Many times a series has such an impact on us that later on, we will desire to reread it due to its resonance with us. If the series is short and sweet, it may be easy to read its entirety in a relatively shorter time. If it’s a longer series, there may be the desire to reread the books not chronologically, but in one’s own desired order that skips through the series.
What are some elements that break down a series that could help us decide if that series is good to select sporadic books or go through chronologically? Ultimately, it’s always going to be about your preference as a reader, but some of these elements might help if you’re undecided!
In the course of my (Kriti) reading life I have come across a number of series: from my decade of books post, in the last decade I read over 50 series including A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin and The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. At the start of 2020, I thought about rereading some of my favorite books but I quickly realized that while for some series I could pick up any book in any order, for others I would have to start from the very beginning. Conversations with Clinton and Ariel led to the emergence of three main characteristics that help decide how to reread a series.
The first is character agency, the second is the consideration around who the drivers of the plot are, and the third aspect to think about is the speed of the plot itself. Last year I posted about the reading experience of a book and the above characteristics are more to think about the series as a whole – how the story flows from one book into the other.
Character Agency
Agency is a well known word in video games. How much control does the main character have in the series? Are things just thrown at the characters and they are continuously reacting to situations, or is it that the character builds their own path?
Plot Drivers
The plot of a story can be driven by many elements – it could be the characters, just the way different events happen to start a new adventure, the rules and regulations in the world… think about the appearance of new characters that nobody called, an earthquake or catastrophe that no one initiated.
Speed of the plot
How fast are things happening? Is the story always in a set period of time or between books, time does not play a relevance at all? Life just keeps going.
Rereading a series: The influence of the three aspects
Some caveats to remember as you read more – reading experience is quite personal. As clear as the three ideas I present might be, we are all different in how we read and remember, and thus, how you may experience a series, might be very different from how I might have experienced its paces and plot. I’ll try to use examples of series I have read and am also going to take Ariel’s help to share about the series she has read and would like to revisit.
Harry Potter
A series with high character agency, mostly character-driven plot and a moderate speed of plot.
Harry and other protagonists in Harry Potter had a lot of agency in my mind. Even though every book represented a different year in Harry’s life, the plot was driven by his decisions to dig deeper into mysteries, find Voldemort, destroying all the horcruxes, etc. Whenever I pick up a book, I know exactly where it is in the timeline and the major events from the last book that are important to know in this one.
How to reread Harry Potter: Pick any book you like.
The Sword of Truth
A series with low character agency, plot driven by external events, and an unpredictability around the speed of the plot itself.
I am a huge fan of this series and the six months I spent reading it were one of the best reading months I remember. I was hooked to these books and could not put them down. 14 is a huge number for books in a series and I think that also dictates how much a reader will be able to remember the plot and piece it together at any point in the series.
Richard and Kahlan are amazing protagonists and the story is a lot about them reacting to political and magical situations that they face. I love this universe, but it is so hard to recall what happened in each book. I probably need to sit and take notes about the major milestones – they are not as obvious as compared to Harry Potter. The speed of the plot also changes, sometimes we spend months in a book, other times, only days have passed. I have devoured these books and I would do it again alas:
How to reread Sword of Truth: Start from the beginning. Maybe a couple rereads might help pick a random book.
The Winternight Trilogy
A series with high character agency, but moderate plot speed due to the fact that the author is creating an entirely non-earth and non-Westernized based fantasy, world building and structure. This complements well with the plot drivers and the forces that happen outside of the characters.
How to reread The Winternight Trilogy: For best effect, read in order!
The Broken Earth Trilogy
A series with high character agency that in itself creates a fast-flowing plot. The plot drivers themselves are triggered based on chain reactions of various characters within the trilogy
How to reread The Broken Earth Trilogy: Definitely a trilogy to read in order.
It’s good to note that these various factors are not mutually exclusive when it comes to whether or not they should be read in order or can be picked up in a more random way. As I (Ariel) was thinking about these last two trilogies that I would reread chronologically, I realized that while both have high character agency, the plot drivers and plot speeds vary. Each of these books resonated with me on a personal level, so the characters are what would bring me back to the beginning of the adventure to re-accompany them on their respective journeys.
We looked at the three aspects that can help us understand rereading a series. Though these aspects themselves are related to the story itself and will not change, over time, as we reread books, it should become easier to pick up random ones and be able to pin-point the one we really want to revisit.
Are there series that you are dying to reread? Think about them in terms of these three aspects and let us know in the comments how these particular aspects would influence how you reread them.
We could only think of Harry Potter to read in any order – do you know of series you would not have to reread chronologically?
Since Ariel and I do not own all the books of our beloved series anymore, we wanted to thank Em (emandherbooks) , Kristy (caffeinatedfae), darklordofthemordsith (on instagram), Gogs Herriott (gogz_h) – do check out their bookish accounts on Twitter and Instagram!
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