Do you think a series can ever be too long?

lse322 · Post by **lse322** » 06 Mar 2014, 20:09

Series can definitely be to long. Sometimes when authors stretch series it almost becomes painful to read. The characters you have fallen in love with through previous books have now started to get on your nerves as they now don't act the way they did in the beginning of the series. As their personalities have become stretched over to many books.

cam_gold · Post by **cam_gold** » 07 Mar 2014, 08:32

Yes, I think that a series can go definitely go on too long. In a long series, eventually it will get to the point where when you read one book, you have read them all. That is very predictable and ultimately, boring.

LoveMusic_AK · Post by **LoveMusic_AK** » 08 Mar 2014, 20:01

Yes, I do think that a series can be too long. Sometimes during a series the books just drag on and on. It can be a bit too much. Some books though, keep it very interesting and entertaining. I personally think that if the book keeps the reader interested then the series are limitless. On the other hand, if the book is just dragging on then the series are pointless. So honestly, it depends on the books. If their very good, then I don't think that a series can be too long. If the books aren't very good, then they should have a limit. So it just depends on the series.

Bookworm313 · Post by **Bookworm313** » 08 Mar 2014, 20:10

Yes! That can definitely be the case. When authors write series that are 10-15+ books long, it makes you wonder if they are just dragging out the story just to make money selling books. I feel when authors write that long of a series, it can get drawn out and lack an interesting plot. A good example is Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse Series. I really liked it, until about the 9th book. Then the series went downhill, which is very unfortunate. I really liked the characters and the plot.

ops_143 · Post by **ops_143** » 09 Mar 2014, 12:30

Series are such a trend right now. I am getting sick of reading series that authors just drag on and on just to claim its a trilogy. Stand alone books are just as good, if not better.

JenniferBoyce · Post by **JenniferBoyce** » 10 Mar 2014, 11:57

Yes and no. If the quality of the stories and writing stay consistent then I say, bring on more books. But if the stories are becoming dull or the writing quality decreases then I think there can be too many books in a series.

Sometimes it's wonderful to get lost in a series; reading 15 books and loving all of them. Other times, it's a bear just to finish the first few books in the series (let alone the entire 15 book series).

saturday+deviant · Post by **saturday+deviant** » 10 Mar 2014, 13:48

Ashley07 wrote:yes! When they get past 10 and go as far as 20s (the breed series?) its hard to jump in and start them. I prefer when they break them up into groups of 5.

I totally agree with this, and the Breeds series was one of the first that I thought of. Romance novels tend to start getting repetitive pretty fast.

prarich · Post by **prarich** » 11 Mar 2014, 07:36

Yes series are meant to be long!

W-Harbinger · Post by **W-Harbinger** » 11 Mar 2014, 08:21

When a series starts using it's own old troupes then, yes, that series has gone on too long.

crashlee012 · Post by **crashlee012** » 14 Mar 2014, 15:46

A series can definitely be too long. There are some books (like Harry Potter) that are perfectly fine at their length, but others that have been so stretched out that they become stale and you no longer have the energy to finish the series.

Jen319164 · Post by **Jen319164** » 15 Mar 2014, 09:25

Oh definetely a twenty book series is just cheesy and annoying if your writing two thousand pages for each and sometimes people just want to get to the point and will lose interest in the book completely because as i know myself i am always thinking when I finish this series i will read this but if it is nearly impossible to finish a series i will weave myself away from it.

Sarah_Khan · Post by **Sarah_Khan** » 01 Feb 2016, 18:10

Yes, definitely, I think a series can go on too long. The series that comes to my mind is the House of Night series by Kristen Cast & P. C. Cast. There are 12 books in this series. I loved the first few books but as the series went on I found that the authors put less attention in the actually writing and character development and just focused on the plot and the action. It was like reading the mindless banter of teenagers with a little bit of action thrown in there.

Sarah G · Post by **Sarah G** » 02 Feb 2016, 04:47

I think it all depends on the author. If the author can still make the series just as enjoyable and intriguing as the first book then it's all good. I don't like it when the books start to get exactly the same set up and similar plots that it becomes the same as previous books but just with a different name

Kaitlyn12 · Post by **Kaitlyn12** » 17 Feb 2016, 10:39

Yes, a series can be too long. I read a series last year that was over 20 books long and by the time I got 12-14 books in, I was starting to get bored. It was pretty much the same thing happening with different characters as the main character.

CrescentMoon · Post by **CrescentMoon** » 19 Feb 2016, 17:38

I definitely think there is a limit. I feel this way about TV shows too. After a certain amount of seasons, there is just no point in continuing because the storyline ends up repeating, there are no new ideas that can be brought up, and it gets very boring and predictable. I have also found that some stories, the author ends up changing the characters so much to the point they are completely different in order to keep it new and fresh and I don't like it when that happens.