Book series that go on too long

[JoeZhang]

What book series do you think should finish or simply went on too long?

For me, Robert B. Parker's Spenser simply went on way too long, Spenser becomes increasingly smug, and with ever more sugary rubbish about how lovely Susan Silverman is. Equally, the later Parker books are fairly awful and not a patch on the first few.

What about you?

 

[Captaindemotion]

I love Stephen Hunter's series of books featuring Earl Swagger (set in the 1940s and 50s) and then his son Bob Lee, which spanned from the 1960s to the present day. However, the last two with Bob Lee which I read, the 47th Samurai and I Sniper, just didn't meet the (admittedly very high) standard of the earlier ones.

Samurai made the mistake of taking Bob Lee out of his natural environment and transplanting him to Japan. It also had the unlikely plot of the 60-something Bob Lee mastering the samurai sword by dint of watching movies and then taking on a much younger Japanese man who'd been trained in these arts since childhood. Don't think it'd be much a spoiler to ask you to guess who won...

In I-Sniper, which at least took Bob Lee back to his usual terrain, Hunter sadly allowed his right-wing politics to get in the way of a good story. Now, it was always evident that he wasn't a bleeding heart liberal but he wrote so goddamned well, that even a dyed-in-the-wool leftie like me didn't give a crap. Unfortunately, I-Sniper missed no opportunity to take pops at the 'librul meeja' and naive liberals in general, that it overwhelmed an otherwise strong narrative.

I think between those two novels, there was another, set in the world of Nascar racing, which I haven't read but which apparently was no great shakes either. Shame, because the earlier books were brilliant.

 

[Goliath]

Just about anything by Harry Turtledove.

 

[Admiral Shran]

The Wheel of Time.

I loved how we were supposed to get the final book after Jordan's death, but instead Sanderson went right back to the standard "just three more books" routine.

 

[JoeZhang]

I love Stephen Hunter's series of books featuring Earl Swagger (set in the 1940s and 50s) and then his son Bob Lee, which spanned from the 1960s to the present day. However, the last two with Bob Lee which I read, the 47th Samurai and I Sniper, just didn't meet the (admittedly very high) standard of the earlier ones.

Interesting to know as I've just started reading that series (the Bob Lee one).

 

[23skidoo]

I personally haven't come across one that, for me, was too long - Harry Potter was just about right. There are ones that I feel shouldn't be artificially extended - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy being a good one; nothing against the author who wrote the new book, which I hear is a good one, but it should have ended when Douglas Adams was no longer available. But my father grew tired of the Shannara series by Terry Brooks. He followed that thing for years and years (it became something of a Christmas tradition that'd I'd buy him the new book) until a couple years ago he basically said "enough" as yet another trilogy or whatever started and my father was no longer interested in having to wait a year in between chapters.

I'm all for long-form storytelling, and writers who create and maintain a fictional universe on their own (Pratchett comes to mind) but you do run that risk especially since - out of obvious necessity - there's a year or more's gap between books.

Alex

 

[Captaindemotion]

I love Stephen Hunter's series of books featuring Earl Swagger (set in the 1940s and 50s) and then his son Bob Lee, which spanned from the 1960s to the present day. However, the last two with Bob Lee which I read, the 47th Samurai and I Sniper, just didn't meet the (admittedly very high) standard of the earlier ones.

Interesting to know as I've just started reading that series (the Bob Lee one).

I personally prefer the Earl novels and then there's Black Light, which is cross-generational and features both. When the series is at its best, it's got some of the finest action scenes in writing. Funny enough, the only one of the classic novels I haven't read is Point of Impact, which was filmed as the disappointing Shooter, with Mark Wahlberg.

Happy reading!

 

[sojourner]

Pretty much all of Piers Anthony's series. He really runs his concepts into the ground.

 

[RandyS]

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order. If there are more, I have encountered them so far. You could make the argument that Isaaic Asimov's "Future history" series (Foundation, Empire, Robots) is another, but in that case, those books were originally written to be their own series and can be read that way.

 

[Skywalker]

The Wheel of Time.

I loved how we were supposed to get the final book after Jordan's death, but instead Sanderson went right back to the standard "just three more books" routine.

I think that would have happened even if Jordan hadn't passed. I'll bet it was the publisher's idea more than Sanderson's. Kind of like the latest trend in movies based on bestselling novels, where studios have started splitting books into two films to milk it for as long as possible.

 

[Kirkman1987]

Dune. Just stop already.

 

[stj]

First, some oldie moldies, E.E. "Doc" (the "Doc" is compulsory) Smith's series, all of them, the Skylark series, the Lensman series and, for completists, the Subspace Engineers series. Doc Smith proves that in SF nothing ever dies, no matter how bad, because Nostalgia Rulz!

Spenser, you say? Please, that's one of the best lasting series detectives written. All mystery series detectives see their better days soon behind them. Most indeed only have one really good novel in them. Even Sherlock Holmes suffered from open ended serialization. Would that most series detectives were still as readable as Spenser. Or Aurelio Zen, who's made a comeback (since Michael Dibdin's estate was probated?) Even Zen should have stopped.

Going back to SF, Dragonriders of Pern wasn't so good I thought and every novel thereafter should have been aborted.

Even more controversially, the Foundation Trilogy should've been.

I will second Dune, but add that it's not just Brian and Kevin J. Anderson at fault. Frank took that sucker to the well too often on his own.

The Riverworld series should have been dammed.

I can't say from my own reading but do fans of Captain Future and Perry Rhodan really like the later novels/stories as well?

A. Bertram Chandler's Commodore Grimes and E.C. Tubbs Dumarest series were barely readable and bloating them hurt even more.

I couldn't even read Dan Simmons' Hyperion series.

Actually, the only SF series I know of without rumbles from the fans are C.J. Cherryh's Downbelow series. Which I am not going to start because it's too damn long and the success rate in series is so damned low. Still, it would be interesting to know what fans here think of it (if there are any.)

 

[scnj]

There are ones that I feel shouldn't be artificially extended - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy being a good one; nothing against the author who wrote the new book, which I hear is a good one, but it should have ended when Douglas Adams was no longer available.

I thought this at first, but book six was better than books four and five. I really recommend giving it a go.

 

[Admiral_Young]

@Admiral James Kirk that isn't quite accurate Sanderson split the final book up into a trilogy because it was simply too big to publish as one volume. There was a LOT Of material still left to cover. I will agree that it is also a case of Tor wanting to cash in as much as possible. The wait between the last two books has been the longest since he succeeded RJ. The first two were a year apart.

I would also agree that WOT has gone on way too long. I think it was originally planned for a ten book series. Sanderson in my opinion has done an excellent job of streamlining things and getting to the point while still capturing RJ's writing style. Something that Pink and the Brain...errr Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert weren't able or chose not to do with their "Dune" books.

The Sword of Truth series went on too long for my liking.

 

[Procutus]

Back in the 80s, I was a big fan of James P. Hogan's 'Giants' trilogy; the first three novels fit together nicely, but the later two additions just seemed to be stretching the concept a bit, especially with the time-travel involved in 'Mission to Minerva'.

That said, the series overall remains one of my favorite sci-fi book series. Hogan wrote a number of thought-provoking novels, and I was greatly saddened at his passing.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Even more controversially, the Foundation Trilogy should've been.

I agree the Foundation Trilogy should have stayed a trilogy. It's not like the last two books ended the series either (even if it ended Seldon's Plan, that just led to a bigger thing). That being said, Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth are good sci fi books (until you get to the long exposition with robots), they just aren't in the same spirit as the trilogy. I haven't read the two prequels, though, so I can't comment on them.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I always thought the Thieve's World "series" went on too long.

The early ones all had great stories, the later ones, not so much.

I could never read the entire series, but what do y'all think of the Dune books? Too much or just right?

I'm not certain I ever got around to reading the fourth Foundation book. Definitely did the trilogy.

 

[Australis]

Spider Robinson's Callahan series. Anything after Lady Slings The Booze (not strictly a Callahan novel but you know what I mean).

 

[Admiral Shran]

Kind of like the latest trend in movies based on bestselling novels, where studios have started splitting books into two films to milk it for as long as possible.

Oh, I agree that the only reason they're doing that is to milk as much money out of the property as possible. But, I have to say that I'm enjoying it.

IMO, translating a book, especially a long one, into a movie that is at most three hours long just isn't right. Splitting it into two movies which are each around two and one half hours is much better, as it allows more of the source material to be included. Personally, I think it's what they should have been doing with the Harry Potter franchise since at least book four.

 

[Lookingglassman]

Harry Potter