This week the question I have been thinking about is Why do I prefer a series over a stand alone?
For me the answer is simply. I love getting attached to characters and watching them triumph over the supernatural obstacles that get thrown at them in each book. We get to watch them grow and develop while they come into their abilities. Plus, I like the character development that can be achieved in a series. They go through repeated heartbreak only to find that they have grown stronger in the face of all the difficulties they have come up against. I also like anticipating what is going to happen in the next installment of a characters supernaturally charged life. Though usually I'm wrong and surprised by what actually happens next. Complex worlds can develop over time and new information and characters can be introduced.
Yes, I realize that most of what I mentioned above could happen in a stand alone but I don't get as attached to the characters in a stand alone as I do in a series. I think that's my main issue, I love seeing how a character will handle the next supernatural situation that comes up. But with a stand alone it's a one and you're done. With a stand alone I feel as though you only get a brief look into a character's life and then the door is closed on that world.
As I look around at my bookshelves I realize that most of the books I own are part of a series, though I do have the occasional stand alone mixed in with my other books.
So where do you fall on this issue? Do you prefer a series or are you into stand alone novels?
Difficult one!
ReplyDeleteI like series for the same reasons you do. However, I think I also like each book in a series to have enough closure that if the series were to end, I'd not be raving mad. Same thing with stand-alones: I love them, but I don't mind if the author later comes back and writes another story.
I think that's the best case scenario for me, actually. Books with related cast on the same world that stand for themselves.
But I'm still a sucker for series, too :)
Good question this week, Nicole!
Ron @ Stories of my life
Thanks! I agree that each book should have closure so as not to make a reader go insane if the series for some reason didn't continue.
DeleteI haven't read any stand alones where an author has come back to write more in that world, or at least I don't remember if I have. It would be nice though. There are several books that I would love to continue.