theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
C. J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union series. I don't think she's missed even once, with books that touch that setting.
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Book Series That Don't Go Sour
- Thread starter theprestige
- Start date
TragicMonkey
Poisoned Waffles
Ngaio Marsh's Roderick Alleyn books. The writing itself got better over time, as did the plots and the characters. I think she did well to limit Troy's involvement in his cases to a few select ones; Troy didn't pop up in every other case like the two Mrs Barnabys do in Midsomer Murders, for example.
And her rival, Dorothy Sayers as well. I thought the earlier Lord Peter stories were weaker than the later ones and wish she'd written more of them. (Unlike some I don't dislike Harriet Vane in the least; Gaudy Night is my favorite.)
And her rival, Dorothy Sayers as well. I thought the earlier Lord Peter stories were weaker than the later ones and wish she'd written more of them. (Unlike some I don't dislike Harriet Vane in the least; Gaudy Night is my favorite.)
TragicMonkey
Poisoned Waffles
Bit of a weird one, but the Oz books but only the ones by L. Frank Baum himself. (His successors went bad almost immediately.) For Baum's run (the first fourteen) he experimented, instead of sticking to a formula, and I think they (mostly) worked. The last two were completely different from the previous ones and opposites to each other, as well: the thirteenth had separate POVs that finally merged together, involving the biggest cast of characters he'd used to date...and then the fourteenth book used only two major characters and one of those was Ozma herself, who had been much-referenced but never actually used as a major character (I don't count the second book because Ozma wasn't Ozma then, she was somebody else entirely). Throw in the tenth book which wasn't an Oz story at all except for the last minute (his publisher insisted) and the whole series stayed fresh. Although obviously Baum knew it wouldn't last, and had been bored with it long before the finish. Hence his willingness to change things up quite radically as he went; he did not fall into a formula.
And as we're on children's books, I noticed someone (wrongly) put the Chronicles of Prydain in the other thread on book series going sour. That is absolutely wrong: the books got better as they went, and they started out great. The tonal shift was completely justifiable because the main character (and the audience) was growing up. That was the point of the series.
And as we're on children's books, I noticed someone (wrongly) put the Chronicles of Prydain in the other thread on book series going sour. That is absolutely wrong: the books got better as they went, and they started out great. The tonal shift was completely justifiable because the main character (and the audience) was growing up. That was the point of the series.
Norman Alexander
Penultimate Amazing
Martin Cruz Smith's Arkardy Renko series. Alas, no more from him...
theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
Is that the one about the Soviet detective who investigates an American mink farm?
angrysoba
Philosophile
In my opinion, and mostly from memory, the Flashman books were all excellent, if you like that sort of thing. I don't remember reading any which made me think he was phoning it in. All of them seem to show a huge level of research on the historical background, the characters are excellently observed, with Flashman providing a comic narrative device to (broadly accurately) tell stories of other, actual historical figures.
angrysoba
Philosophile
In fact, now that I think of it, Flashman is a series that matured over time. In the first two books, I think that Fraser didn't get the comedic balance right. Some things he does in those are too horrific even for the bad guy we are supposed to root for. He is better calibrated in later books.
Guybrush Threepwood
Trainee Pirate
They have aged fairly badly in my opinion though, and I think the last one, Flashman and the Tiger, was pretty feeble, although I did like the twist at the end.
Norman Alexander
Penultimate Amazing
Yes - Gorky Park. There were another 9-10 books in the series after the first one.
Good one. I’ll throw in Iain’s Rankin’s Rebus series.
Helen
Implicitly explicit
The Chronicles of Prydain is one of my favourite series, and have yet to meet a child who isn't immediately drawn in by it. And you are of course right; it only gets better, as it matures along with its character, and moves into more complex territory.
I think I might have to reread it now.
W.D.Clinger
Philosopher
Here are some series, in the mystery genre, that didn't go sour (or haven't gone sour yet):
I'd say the first Joe Leaphorn novel was the weakest. They too got better.
The first Longmire novel is the best, but (to my knowledge, I'm a couple of novels behind) the series never went sour.
If Carl Hiassen's comic mysteries count as a series, I'd say that's another series that got better after the first novel.
- the Continental Op short stories, by Dashiell Hammett
- the Travis McGee novels, by John D MacDonald
- the Parker novels, by Richard Stark
- the Dortmunder novels, by Donald Westlake
- the Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee novels, by Tony Hillerman
- the Longmire novels, by Craig Johnson
I'd say the first Joe Leaphorn novel was the weakest. They too got better.
The first Longmire novel is the best, but (to my knowledge, I'm a couple of novels behind) the series never went sour.
If Carl Hiassen's comic mysteries count as a series, I'd say that's another series that got better after the first novel.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
I liked Piers Anthony's Blue Adept series -- it was the first of his I ever read. Six books that actually came to a conclusion (milked to a seventh.) Compared to his reprehensible Bio of a Space Tyrant and neverending Xanth series, I enjoyed it.