Do you think a series can ever be too long?

[Kate7]

Series yes but spin offs no. I love the family spin off books that tell a whole families story by the time they are done.

[rssllue]

I think that the mystery genre is set up to be great with a long series if you have a good detective(s)!

[Prncsskrstnj]

I absolutely agree that a book series can go on too long, especially if you are basing it on just a couple of characters. I love the family spin-off books as well!

[himeeg74]

Yes. Terry Goodkind, as much as I love him and his books, took his Sword of Truth series way too far. Some of the books are absolutely brilliant, while some are bland repetitions of their predecessors. Overall, it is a great series, but an author needs to know when to say when!

[brittany_anne]

Oh yes a series can run to long. That tends to be when I don't finish a series cause I get bored with it. I could never finish the House of Night series by PC Cast.

[Gannon]

I definitely think that a series can be too long. Ultimately I believe it comes down to the skill of the author to keep the series "fresh". This can be done in a number of ways. Introducing new interesting characters, plots, etc. However I think the best way to maintain a series longevity is to have a small core of returning characters that the reader has a strong emotional attachment to. Whether they be protagonist or antagonist, if the reader "loves" the character they will inevitably want to know what is happening to that character in future books.

[nadjahughes]

Yes, I totally agree. I have found usually around number 6 - 8 is about right but there have been exceptions. In particular Laurann Dohner New Species series is absolutely brilliant, I can't get enough of those and every book has an interesting story and weaves together with the others but can be stand alone.

-- 22 Feb 2016, 20:01 --

Yes, I totally agree. I have found usually around number 6 - 8 is about right but there have been exceptions. In particular Laurann Dohner New Species series is absolutely brilliant, I can't get enough of those and every book has an interesting story and weaves together with the others but can be stand alone.

[alyssaap]

YES! I think that when a series is too long the author starts adding in useless information and it can become a bore to continue reading.

[NichelaMona]

Yes! I'm currently reading a series that I enjoy but it has 16 books. That's excessive if you ask me. Then I feel obligated to keep buying the book to see what happens even if its no longer interesting.

[Kjb_0517]

Most definitely! I loved the House of Night series, but after a while, it just got boring to me.

[tortoise keeper]

I agree that some series do go on too long. It does seem that the plots get very repetitive and you can figure out from the first few pages where the story is going. Sometimes I will read the books anyway because the familiarity is comforting. If it gets too boring I always have the choice of starting something else....even another series.

[Kia]

I think that it can get too long. But it depends on how it's written. The example that comes to mind is the wheel of time series. While I never got bored with it, I found many cases where I would be reading and suddenly I was expected to remember some tiny detail that happened 8000 pages ago. It was also difficult just in general to remember what happened in the first few books by the time I got to the end of the series.

[Judyk]

I like reading series sometimes but, they definitely have a turning point where there is not enough "new" to keep my attention. Alternately I hate waiting for the next in a series to come out when it's clearly implied all the main characters are intended to have their own story.

-- 20 Mar 2016, 13:27 --

[Freida Livery]

Yes, a series can go on too long. A few that come to mind
The Anita Blake books
Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series. She has strayed so far from the premise of the original books, introducing so many different pantheon of gods, it has just gotten totally confusing
Feehan's Carpathian books - same problem as Kenyon's
and I will probably get blasted for saying this: Diana Gabaldon should have ended the Outlander series at around 4 books. I have all the rest but haven't had the slightest interest in finishing them. I just got bored with it.

[estirl189]

I personally have never read any series of books that have gone beyond around 10 in all, but I can imagine it is possible. With some series, when it gets to even the 5th or 6th book I have found they have become dragged out and dry.

As the famous saying goes - you can only have so much of a good thing, and sometimes, I feel the attempt to continue with a series for too long means it can lose the magic of previous books.

That being said, there is a certain pleasure in reading a book you love, knowing you will pick up the next one and continue the story. If the author gets it right, there is no reason they couldn't be too long... I will yet have to find this out though!