Series Strategies – In Real Time or Binge Later?

July 23, 2015


Courtesy of Seven Inches of Your Time

Courtesy of Seven Inches of Your Time

Now that the 14th and final volume of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series is out in paperback, I figured it was time to start reading them again. I got to book 7 or 8 when they came out, but eventually gave up. Each book is an 800 page brick, and so much time went by between instalments, I couldn’t remember the names of the characters, much less the convoluted plotlines.

I started applying the same strategy to other book series, too, and loved it. Among other things, I never had to wait for the next book to come out after a torturous cliffhanger!

And it’s even better for TV. Not only are there no commercials when you binge-watch, but you don’t have to arrange your life around TV schedules. Or buy a PVR.

What about you? Do you keep up or binge-watch? Or use different strategies for different series?



5 Comments on ‘Series Strategies – In Real Time or Binge Later?’

  1. Definitely wait and binge — for the reasons you name. I can’t remember details between protracted publication dates on books; I become much too annoyed at commercial breaks in TV episodes. For a TV series, I’d rather get the DVDs from my library and watch them from my treadmill. I can do an entire season in a weekend and get a good workout at the same time.

    I never finished the Wheel of Time series either. Now that I know the final volume is out in paperback, I may have to go back and pick those up again. Yes, starting at the beginning.

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    1. I like being immersed in a world I love, too. Another advantage of binging.

      I started with the prequel and am now on book 4 of the main series. The writing could benefit from a good line edit, but the depth of the world building and the scale of the story is really inspiring.

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  2. There was one book in WoT where Rand made only a two- or three-page appearance from some 3rd person PoV. That’s around the time I decided that there was no way I was going to keep reading these until he finished the series first. It’s been a decade since (!), so I guess I would have to start reading them from the beginning, and I don’t know if I can stomach that.

    If reading a big fantasy series is your thing, Steve Erikson’s “Malazan Book of the Fallen” is about as epic as it gets (and complete). I also found it to be better writing than the eight or nine Robert Jordan tomes I made it through.

    I guess that makes me a binger!

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    1. It might have been the highly-ironically named The Dragon Reborn (book 3). Rand was barely in it, which was OK with me, as I find him less interesting than some of the other characters (also kind of ironic, as he’s the purported hero).

      I haven’t tried Steve Erikson before – thanks for the tip! My latest fantasy addiction is Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Thorns series. Talk about your tortured protagonists.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply | 

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