Someone keeps recommending a fantasy series to me with the warning that ‘it gets amazing around book three.’ I can believe that an author improves, but two full novels are a fairly big entrance fee. I have stuck with mediocre first installments before and been rewarded; I've also resented every hour. When you recommend a series with a shaky opening, do you honestly tell people to skip the first book, or is the later payoff too dependent on the setup?
Reading a series where book one is clearly weaker than later volumes
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3 replies
If book one is actively bad, I usually say so. If it’s merely slow or awkward, I warn people and let them decide whether they want to pay th...
If book one is actively bad, I usually say so. If it’s merely slow or awkward, I warn people and let them decide whether they want to pay the setup tax.
Same here. I don’t think every series needs a disclaimer, but if someone has to grind through two full books before it starts paying off, that should be part of the recommendation.
Sometimes the payoff really does depend on the early material, though. I’ve seen readers skip ahead and then complain the later book made no...