Comments on: The Guardians series order

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:47:50 +0000

I am a huge series fan. I tend to finish a book every couple of days so for me the longer the series the better. It is my own personal version of immersion therapy. I purchase the majority of my books online. Doing so makes it easier to find books that are of interest to me by authors that I might not always find in a bookstore and I can purchase the entire series at once. It should be obvious at this point that I am a reader that insist on reading a series in order.

I just finished Demon Forged. I have to say that I believe the series would lose much of its magnetism if the novels were read out of order. I have never been a short story/novella type of girl but when I found the Guardian series and your site I decided to give them a try because you placed them in the order of the series. That said to me that they were important. I enjoyed them very much and am glad the I read them and not just the novels. I like the idea of numbering the novellas with a .5. I also like the idea of having a note that says that they aren’t necessary to read for the story line. The thing is, for me the novellas brought more depth to the characters throughout the series so they enhanced my enjoyment. I did have a had time ascertaining the order of the of the series one I had the books in my hot little hands. I did read one novella out of order which didn’t really matter but it was disappointing. The page that lists the books and anthologies in the front of the novels lists them separately so I had to go online to find the order. That I did not like.

By: Estara

Estara — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:41:43 +0000

@Kerry D.: I second this view and endorsement of .5

By: Addled Alchemist

Addled Alchemist — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:48:45 +0000

I like the .5 idea. Yep, I’m one of those anal gotta-read-em-in-order girls. Before I dive into a series, I do a bit of research on reading order. It’s so nice when the author offers a list, and such a pain when they don’t.

I also appreciate some indication on the cover that the book is part of a series, like the “A Guardian Novel” on your last two covers. It’s so annoying to make a spontaneous purchase (due to a hot cover) and then discover that it’s book 12 in some series. *sigh*

By: Jill Sorenson

Jill Sorenson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:41:38 +0000

Good to know! I need to be hit over the head with stuff, so between-the-lines doesn’t always make sense to me. Same problem with Patricia Brigg’s wolf series. I want to read it! I know it’s good! But the first novella was a ??? for me.

By: Dana

Dana — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:07:42 +0000

I’m someone who has to read a series in order (including short stories) and it kinda drives me nuts when I can’t figure out the chronological order. :p Maybe you can have two lists? One with just the novels and one with novels and novellas? I kinda like the way Jim Butcher has all his short stories in the Dresden world on one page and tells the reader when the story takes place in the series.

By: Tara Marie

Tara Marie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:24:05 +0000

I’m with Rosie Not a surprise. Sometimes I use the copyright date, but that doesn’t work when there’s more than one book per year.

By: Jocelyn Z.

Jocelyn Z. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:03:00 +0000

I’d strongly prefer that the novels be numbered, and then the anthologies listed to the side or something so that I know they’re anthologies.

I like knowing what short stories are out there, but when I was trying to buy and read all your novels in order, the anthology thing drove me a little nuts. I spent a lot of time thinking that I’d be missing major plot developments if I read the short stories after the books, and that hasn’t been the case at all. Which is good, because I hate buying books online and still haven’t been able to track down copies of all the anthologies in person. Actually, I ended up reading Winters’ short story before Demon Forged by mistake due to the earlier release date, and it was fine.

I should probably just relax about reading books in order (especially since I’m a dirty, rotten end-reader anyway, it’s not like I mind spoilers), but for others like me who stress out pointlessly, I think renumbering would be awesome.

By: Rosie

Rosie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:10:11 +0000

I’m one who doesn’t have to read in order, however, I like knowing the order so when I go back or pick up the anthology I can see where the story fell chronologically and it helps when reading it.

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:01:06 +0000

I’m one of those folks who *must* read every installment in a series, short or long, so at the least, please put in the .5′s. I get very frustrated when I go to an author’s page and the novellas/short stories are in their own list and I have to figure out where they fit by looking at the publication dates. That is way more effort than I want to put into it, but I am compelled to because reading out of order is one of my pet peeves.

(Speaking of which, thank you so much for posting way back when that Blind Spot came after Demon Forged in the chronology. I purchased it early, but waited to read that story until after Demon Forged came out.)

By: meljean

meljean — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:52:10 +0000

@Jill Sorenson: I know many readers have started at Demon Angel (and yes, you can skip Wild Thing), so it might work. If confusion was a problem, it might help to run through the primer first, too -- it outlines the mythology and everything first, so that my sometimes obscure, make-the-reader-read-between-the-lines style of writing in Demon Angel isn't so much work.