kgbooklog

(I've complained about this before, but it's something I'm still bitter about.)

I like complex stories about well-drawn characters dealing with the consequences of their actions, and so I prefer series of thick books; short fiction just isn't long enough to satisfy me. I will seek out shorter works that are part of a series I like, but even if I enjoy the story, I'll still wish it was part of a novel rather than a separate story.

And lately I've noticed authors going out of their way to add shorter works to existing series, especially in urban fantasy. I'm not going to read any more books by MaryJanice Davidson, since she has already done it at least twice (introducing new characters to the series both times). What worries me is that of the 10 authors currently writing contemporary fantasy series that I like, only two (Laura Resnick and Kat Richardson) haven't yet added any shorter works.

Why are they doing this? Sure, this may help sales of the anthologies, but if those sales are poor, it's probably because of people like me who prefer novels, and punishing us for that is more likely to cause us to stop buying the novels too.

My panel for bittercon.

Big long series are very popular (readers like them because they know what to expect, publishers like them because they know how well they'll sell, authors like them because publishers like them). But sometimes an author will lose control of the story and just start flailing around at random. What are the signs this has happened?

My list:

• Individual volumes end at arbitrary points and lack their own story arc


• Focus shifts from the original main characters to minor characters introduced partway into the series


• New mysteries added without old ones being solved


• Page counts increase while the number of events decrease


• Cliffhangers aren't resolved in the next book

I'm not just referring to Robert Jordan here; I suspect GRRM is already showing some of these, and this post was prompted by seeing that last point in the latest mystery by Carole Nelson Douglas.