 ochoin  | 13 Jan 2015 11:37 p.m. PST |
When you come late to a series you tend to read them higgily-piggily. Last year I re-read the Aubrey-Maturin series in their correct order & it certainly enhanced my admiration for the author & books. Character & theme & not least, history are developed as the author intended. Now that I've managed to collect all the Nero Wolfe series, I'm starting reading them in order. As I came to them late, at first I read (& re-read) the later titles before going back & reading the earlier. I'm expecting a chronological reading to be useful. Fer-de-lance is already seeming better with my knowledge it is the first Nero Wolfe. |
| britishlinescarlet2 | 13 Jan 2015 11:55 p.m. PST |
I always try to read them in order unless I pick up a book from a charity shop and find that it is one of a series and then I have to buy the preceding books and read them in order anyway. |
| tkdguy | 13 Jan 2015 11:57 p.m. PST |
Usually, unless I can't find a particular book in the series. |
| Winston Smith | 14 Jan 2015 5:16 a.m. PST |
I keep thinking I should re read the Flashman books in chronological order. But that is not how Fraser wrote them. So I just pick one out at random. Each book is stand alone, even Freedom/Redskins. The same with the Hornblower books.
If i reread Lord of the Rings , that is not the case. |
| Ed Mohrmann | 14 Jan 2015 6:16 a.m. PST |
I dunno, Winston. Clearly, the Hornblowers were not
written in chron/historical order, but I still when
rereading prefer to start with _Mr. Midshipman Hornblower_
and plow thru to the end. |
| Ed Mohrmann | 14 Jan 2015 6:18 a.m. PST |
Ochoin, I'm a long-time Wolfe fan. Do you find the
period differences between the late 30's Wolfe's and
the more modern Wolfe's a bit of a distraction ? |
 Parzival | 14 Jan 2015 9:53 a.m. PST |
Order of publication is generally preferable, as the author will have written his work in light of what a reader is likely to already know or be familiar with in terms of the characters and world being built, and in the better authors a similar approach will be evident in the progression of themes and ideas. |
Roderick Robertson  | 14 Jan 2015 10:12 a.m. PST |
I prefer read series in character-chronological order. And re-read the entire series from the beginning when I buy the latest book… |
| ochoin | 14 Jan 2015 12:36 p.m. PST |
@ Ed Good point. Whether to chronologically update a long running series is a challenging question for an author.
Stout chose to not set Wolfe's world in concrete. All in all, a good decision, I think.
The later clashes Wolfe has with the FBI in the Nixon USA
are such excellent books, his dealing with racial integration, Communism: none of this would be possible if he left Archie & Wolfe in the '20s. However, when the Goldsborough pastiches have Archie use a word processer that threw me. |
| Terrement | 14 Jan 2015 12:54 p.m. PST |
I not only prefer to read them in order, I almost without exception will NOT read a new author I've found until I read the earlier books in that series. |
