[bluewolf]

I wouldnt read them all in a row unless i've just discovered a completed series i love and have to devour. These days it's more likely I find a book then have to wait 2 years for the next one
I usually manage to start a book halfway through the series by accident
I think I started WOT on book 6

[Sin_J]

I tend to like reading a series all in one go. I like it when i start a new series that has a lot of books already written.

The last one i read like that was the Dresden Files, which had 12 books released when i started. Picked up the first book storm front on a whim and 3 weeks later had finished the last book. Loved the character and so just kept reading, i couldn't stop.

Its great to be able to just blitz through them as the story feels a lot more cohesive. This is especially true if you have a series like WoT that has 1 or 2 slightly slower low key books. If you read it all in one go, it just becomes one big story rather than individual books, so the slower pacing isn't as glaring as a standalone bit of reading.

[5starpool]

Originally Posted by bluewolf

I wouldnt read them all in a row unless i've just discovered a completed series i love and have to devour. These days it's more likely I find a book then have to wait 2 years for the next one
I usually manage to start a book halfway through the series by accident
I think I started WOT on book 6

This is like saying you only started watching the simpsons 6 or 7 years ago.

[bluewolf]

Originally Posted by 5starpool

This is like saying you only started watching the simpsons 6 or 7 years ago.

Well i've read all of them of course. In my defense I was in spain at the time and the english section was small I loved it so much I had the cover torn to tatters in no time
When I said I manage to end up starting halfway through a series I mean I read them out of order, not that I don't read the first ones

[Branoic]

When I first started reading Fiest he was up as far as Rise of a Merchant Prince, so I read those 11 books from Magician to there all in one go. Once I caught up with them I just read them as they're published. Up to number 28 now.

[giftgrub]

I started Wheel of Time years ago....but never got into it.

I don't know...I'm slightly reluctant to get into anything longer than a trilogy.

Saying that with Game of Thrones on de telly, I am going to give A song of Fire and Ice a go.

[iguana]

The longest series I've ever read is Katherine Kerr's full Deverry series. 15 books - nearly 16 years or half my life. I read the first 4, the Deverry cycle, in 1995 when I was 16. I read the second 4, the Westlands Cycle in 1996 at 17. Then I read the next 3, the Dragon Mage Cycle, as they were released between 1998 and 2001. And I read the last 4, the Silver Wyrm Cycle, December to January this year.

So I've pretty much read this one series in all the possible ways. I found the 1st cycle years after it was written and read it straight. I used to walk around with all 4 books and read them piled on top of each other as they were 1 1400 page book. I got the 2nd cycle, from my parents for Christmas, several months on and read those straight. Then I had to wait for the 3rd cycle book by book as it was released. And for the last cycle I waited until it was all written and bought them all reading them pretty much straight through.

I'm now re-reading the 1st cylce again and once more I'm keeping the 4 of them together like 1 giant book.

[bluewolf]

I love Katharine Kerr. I think I may have missed out on some of the last books though - have them all over the place and can never remember which is in which cycle

[iguana]

Originally Posted by bluewolf

I love Katharine Kerr. I think I may have missed out on some of the last books though - have them all over the place and can never remember which is in which cycle

The first cycle is mainly Jill and Rhodry's relationship with Nevyn's involvement and the past life stories are all of Nevyn's involvement with them (the only series where he exists in the present). This is the best series by far.

The second is set 40 years on (and spans about 20 years) in the present and is mainly about Dallandra and Evander's attempts to have the Guardian race born as creatures of flesh. Rhodry features a lot but Jill is much lower profile. The past life stories are about them and Aderyn, Rhodry's past, the end of the 100 years civil war and one about Jill and Rhodry during the first series. (This is my least favourite series, I'm not a fan of Dallandra and I don't care about Evander.)

The third has more about the original humans in Deverry, the escaped bondsmen at Cerr Cawnen, and goes into more detail about the horsekin and the gael de thea. The past lives are mainly about the end of the civil war. (I preferred this series to the second.)

The fourth series is about Branna, Neb and Rori. Or at least it's supposed to be. The first book certainly makes it seem that way, unfortunately there is way too much Dallandra at all the other characters' expense. The past lives are a bit muddled, imo. One in particular seemed too much of an unnecessary retcon (the Morwen and Gwairyc one). My other main problem is that I really wanted to experience more of Spoiler: Nevyn/Neb and Jill/Branna as a couple. I wanted to see what happened with Jill and Nevyn after she apprenticed to him, so we could see why she comes to love him. And I wanted to see more of their love as Neb and Branna then we do because as far as we've seen so far Rhodry is her true love not Nevyn. As it was the last past life sequence shows us another Jill/Rhodry love story, set even before the events that set the whole story in motion.

[bluewolf]

It's all coming back to me now - I think I must not have missed anything then. I can't remember when I ended up but what you've said rings a bell, and is quite true.

[Nodin]

Originally Posted by giftgrub

I started Wheel of Time years ago....but never got into it.

I don't know...I'm slightly reluctant to get into anything longer than a trilogy.

Saying that with Game of Thrones on de telly, I am going to give A song of Fire and Ice a go.

I had my doubts, gave it a go, but only lasted to book 6. Far too derivative and some of his characters crawl up my nose (and not in a good way).

Think the longest series I read was the "Chung Kuo" books (8 in all) by David Wingrove, which were ok, if somewhat overblown.

[Demeyes]

I generally buy 1 or 2 books from a series. I'll read them and if I like it then I'll get more and read them, usually through to the end of the series. I'm thinking of changing it up a bit in the next lot I read, I've had a hard time getting through some of the series and find I can leave the book for 2/3 weeks before resuming the read. I think I'll have to get some smaller books to read as a break in between.

[mcgovern]

I've been taking a break in between ASoFaI books because I know that I'll read them quicker than he'll write them! Read the first two now. Normally though, I'll take a larger break from series, have to try finish off a few now that I think about it, but usually forget which book I'm on which makes it a pain to know where to start. I have books 9+10 of WoT, but not sure if I've read neither, both or just 9!

[stylie]

Originally Posted by Branoic

When I first started reading Fiest he was up as far as Rise of a Merchant Prince, so I read those 11 books from Magician to there all in one go. Once I caught up with them I just read them as they're published. Up to number 28 now.

*Groan*, is it that many now? havent bought the latest one yet but I have all his others, though I think he has gone seriously down hill in the last half dozen or so books.

[Anachrony]

Usually either one of two things happens: Either it's very engrossing, and I simply can't wait to read the next in the series (if available), or it's not that compelling and I choose to read something else first. If that happens I'll probably never find the motivation to get back to reading it. Whatever my intentions at the time, very rarely do I go back to a long series if it wasn't captivating enough to make me want to read it all right away. Of course in many cases these series aren't done yet, so the breaks are unavoidable.