks started to hero-worship Napoleon and make the brits the bad guys. > > That sounds _interesting_, I love Sharpe, Aubrey-Maturin, and the rest of the Napoleonic historical series, but I confess I stopped reading Sharpe because I was tired of the British always winning, Temeraire didn’t hold my interest when I read the first novel, but I may have to give it another Yeah, the moral and political development of the characters, and the stress between patriotism and seeing other countries be better in various ways makes this a much more interesting series than it would otherwise have been. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/118 "2023-12-10T03:23:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _Shards of Honor_ is the first book Bujold wrote and she had not hit her peak yet. So it’s not a fair book to judge her overall work by. That said, you really need to read _Shards of Honor_ before _Barrayar_ - the story in _Barrayar_ literally begins the day after the story in _Shards of Honor_ ends. Then I guess my advice would be, read in the order Bujold recommends, start with _Shards of Honor,_ but don’t stop until you’ve read _Barrayar._ You can start with _Warrior’s Apprentice_ but there’s one scene you’ll feel way harder if you read the other two first (No! Two scenes!) _Warrior’s Apprentice_ will start you at the beginning with the series’ protagonist at least. I’m just pissed because I got a friend to read _Shards of Honor_ and she didn’t like it enough to keep reading one of the best things that has ever happened in science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/119 "2023-12-10T03:29:21Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > _Memory_ is incredible. This. But yes, for Memory to hit as hard as it should you have to have read the previous books, they give **weight** to the characters and their experiences. I would suggest starting with _The Warrior’s Apprentice_, and then either go forward with _The Vor Game_ or go back to _Barrayar_ and _Shards of Honor_depending on whether you’re interested in Miles’ future or his universe’s past. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/120 "2023-12-10T03:33:33Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > But yes, for Memory to hit as hard as it should you have to have read the previous books, they give **weight** to the characters and their experiences. That’s what I meant by not realizing what a series can do as a medium. It’s not just about chronology. Man, I should reread all this. I have to admit I find it hilarious that Miles Vorkosigan, my son’s namesake, is a master at social subterfuge and manipulation, a veritable Machiavellian genius who plays people like violins, and my kid is autistic. But they both have asshole grandfathers, so hey. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191/121 "2023-12-10T03:35:23Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Man, I should reread all this. I do it once per year, I’ll probably start again on March or so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-novel-series/994191.md?page=7)