The TV series MAS*H is wonderful. Certainly, it evolved over time, but I can fall into any episode and it is just as wonderful as if I had never seen it before. It is possibly, IMHO, the greatest TV show ever created.
I’ll mildly disagree on one of the nine. Deighton was overtaken by events (the reunification of Germany) and Spy Sinker sank. It just seemed cobbled together to me. I have a hard time imagining that that was really the story he meant to write.
well, it has been so long since i read them that i cannot comment on one specific book, but my recollection is that sinker is the final installment in the final trilogy and is not really meant to stand alone (i don’t think.)
The one criticism i have of the books is that there is an awful lot of repetition and explication that is totally unnecessary for anyone who has been reading from the beginning, done, I am sure to sell more books. The series, i think could have been compressed into 6 with no loss of effect.
also, i feel confident in saying that deighton probably did not anticipate the reunification of germany when he began the series, so you are probably right in saying that the ending of the story was far different than one he might have been planning.
I’ll nominate Lindsay Davis’ M. Didius Falco books, set in Flavian Rome. Not all are great, of course, but they’re all at least good.
Dante. The Divine Comedy. All 3 are outstanding. While, The Inferno is probably the most widely read, Purgatory and Paradise are of equal quality.
I know it’s frowned on but I have to chime in with a “me too” on Aubrey/Maturin, I love the entire series, and George R R Martin if he can finish off the series with the same quality as the installments so far - excellent.
I will throw out one of my favourites, **Katherine Kerr’s ** Deverry series, IMO she has kept up a great series of novel’s over what is now 12 books. Although I haven’t read # 12 yet.