I really like it when I get connected to a series. Especially a good book series. Am I alone in this?
I don’t think so. It was a conversation with another friend that got me thinking about it. He was looking for a new book to read, and I recommended picking up some old Jack Ryan Clancy novels for light reading. He was a big fan, and had read all the books related. But that’s what got me thinking about the notion of books in a series, or movies in a series.
Why is it that we like series? Is it that we get a better understanding of characters? Or that we get to see them change over time?
For whatever reason, just look at the last century or so of books to see that there’s a great love for a series (three or more books). We can easily see this from older book titles the likes of Hardy Boys, Judy Bloom, and Nancy Drew. More modern examples of literary series’ that come to mind Stepheine Meyer, Harry Potter, Ludlum (Bourne, Covert One), Clancy’s Jack Ryan series, and even examples like Herbert’s Dune series. I know there’s a lot that would argue to include comics and graphic novels here. I’m not gonna open up that can of worms.
But still I can’t quite put my finger on what I like so much about reading a series. I think part of it is that I know what to expect in writing style as the series progresses. I also like reading about the progression of characters. But I’ve not been able to get into a series before (Dune fo example). Those that I do get into, I tend to re-read and relish to an extent. I almost started reading the Clancy’s again, but instead I decided to reading the Harry Potter series again, this time from the UK versions that my wife brought back for me.