Monday, October 08, 2012

Why Trilogies Are Not My Favorite

You guys, I really don't like trilogies. I make an effort to finish every series I start, but if it's a trilogy, odds are, I'll never finish all three.I can finish five-book series, even if I have to wait each year for a new one. I can finish duets, sextets, septologies, but not trilogies.

Recently, I was trying to figure out why this is true, and though I didn't come to a definitive answer, I think it has something to do with the fact that trilogies are very formulaic. I don't like reading a series when I can already peg the twist while reading book 1. I read to be surprised, and trilogies rarely surprise me, often because they're set up for maximum delivery of punches and execution of archetypes.

I guess it's not trilogies that I don't like, just the ones I've read recently. I want more books out there to be maximum-impact standalones. (I'll talk about this more on Thursday.)

I don't like it when I can guess the twists. I need to be kept intrigued and off-guard the whole time I'm reading, otherwise I'll become incredibly bored. I need a book that takes the tropes and twists them so ingeniously that the hints are there -- they're just so well-hidden as to be unnoticeable.

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