# What are your favorite series novels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [January 26, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646 "2024-01-26T02:18:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/21 "2024-01-26T13:41:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout. Haven’t read a new (to me) one for years. Great series, wonderful writing. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/22 "2024-01-26T14:01:59Z")
The ehh… Drink name series by J.A. Konrath. It’s about a tough as nails police detective and her somewhat bumbling but competent partner. Not in any particular order, they are all good. - Whiskey Sour - Shaken - Chaser - Old Fashion etc… ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/23 "2024-01-26T14:15:21Z")
The _Wallander_ series by Henning Mankell. About a dozen novels, plus a few short stories. The main character is a police detective in Sweden who investigates horrible murders. I think what I like about these books is that they work on three levels. There is the crime itself and the team that works to solve it. Then there is the personal story of Wallander and his troubled relationships. Finally, there are the broader issues of what has gone wrong in modern life. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2024, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/24 "2024-01-26T14:30:23Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > _Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn_ by Tad Williams. I am restlessly waiting for _The Navigator’s Children_, which should finally wrap up his whole Osten Ard tales in 9 books. I enjoyed the _Bobby Dollar_ stuff too. I enjoy Bujold’s _Virkosigan_ and _Pen and Des_ stuff quite a lot too. I could list a dozen or more other series too. But I’d have to wrack my brain and check my library (paper & electronic) to remember them all. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/25 "2024-01-26T14:44:21Z")
LOTR of course The Vorkosigan Saga by L.M. Bujold The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/26 "2024-01-26T14:50:23Z")
I really need to read more than a couple of _Discworld_s. I know I shouldn’t start at book one and just plow through, but my brain probably wouldn’t let me do it any other way. I’m on the fourth _Game of Thrones_ book at the moment, susprised it took me so long, but fantasy really intimidates me. I still haven’t even tried _LotR_ or _Dune_, but the latter will happen soon, I think. Going to rewatch all three film/TV adaptations before the new movie comes out as well. _Harry Potter_, obviously (with a tinge of sadness at Rowling’s later TERFiness). I even have three editions of the first book, as I have the Welsh and Scots translations. Not terribly proud of it, but I did read and collect every single _Remo Williams - The Detroyer_ novel. And the first hundred or so _Mack Bolan - The Executioner_. For the latter, there was a used bookstore that had pretty much all of them for a buck or two apiece and they were a decent diversion on the bus to and from my summer job a decade or two before smart phones. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/27 "2024-01-26T15:01:10Z")
Ed McBain wrote umpteen police procedurals about the 87th Precinct. Each one getting longer and more violent as time went by. (There would have been no NYPD Blue without the 87th Precinct.) Robert Crais writes LA private investigator novels centered around Elvis Cole and his strange partner Joe Pike. Ruth Rendell wrote many novels featuring British Inspector Wexford (also a PBS tv series) James Lee Burke wrote countless novels featuring Dave Robicheaux, a Louisiana - you guessed it - detective battling really bad guys. There are more, but I’ve read every one of these books by every author. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/28 "2024-01-26T15:04:26Z")
The Jason Bourne novels written by Robert Ludlum. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/29 "2024-01-26T15:22:02Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > > [@AHunter3](#): > > > > The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. > > Do you watch the show? Big fans in our household, been watching since the first episode. It will air its final season in 2025. We do when we can. Since they relocated to Starz, we have to wait until they’re available on either library DVD or postfacto on Netflix. So we’re at least a season behind. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/30 "2024-01-26T16:01:20Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > We do when we can. Since they relocated to Starz, we have to wait until they’re available on either library DVD or postfacto on Netflix. So we’re at least a season behind. Netflix has a strange deal with Outlander. They are WAY behind. Usually, you get the previous season around the time the new season is coming. With Outlander, they are 1.5 seasons behind now. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2024, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/31 "2024-01-26T16:04:24Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > James Lee Burke wrote countless novels featuring Dave Robicheaux, a Louisiana - you guessed it - detective battling really bad guys. Those are good! ---
**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:** [January 26, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/32 "2024-01-26T16:06:30Z")
Discworld The Destroyer (Who is this dog meat that challenges me?) Sten Bob & Nikki (Bob’s Saucer Repair) The Chronicles of Luna City Lots more. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/33 "2024-01-26T16:24:21Z")
Think I mentioned them on the other thread, too, but in the interest of consistency… _The Honor Harrington/Honorverse_ series by David Weber, some real good Hard SF Space Opera featuring a female lead. Sort of left hanging for now, don’t know if he’ll ever continue it or not (rumor was his daughter was going to take it over, but…). _The Ring of Fire/1632_ series by Eric Flint, tragically cut short by the Author’s death; the spinoffs by other writers/collaborators were from good to fair, but the initial trilogy (1632, 1633, and 1634: The Baltic War) are worth reading. Another Rex Stout fan here, and… > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Excellent stuff. What do think of Robert Goldsborough? I recently read “Archie Goes Home” wherein Archie visits his Mother in the Mid West. It is ridiculous, of course. Archie has no Mother, he sprang fully grown from Wolfe’s forhead. Have read all of Goldsborough’s stuff, he sets things up well and I like his characters, but he seems to meader around the storyline and then suddenly Wolfe solves it, no real leading into it. IMHO as always. For a couple of real oldies that still sit on my shelf, **Lensman** series by E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith and **Doc Savage** by Keith Robeson (among others). ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/34 "2024-01-26T16:30:39Z")
I think I’ll finish it when all the seasons are on Netflix. After Starz removed a series (Dangerous Liasons) after airing all but the last 1-2 episodes, will never subscribe to them again. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/35 "2024-01-26T19:08:50Z")
Discworld ---
**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:** [January 26, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/36 "2024-01-26T20:21:54Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > For a couple of real oldies that still sit on my shelf, **Lensman** series by E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith QX, Slippery Jim! QX!! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/37 "2024-01-26T20:32:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Excellent stuff. What do think of Robert Goldsborough? Meh. The first one was fairly good, but the rest- meh. > [@Chefguy](#): > > The Longmire series by Craig Johnson, although his last offering was poor. I enjoy those also. > [@BlankSlate](#): > > Louise Penny: _Inspector Gamache._ My wife and I enjoy those too. > [@veryfrank](#): > > Not terribly proud of it, but I did read and collect every single _Remo Williams - The Detroyer_ novel. I read many of the early books and they were enjoyable but not memorable. Like the Casca series. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/38 "2024-01-26T20:42:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I read many of the early books and they were enjoyable but not memorable. There were some solid stretches of that series. Towards the mid-nineties, they turned into incomprehensible sci-fi. The series was cancelled then relaunched under a new imprint (not a reboot), but that only lasted four books. Looking back, I didn’t realize at the time just how right-wing reactionary the stories were (even if Remo Williams did shove bits of the Washington Monument up Richard Nixon’s ass to convince him to resign). While I could sympathize with the basic premise of “a secret agency handling the criminals that slip through the justice system, plus the occasional android or rival North Korean superassassin,” the premise did frequently have a tinge of fascism to it. And novels like “Muggers Blood” would definitely find an appreciative audience among today’s alt-right. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/39 "2024-01-26T20:45:08Z")
Patrick O’Brian, Aubrey/Maturin series. Marilynne Robinson, Gilead series (these are not light reading). Sigrid Undset, Kristen Lavransdatter (ditto). LOTR. Narnia Chronicles, back when. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646/40 "2024-01-26T20:46:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Meh. The first one was fairly good, but the rest- meh. He spent a lot of time bringing in stuff Stout wrote, like “the gold book mark a client gave Wolfe so long ago”, perhaps to prove that he actually had read the Stout books. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-series-novels/996646.md?page=3)