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What about books where you wish you didn't bother with them after a certain point, although you did in fact read them all, huh? Same concept in a way... Sara Douglass wrote a series of 6 books, the Wayfarer books, the first three were great but then the final set of 3 were terrible. She creates this gorgeous fantasy world with amazing and beautiful characters, and then ravages and destroys it in ways that almost sicken me to read. I think I saw somewhere that she was going through some bad stuff in her life that led to this. I wish she hadn't taken it out on her creation. But I'm an artist, I guess I kind of get it...kind of...
No one has mentioned this series yet, so I'll chime in:
I got the most criticism for giving up on Harry Potter after three books. They all felt the same to me. Hermione's a know-it-all. Ron's goofy. Slytherin. Hogwarts somehow allowing Harry to get into his life-or-death situations. And I couldn't bear to deal with another opener at the Dursley house. Yeah, I know that stops, but it was too late.
Also, the Dark Tower series from Stephen King. But then again, I officially gave up on King right in the middle of "It."
I read a lot crime fiction, most of it serialized, and I eventually give up on most of the series because the authors cannot keep the stories fresh and interesting year after year. Over the years, I have given up Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs, Anne Perry, Walter Mosley, James Patterson, Faye Kellerman, Elizabeth Peters, and Reginald Hill, among others. Currently enjoying Greg Iles (probably because he doesn't publish a book a year), and still hanging in there with Michael Connelly and Elizabeth George for the time being.
I think I'm done with the "Agatha Raisin" and "Hamish Macbeth" series by M.C. Beaton. Again, too much of the same thing over and over.
Agree about these. Liked them at first, but they just went on and on without getting anywhere. Authors need to know when to wind up their series.
I feel the same way about several of the Alexander McCall Smith series, such as the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" and "44 Scotland Street." Really fun for a while, but enough already.
I also tried to read the kids' series "Series of Unfortunate Events" (Lemony Snicket) and just gave up around the fifth book.
Just recently read the first two books in W. E. B. Griffin's "The Corps" series (Semper Fi and Call to Arms) based on the good ratings at goodreads.com. The writing and characters are OK, but the books don't stand on their own at all. There's no big climax and resolution to either of these two, just lots of character development and non-military backstory. Even the sections of military action are glossed over, so this isn't really what I thought it was going to be. It seems like these are just very large chapters in a much bigger story arc. Do I want to read the next eight volumes to get some satisfaction? Probably not.
I quit the Jean Auel books on #4. I enjoyed the first two books, but I noticed that at the end of the second book, it became all sex, all the time. Jondalar and his mighty peen. I don't mind reading sex in books, but not when it gets in the way of the story. I remember reading the 4th book when it finally came out -- skipping the sex scenes to get to the story -- but that was the last of them for me. I've had no interest to dive back in.
The Anita Blake books by Laurell K. Hamilton, for largely the same reason -- sex took over the story.
The Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. Never read the last two. Stopped when it started becoming clear that I wasn't going to get the ending I wanted.
I started reading Undaunted Courage, the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition, in 2012. Here it is 2015, and I still have a third to go.
It's taken me longer to read the book than Lewis and Clark's entire expedition!
What about books where you wish you didn't bother with them after a certain point, although you did in fact read them all, huh?
I certainly wish that I hadn't bothered with the last 3 books in Jordan's Wheel of Time series. It's not that Sanderson is a bad writer or "fill in" it's more that the whole end was so drawn out, over written and IMO the final book was a true waste of $$. I've gotten upset at book endings in the past, but this one was the worst ever.
Usually, when I've read previous books in a series, I kind of feel obligated to read the next books that come out in that series. In most cases, I've loved the books and the writing, so it's no problem, and I look forward to the next book. But sometimes I have to say No, no more.
My latest example: Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones books. Sure, I read Bridget Jones' Diary when it came out in the 90s, but I was in my late 20s, so it was pretty much required by law. Yes, I could relate a little to her single life, the highs and lows with guys, etc. But I got a bit annoyed at how irresponsible she was, and how poor her judgment was. So of course I read the second Bridget Jones book, The Edge of Reason, when it came out a couple years later. I was already invested, so had to read the second book, right? Kind of underwhelming, with maybe some cute parts. But now I just learned that last summer, Fielding released a third Bridget Jones book (14 years after the last one)--except Bridget is now 51 and evidently still fumbling around with dating and her irresponsibility & poor judgment. No thanks. I would have hoped the character would have grown up. So I'm glad to say I will not be buying that 3rd book.
One series I wish I had quit was Jean Auel's Earth's Children series (Clan of the Cave Bear, etc). We had a great thread here about it. Books 1-4 were great, then book 5 came out way too many years later, and it was tedious. Then book 6 was completely awful. Many of us readers wished we had just stopped at #4 and pretended the series had ended then.
What book series did you start, and then quit after reading so many books? Why? Was it because the writer changed too much, or because it was too much of the same crap?
I thought the first Bridget Jones was hilarious. I don't disagree iwht you about the sequel. Earth to Bridget, grow up already. This isn't cute anymore. Maybe Fielding could have made Bridget grow up, get married, become a mother, that might actually have been interesting seeing how flighty Bridget might deal with parenthood.
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But I'm an artist, I guess I kind of get it...kind of...
