My Alliance of the
Amazons series will continue in May when The Brazen Amazon releases. The fourth—and final book—will debut in
September. It’s called The Volatile
Amazon. And that’s that. No new Amazons. No new books following the
Amazons. Not now. Not ever. My girls’ stories will have been told.
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When I tell people that, it tends to surprise them. There
are so many romance series out there that go on and on and on…like the movie Titanic. <g> Actually, I can see
the appeal of a never-ending series. You’ve already got an established
readership. The publisher is obviously behind you. A successful series could
easily be a cash cow that is impossible to resist milking.
On the other hand, I really like the idea that my series
will have a true ending. All loose threads knotted. All plot lines resolved. Everyone
is accounted for. There are some secondary characters I might give their own
sets of wings one day in the future, but Rebecca, Megan, Gina, and Sarita have
each had their turn, and I won’t be using those characters again.
A fantastic example of a successful closed series is J.K.
Rowling’s Harry Potter, albeit it had
A LOT of books, there was an end to Harry’s journey. As far as an extended
series, I don’t have to look farther than my friend and critique partner,
Cheryl Brooks. Her Cat Star Chronicles
are on book eight—Wildcat. Yet each
story seems to make the series stronger, and it has yet to become stale because
she has a universe of planets and species to choose from to add newness to each
story.
So as readers and/or authors, which do you prefer? Do you
like the fact that a series can keep going, using new characters to continue a
storyline or keep the world you’ve learned/built alive? Or do you enjoy the
idea of a closed series, one like my Alliance
of the Amazons where you know exactly how many books are in the series and
that it has a distinct ending?
The advantage of a closed series is that you can lead up to an epic conclusion. Keeping an open series going strong book after book is harder--but certainly doable. (Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series comes to mind.)
ReplyDeleteI like a clear and definite ending to a series, myself. It reassures me that there's a clear overall story arc in mind, and I'd much, MUCH prefer a series to end strong than to linger on for several more books and run the risk of losing what drew me in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThough that said, branch-off series involving previously secondary characters, or other tantalizing locations in the same world, are awesome. :)
I prefer closed series. Frankly, I'd rather be left wanting more than to watch a series I love grow stale. My tolerance level is at about 5-6 books.
ReplyDeleteI think the never-ending series that frustrate me are the ones that start to feel as though here are heroine A, B, C, hero A, B, C, and plot A, B, C. Mix and match. I'm with you, Eleri. My limit is usually two. Cheryl is an exception as is Hannah Howell's Murray series. It's quite a challenge to an author to keep things from getting stale.
ReplyDeleteGiven that I'm writing a 3 book closed series, not surprisingly I fall on the closed series fence. I think for me, I like to know there is finality in a series. Then I can go off and search for a new one!
ReplyDelete