It used to be that the majority of books outside of the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre were stand alone books. (Yes, I remember when they used to be one section in the back of the book store but that's a story for another day.) Now it seems that everyone writes sequels and prequels and postquels ad infinitum but is this necessarily a good thing?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for continuing the story - I like to settle down into a world and get to know the characters. I love when beloved characters from earlier books show up later in the series to make a cameo appearance, it's sort of like checking in on an old friend. Too much of a good thing though, and you get what I call the Capitalism Effect. It goes something like this...
An author publishes a few good books in a series, they sell like hotcakes, the public wants more, and the publishing company sees a good thing. Then they push it that few steps too far. Rather than allowing the series to develop naturally, they sign the author to a multibook megacontract, forcing them to fulfill a preset number of books. The publishing house will make money because most people will continue to buy the books but the quality isn't always there.
Case in point, Charlaine Harris. I adore Charlaine Harris. She is a delight in person and her books are quirky and fun. Long before True Blood (and we'll talk another day about movie/TV adaptations), I discovered her Sookie Stackhouse series. Sookie is a treat - down to earth, funny, and with a penchant for getting in over her head in the supernatural world. I can honestly say that I enjoyed books 1 through about 7 in the series and after that they sort of drooped. A storyline that would make a good short story was pulled and stretched into a novel. Rules were changed. Details were missed. I still read them but something was missing.
Now, I just finished reading the 11th book in the series and I'm eagerly awaiting the 12th (and last). The magic is back. There was no meandering. Charlaine Harris clearly has an end in mind and everything is moving in that direction. Personally, I think she could have happily ended the series about 4 books ago but then the publishing company wouldn't have been able to squeeze all those extra books' worth of profit out of her. This makes me sad. I would rather read 4 well-crafted books, than 8 so-so books. I would like to think that I am not in the minority, that there are plenty of other people out there who value quality writing over quantity, but the sheer number of authors who currently publish multiple books a year suggests otherwise.
In defense of Charlaine Harris, I feel compelled to mention that she is not alone and that even on an off book, her writing is still superior to a lot of the dreck out there. There are so many authors who started out writing good books but the more books they publish, the faster they publish, the more disappointing the results. It's not all the publishing houses. The demand is there. We don't like to wait. We can get a book delivered to our device immediately at midnight the night it comes out and within days are clamoring for the next. Perhaps we should go back to publishing books the way Dickens did - in weekly installments. But would we soon be chafing over the 6 day wait? What do you think?
I don't see any way around it though. As long as there is demand, people will be pressured to capitalize on it. Only writer's who believe in the art more than the need to eat (or buy the latest flat screen tv) won't cave to that pressure . . . and how many of us does that statement really apply to after all.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is you will just have to wade through the ever-growing piles of mediocrity to find the true gems. To look at it on the bright side though, it will make those finds that much sweeter.