The Great Series Read: 5 Series I Want To Start

Back in March I posted about The Great Series Read Project where I (and others) have listed all the book series we’ve started but not finished in a vain attempt to actually try to finish them. I later created a page on the blog to help me keep track of the series as I work through them.

The inevitable problem that eventually occurs for any of us who have lists of series we are trying to complete is that we are gluttons for punishment (or joy) and we buy more books. In the realm of fantasy that means we often buy a new first book in a series and then we read it and thus have added yet another series to the list we now have to finish. We also have long lists of books/series/authors we WANT to read but haven’t for some reason.

Which brings me to this post. Below are five series I’ve wanted to read for a long time by authors who I’ve never read. I selected these as the first of my Want To Read series for a number of reasons:

• They are widely popular books I’ve never read
• They are authors I’ve never read
• I already own at least the first book of the series
• They include novels, novellas, traditionally published, and self-published

So here you go…my list of five series I’d like to start (maybe this year) and a little bit of why. I’ll be adding these as a new section to my Great Series Read Project page soon.

THE SERIES

The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie

So yeah…I’ve never read anything by Lord Grimdark. It’s crazy I know given how much I enjoy the sub-genre. I also admit I don’t know much about what the series is actually about. I’ve managed to go without reading any reviews or reading the blurbs in hopes that I can come into it fresh and without any bias. Except that I know how immensely popular it is and that if I don’t like it I’ll be the odd kid out. I feel like this series is one of those foundational modern classics that HAS to be on my reading list.

I actually own all three books in this series. They arrived in the mail today (as I write this) as a boxed set. I’m excited as hell to read them.

 

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Sigh…I know what you are thinking…”Jason you haven’t read The First Law Trilogy and now you’re telling me you haven’t read The Farseer Trilogy!??! How? What? Why?”

Yeah that’s what I’m basically saying. I somehow managed to skip this series during my years of reading fantasy. I have reasons, none of them really good, but there ARE reasons. But yeah, this is another of what I consider to be (for me) a must read series from the 90’s. Like Abercrombie above, Robin Hobb has had a tremendous impact on fantasy and is offered up there with names like Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin as examples of authors from the 90’s who transformed the fantasy genre as it entered the new century.

I don’t actually own Assassin’s Apprentice yet, but it is on the way and should be arriving any day.

 

Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire

Seanan McGuire has been on my list of authors I want to read for a few years now. I just keep seeing my fav bloggers raving about her books and I just keep saying “I need to read one of hers one day.” And whether she is writing as Seanan McGuire or as Mira Grant all I see is “THIS BOOK IS AMAZING” and “BUY THIS BOOK WHY ARE YOU WAITING” type posts.

For some reason I’ve been drawn to the Wayward Children series. I’m not really sure why. Maybe it’s because I feel like it’s her most popular series. Maybe it’s the portal fantasy element turned on its head a little. Maybe it’s because a dark story about children. I don’t know. But something put this series at the top of my list from her and it’s where I’m going to start.

I actually picked up a free copy of Every Heart A Doorway on my Kindle some weeks (or months…it’s all running together these days) ago when Tor was running some short little special on Amazon. It’s been staring at me every time I open my Kindle and planting READ ME thoughts into my brain. Soon…soon…

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

OK seriously…how can anyone not want to read a story about a character called Murderbot? That may be the best sci-fi character name ever. Murderbot…I mean how f’ing cool is that? Like the name alone sold me on the books. I honestly didn’t need any more details to convince me I wanted to read this series.

But then I discover EVERYONE else has apparently read these books and LOVE them. And I don’t mean just a little. I can’t tell you how many people chimed into my Twitter feed to tell me to read Murderbot next. So between cool character name and everyone else telling me I absolutely have to read these novellas, well I guess I have to read them.

I bought the first book as a hardcover back in January and it sits on my reading table waiting for me to pick it up. Books 2-4 I managed to download to my Kindle recently when Tor was giving them away free as part of their book club membership in the run up to the release of Network Effect. I haven’t ordered that last one yet…I’ll probably wait until I finish book 4.

The Paternus Trilogy by Dyrk Ashton

I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have at least one self-published book series and author on this list. I debated on a few different series and authors and settled on Paternus for a few reasons:

• I already owned book 1
• Paternus was a finalist in SPFBO2
• Dyrk Ashton is a huge part of fantasy Twitter and Self-published Fantasy Twitter where I spend most of my social media time
• The series (so far) has been pretty widely praised by bloggers I trust and follow

I’m not gonna lie, the plot sounds like an adult version of Percy Jackson and I’m so here for that.

Well, that’s my first list of Series I Want To Start. I know most of you have probably already devoured most of these books. Tell me what you thought. And if any of you are like me and HAVEN’T read any of these let me know that too and we can revel in our slackerness.

– Jason