Web sites for Authors should be required...

[ancientone51]

To have a page that will print out a nice list of all books and a list of the order in which to read all those books.

Especially if an author writes more than one series of books.

And each series should have its own space.

I've tried to find some lists on some authors' sites and they may have a read order list, but they don't have a "print text" page.

And then you go to cut/pate and it takes a better techno genius than myself forever to get it readable after it is transferrd from their busy backgroud to a printable format.

Small gripe, but has anyone wlse had this sort of gripe with their favorite authors sites?

It's really bad when you discover a new name and find all the bookd at Half-Price or such and then can't figure it out except by copywrite dates.

Okay...I obviously have too much summer vacation time set aside for reading.

Discuss if you have an opinion.

 

[Smiley]

Find their name on Amazon, and filter the list of books by publication date. Read the books in that order. You can do this very easily, and the author can spend the time/money they would have spent changing their website on actual writing of new material.

 

[ancientone51]

I'll try that but it doesn't help with no longer in print books...and that's where some of the holes in the order show up...while you hit all the used stores to find them.

 

[Christopher]

"Required?" I don't know about that. Sometimes there's no absolutely right order to read the books in. Sometimes there's more than one order that can work. Often, an author's works are mostly or entirely standalone books and it doesn't matter what order you read them in; it makes no sense to "require" a policy to be followed by those to whom it doesn't even apply.

Although usually in a series of books, it should be taken as read that the publication order is the preferred order, even if that's out of chronological sequence. For instance, McCaffrey's Dragonsdawn is set centuries before her original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy, but works best if you've already read the trilogy and understand what things are being set in motion or explained.

Anyway, it's usually possible to find online resources (Wikipedia articles, fan sites, etc.) giving the internal chronology for an ongoing series if the author doesn't provide it. And if chronology is important to an ongoing series, a chronological chart will often be provided within one or more of the books themselves. (For instance, the chronology of Niven's Known Space is published in the Tales of Known Space collection, and the chronology of Poul Anderson's Technic History is found in both The Earth Book of Stormgate and The Long Night.)

 

[shivkala]

I wouldn't mind seeing a version of the Internet Movie Database for books. It would be nice to have one site to go to in order to find out other books an author wrote, who illustrated pictures, what other books they've done illustrations for, the year the book first was published, who published it, etc.

 

[Christopher]

Well, there's this:

The Internet Speculative Fiction Database

I wouldn't be surprised if there were similar things for other genres such as mystery.

 

[captcalhoun]

you can also try using Wikipedia. They often have pages on book series listing them in either publication or reading order (or both)

 

[ancientone51]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I ws in a gripy mood because I had found some books someone here had recommended.
I couldn't remember who and I couldn't find out where the book I got from one series fit into the series.

It started off as if it were the first episode after a cliff hanger...I'll do some more digging and figure it out.

Thanks

 

[Starbreaker]

Well, there's this:

The Internet Speculative Fiction Database

I wouldn't be surprised if there were similar things for other genres such as mystery.

You beat me to it.

www.fantasticfiction.co.uk is also a great resource (for anyone).