Series

Another Series has come to an end- giving me more than just a good reading experience. In fact, it has left me with a lot of things to cope with; which comes as no big surprise, as most books end with the reader struggling with the dilemma. The Twilight saga is my latest read, preceded by the Inkheart Trilogy and the Harry Potter series. The good part about all the three series has been the fact that I am one of the first 100 readers or so. That helps me to maintain unbiased, unprejudiced ground while reading the books*. Harry Potter, of course, was the first ever novel I read, at the age of 7. In the case of the Inkheart Trilogy, I began as a critic and ended up as a fan. As for the Twilight Saga, I am yet to decide.

Well, what does the series leave me with? What do I get from reading a single story, continued over several books? The answer, as I said, is 'a lot'. So, instead of burdening you with long, not-so-juicy paragraphs, I am giving you a list (which, I hope, is crisp enough):

• A series gives you an individual style of writing. The combination of sentence structures, choices of words, descriptions, et cetera, is unique to every writer. And these styles and their analysis gives me good variety to feed on!
• The whole process of waiting for the next in the series can be quite exciting and thoroughly rewarding, if you know what I mean.
• The longer a series, the more involved are the fans*. Forums, dicussions, events, products, movies, are all part and parcel of successful series. And that certainly adds to the value.
• The characters become a prominent part of the readers' lives. Sometimes as friends, sometimes as crushes, sometimes as advisors, and at others, as fears. And oh yes, they can even be role models, confidantes (though imaginary), ideal partners and so on.
• The words, events and characters in the books surely have some impact, some influence, in our lives, big or small. There are some unforgettable quotes, unimagined situations, admirable traits that invariably stick with you, long after the books may even have been forgotten.

*1- I can safely say that because I am pretty unenthusiastic about the Eragon series, because I did not get to reading it when I wanted to, and I lost the desire to read it once I watched the movie and heard others about the books.

*2-The same cannot be said of the Princess Diaries; the thing just streches, why, drags on and on and on! It just gets too boring, too much to bear with.

Well, with that, all I can add to conclude with is my open invitation to any and all criticism, debate, and (rare) agreement.