What do you call a series that relies on novelty locales?

[Brian Palmer]

What I mean: there are a number of book series that follow a pattern like
The Prince
The Prince Goes to Germany
The Prince Goes to Italy
The Italian Adventures of the Prince
The Prince and the Dykes of Amsterdam

It's an easy way to generate new novels in a world; the first book in
a series gets to spend a lot of time building up a world, so each book
in a new locale can keep the same energy and worldbuilding. How would
you describe this type of series? It's not exactly a travelogue since
each book is itself an independent novel, but the extended plot feels
like one.

I was thinking about this when I recently read Barbara Hambly's _The
Magistrates of Hell_, which revisits Professor Asher's encounters with
vampires and the undead in the years leading up to WW1; this time he
travels to China. Like the rest of the books in the series, it's good,
but it did feel like it was cheating the characters just a bit by
following this pattern, distracting the reader by presenting yet
another oddity.

You see the same thing in the Novik's Temeraire series by Novik, or
Carey's Naamah's X series. Each individual book is at least good, but
as a whole, I was losing enthusiasm by the end. Am I perhaps being
overly grumpy at this technique?

Are there any extended series (say, 4 books or more) that sustain the
series while doing this sort of locale-shifting?

--
I'm awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard.

[Brian M. Scott]

On Wed, 03 Oct 2012 02:44:41 -0700, Brian Palmer
<bpa...@rescomp.stanford.edu> wrote in
<news:0wh1uhf...@rescomp.stanford.edu> in
rec.arts.sf.written:

Only you can say. I can say that I don't see the problem.
I also don't think it accurate to say that Carey's books
*rely* on novelty locations.

> Are there any extended series (say, 4 books or more) that
> sustain the series while doing this sort of
> locale-shifting?

As far as I'm concerned, Carey's Terre d'Ange novels qualify
as a successfully sustained series that includes a great
deal of locale-shifting. The Modesty Blaise novels are
another fine example.

Brian

[Quadibloc]

On Oct 3, 3:44 am, Brian Palmer <bpal...@rescomp.stanford.edu> wrote:

> Are there any extended series (say, 4 books or more) that sustain the
> series while doing this sort of locale-shifting?

Tintin is the explicit example that comes to mind.

John Savard

[Robert Carnegie]

Biggles does pretty well.

In sci-fi, not exactly the same thing but the Star Wars movies
and then at least the earlier spin-off material put in a lot of
effort, I'd say, into presenting exotic and interesting places to
visit. I think this was inherited from Flash Gordon, specifically
the comic-strip version that, it's my impression, had some pretty
good geographical eye-candy.

I thought of this while reading Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" novels,
in which a fleet admittedly cruising through star systems that are
somewhere between Soviet Eastern Europe and the ruthless inhuman
commercialism of modern China or Russia in their worse respects,
star systems that therefore don't /have/ a lot of fine scenery,
just the same usually lets the reader down in this /particular/
respect by leaving jumpspace around Pluto's orbit and promptly
picking all of the large fixed interesting sites and objects where
people are living and working, and drops nukes on them. Or, not so
much nukes, as "rocks", projectiles actually more like solid inert
Space Shuttle darts (i.e. ceramic-coated metal) launched at a
substantial fraction (0.1) of the speed of light. So an ancient
temple fighter base on a jungle moon, or a graceful tibanna gas mine
floating in a gas giant's sky, is gonna have its insurance cancelled
/at/ the speed of light as soon as Jack's fleet drops in at the
jump point. He did spare the Syndic equivalent of Bethselamin,
but no mercy was shown to the planet of the ski lodges; having said
that, in that one case, it was possibly a /more/ interesting place
after he'd bombarded it, than before. Not so flat anyway...

[Cryptoengineer]

If you don't restrict yourself to books:

"This week, the Enterprise encounters a strange new planet, where not
is all that it seems".

pt

[Kip Williams]

Brian Palmer wrote, On 10/3/12 5:44 AM:

> What I mean: there are a number of book series that follow a pattern like
> The Prince
> The Prince Goes to Germany
> The Prince Goes to Italy
> The Italian Adventures of the Prince
> The Prince and the Dykes of Amsterdam

...

> Are there any extended series (say, 4 books or more) that sustain the
> series while doing this sort of locale-shifting?

It happened with M*A*S*H, of which two books were written by "Richard
Hooker," and after that another name (William Butterworth?) started
showing up alongside. I think the last one was _M*A*S*H Meets Abbott and
Costello_.


Kip W
rasfw

[Michael Stemper]

In article <a3cb307f-0dab-42aa...@googlegroups.com>, Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> writes:

>I thought of this while reading Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" novels,

The first time that I read your post, I unconsciously translated "Jack"
as "John (W.)". A second read showed me that you were talking about
somebody much newer than JWC, Jr. Is it this guy?

<http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?36459>


--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
Life's too important to take seriously.

[Wayne Throop]

:: I thought of this while reading Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" novels,

: mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper)
: The first time that I read your post, I unconsciously translated

: "Jack" as "John (W.)". A second read showed me that you were talking
: about somebody much newer than JWC, Jr. Is it this guy?
:
: <http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?36459>

Seems to be. Of course, he's written quite a few more books than
is apparent from that entry... but maybe my isdb-fu is inherrently weak.

Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Fleet
more books are listed, and a bit more plot summary etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Fleet
The Lost Fleet is a military science fiction series written
by John G Hemry under the pen name Jack Campbell.
The series is set one-hundred-plus years into an interstellar war
between two different human cultures, the Alliance and the Syndics.
The protagonist of the story is discovered floating in a suspended
animation escape pod one-hundred years after he made a "heroic last
stand" against an enemy fleet. In the present, he's a renowned hero
to the Alliance and his name and actions are used to justify poor
tactics and decisions. Awakened after being discovered during a
secret mission that turns out to be an enemy trap, he's suddenly
dropped into the fleet commander's chair and expected to live up to
the legend that has grown around him.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <k4hq4k$171$1...@dont-email.me>,

Michael Stemper <michael...@gmail.com> wrote:
>In article <a3cb307f-0dab-42aa...@googlegroups.com>,
>Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> writes:
>
>>I thought of this while reading Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" novels,
>
>The first time that I read your post, I unconsciously translated "Jack"
>as "John (W.)". A second read showed me that you were talking about
>somebody much newer than JWC, Jr. Is it this guy?
>
><http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?36459>
>

That's him. I think I like the Lost Fleet more than Robert does..
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

Not entirely clear from the synopsis, but the first few books are
definitely Xenophon's march to the sea.

Not a deep series, but entertaining. Not only are various alien species
and rougue human polities trying to kill the fleet, but a third of his
crew expect him to take over the home government and another third
think he already has..

[Michael Stemper]

In article <13492...@sheol.org>, thr...@sheol.org (Wayne Throop) writes:
>: mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper)

>:: I thought of this while reading Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" novels,
>

>: The first time that I read your post, I unconsciously translated
>: "Jack" as "John (W.)". A second read showed me that you were talking
>: about somebody much newer than JWC, Jr. Is it this guy?
>:
>: <http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?36459>
>
>Seems to be. Of course, he's written quite a few more books than
>is apparent from that entry... but maybe my isdb-fu is inherrently weak.

I just figured it out. If you click on his *real* name, then it takes
you to the list of everything he wrote beyond the one short story and
one essay listed there. This is a better link:

<http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?6646>

[Robert Carnegie]

On Wednesday, October 3, 2012 7:21:59 PM UTC+1, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <k4hq4k$171$1...@dont-email.me>,
>
> Michael Stemper <michael...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >In article <a3cb307f-0dab-42aa...@googlegroups.com>,
> >Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> writes:
> >
> >>I thought of this while reading Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" novels,
> >
> >The first time that I read your post, I unconsciously translated "Jack"
> >as "John (W.)". A second read showed me that you were talking about
> >somebody much newer than JWC, Jr. Is it this guy?
> >
> ><http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?36459>
> >
>
> That's him. I think I like the Lost Fleet more than Robert does..

The books are fun, if not /strictly/ realistic... and I'm saving up
_Invincible_ as the next book to read, where, come to think,
the Alliance ships /have/ already found more interesting things
to look at and /not/ break, including an O'Neill habitat(?)
(It got broke, but not by them.) And more.

Only... not to spoil _Rendezvous with Rama_, but /that/ is about
a rotating-for-gravity cyl inder habitat (an alien one) drifting through
the Solar System, coated with aeons of sense of wonder. Whereas the
Formerly Lost Fleet deals with their encounter object like one more
thing we've all seen many times before. Well, of course, we /have/
(Galactic Whirlpool, Confinement Asteroid, Babylon 5), and also, as
usual, they're in a hurry, but, y'know, play along??? :-)

[Moriarty]

And Asterix. Although both series have a few adventures set at home
involving no travel.

In written SF, there's Asimov's Lucky Starr series: "The Space
Ranger" (set on Mars); "The Pirates of the Asteroids"; "The Oceans of
Venus"; "The Big Sun of Mercury"; "The Moons of Jupiter"; and "The
Rings of Saturn". He must have got sick of writing about them as he
never made it to Uranus, Neptune or Pluto.

-Moriarty

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <8782d127-43cb-4f73...@j2g2000pbg.googlegroups.com>,

The big trip from New York to somewhere exotic was a part of many, perhaps
most, Doc Savage adventures. "The Saint" for a while seemed to always be
"In" somewhere, "New York", "Miama" etc and the later short stories seem to
involve a lot of travel (the earlier English ones where he just annoys Teal
around London are probably superior though).

[Brian M. Scott]

On 3 Oct 2012 18:21:58 GMT, "Ted Nolan <tednolan>"
<t...@loft.tnolan.com> wrote in
<news:ad3e26...@mid.individual.net> in
rec.arts.sf.written:

> In article <k4hq4k$171$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Michael Stemper <michael...@gmail.com> wrote:

>>In article <a3cb307f-0dab-42aa...@googlegroups.com>,
>>Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> writes:

>>>I thought of this while reading Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" novels,

>>The first time that I read your post, I unconsciously translated "Jack"
>>as "John (W.)". A second read showed me that you were talking about
>>somebody much newer than JWC, Jr. Is it this guy?

>><http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?36459>

> That's him. I think I like the Lost Fleet more than Robert does..

You both apparently like it more than I did, since Robert's
clearly read quite a bit of it. I quit after about three:
it didn't even meet my standards for throw-away
entertainment. It's been a while now, but as I recall,
there just wasn't much of anything to counterbalance the
cardboard.

Brian

[Brian M. Scott]

On Wed, 3 Oct 2012 12:43:32 -0700 (PDT), Robert Carnegie
<rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote in
<news:cacdbdf2-60dc-4c6a...@googlegroups.com>
in rec.arts.sf.written:

[...]

> Only... not to spoil _Rendezvous with Rama_, [...]

Can't be done, any more than you can spoil okra.

Brian

[tphile2]

Is "get sick writing about them" the same as not getting paid by publisher to write about them? After all, AC Doyle got "sick of writing about Sherlock Holmes" but readers cured of him of that soon enough.
But on thing Asimov got sick of early on was the who Space Ranger and his magic forcefield suit cloth which he stopped using completely early on in the series.

[Bill Swears]

I think that John Carter and Tarl Cabot both quested to new places on
their particular worlds in most of their books. It sound like you're
getting at a particular expression of the quest story.

I think Anne McCaffery's Ship who Sang, and possibly the Acorna series
both bounced their characters from world to world a lot, with one off
quests, and an overarching plot-line. Simon R. Green's Deathstalker
series also seems to drag the focus characters through a wide range of
geographies and cultures, where they blew stuff up and killed folks, but
always with a nobler purpose/end goal of snuffing the Empress.

Bill
--
www.billswears.com
Zook Country - http://twilighttimesbooks.com/ZookCountry_ch1.html
Also at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine ebook emporia.
Puppies - http://www.mtaonline.net/~wswears/
Opinions - http://wswears.livejournal.com/

[jack...@bright.net]

Perhaps we could coin the term Grand Tour for that specific, if not
the general case.

I'm thinking the implied draw to sustain such a series is a known, if
not necessarily familiar place; the reader will have some idea of the
setting going into it. Not so much Dumarest of Terra. The Incomplete
Enchanter series may be a variation on that device.

--
-Jack

[Ahasuerus]

On Oct 3, 3:16 pm, mstem...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper)
wrote:
> In article <1349286...@sheol.org>, thro...@sheol.org (Wayne Throop) writes:
> >: mstem...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper)

> >:: I thought of this while reading Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" novels,
> >:
> >: The first time that I read your post, I unconsciously translated
> >: "Jack" as "John (W.)".  A second read showed me that you were talking
> >: about somebody much newer than JWC, Jr.  Is it this guy?
> >:
> >: <http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?36459>
> >
> >Seems to be.  Of course, he's written quite a few more books than
> >is apparent from that entry... but maybe my isdb-fu is inherrently weak.
>
> I just figured it out. If you click on his *real* name, then it takes
> you to the list of everything he wrote beyond the one short story and
> one essay listed there. This is a better link:
>
> <http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?6646>

Sorry about that -- a couple of "Jack Campbell" titles were not set up
as variants under his canonical name. All fixed now.

[Tim.B...@redbridge.gov.uk]

On Wednesday, 3 October 2012 17:46:12 UTC+1, Michael Stemper wrote:
> In article <a3cb307f-0dab-42aa...@googlegroups.com>, Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> writes:
>
>
>
> >I thought of this while reading Jack Campbell's "Lost Fleet" novels,
>
>
>
> The first time that I read your post, I unconsciously translated "Jack"
>
> as "John (W.)".

As id I, correcting myself nly as a consequence of reading your post her.

[david.sh...@ymail.com]

On Oct 3, 5:44 am, Brian Palmer <bpal...@rescomp.stanford.edu> wrote:
> What I mean: there are a number of book series that follow a pattern like
>   The Prince
>   The Prince Goes to Germany
>   The Prince Goes to Italy
>   The Italian Adventures of the Prince
>   The Prince and the Dykes of Amsterdam
>
> It's an easy way to generate new novels in a world; the first book in
> a series gets to spend a lot of time building up a world, so each book
> in a new locale can keep the same energy and worldbuilding. How would
> you describe this type of series? It's not exactly a travelogue since
> each book is itself an independent novel, but the extended plot feels
> like one.

A lot of the time I would describe it as an excuse
for a tax write-off on vacation travel.

Not when the locations aren't on Earth, though.

[Brenda Clough]

Many of the Freddy books, by Walter Brooks were of this type: FREDDY
GOES TO FLORIDA, etc. All the Modesty Blaise books and comic strips are
also of this type; occasionally the characters return to a previous
venue and they have assorted home bases (the penthouse, the pub, etc.)
that they frequent, but there is always at least one exotic locale and
sometimes several.

Brenda


--
My latest novel SPEAK TO OUR DESIRES is available exclusively from Book
View Cafe.
http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/Brenda-Clough/Novels/Speak-to-Our-Desires-Chapter-01

[Titus G]

If you keep the receipts, they are all tax deductible.

[Kip Williams]

Brenda Clough wrote, On 10/5/12 6:16 PM:

>
> Many of the Freddy books, by Walter Brooks were of this type: FREDDY
> GOES TO FLORIDA, etc.

I blush that I didn't think of that. Walter Brooks went to school right
up the road in Rochester, and the university has his papers.

I grit my teeth when I say the library doesn't have many of his books.


Kip W
rasfw

[Brian M. Scott]

On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:16:11 -0400, Brenda Clough
<Brenda...@yahoo.com> wrote in
<news:k4nm8a$jno$1...@dont-email.me> in rec.arts.sf.written:

> All the Modesty Blaise books and comic strips are also of
> this type; occasionally the characters return to a
> previous venue and they have assorted home bases (the
> penthouse, the pub, etc.) that they frequent, but there
> is always at least one exotic locale and sometimes
> several.

Usually, but not always. Several of the strips take place
entirely in London and environs, as does the short story
'The Soo Girl Charity'.

Brian

[Greg Goss]

I'm not sure if this thread is about stories told IN exotic locales
(early Bond etc) or stories that are mostly ABOUT exotic locales.

The latter I refer to as "Odysseys", partly because of Clarke's
version, but also because of the original.

You wander about encountering a number of strange places, then move on
not much changed by the encounter.

Generally I don't like these, but "Ringworld" is an odyssey that I
liked.
--
I used to own a mind like a steel trap.
Perhaps if I'd specified a brass one, it
wouldn't have rusted like this.

[David DeLaney]

Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:
>I'm not sure if this thread is about stories told IN exotic locales
>(early Bond etc) or stories that are mostly ABOUT exotic locales.

What about stories that have CHARACTERS who are exotic locales?

Dave, ObExample: The Doll's House, Gaiman
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

[Quadibloc]

On Oct 3, 9:31 am, Robert Carnegie <rja.carne...@excite.com> wrote:
> I think this was inherited from Flash Gordon, specifically
> the comic-strip version that, it's my impression, had some pretty
> good geographical eye-candy.

That is true enough, but there are earlier precedents of a sort. Jules
Verne comes to mind, although he didn't really do a series...

John Savard

[Juho Julkunen]

In article <slrnk71e7...@gatekeeper.vic.com>,
d...@gatekeeper.vic.com says...

>
> Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:
> >I'm not sure if this thread is about stories told IN exotic locales
> >(early Bond etc) or stories that are mostly ABOUT exotic locales.
>
> What about stories that have CHARACTERS who are exotic locales?
>
> Dave, ObExample: The Doll's House, Gaiman

Lovecraft's "The Street". New England might not that exotic, but I
submit a sapient street is.

Lots of things by Iain M. Banks.

Lem's _Solaris_, maybe.

Marvel comics has a couple of standouts like Krakoa, the island that
walks like a man, and Ego the Living Planet.

--
Juho Julkunen

[Kurt Busiek]

On 2012-10-07 20:42:14 +0000, Juho Julkunen <giao...@hotmail.com> said:

> In article <slrnk71e7...@gatekeeper.vic.com>,
> d...@gatekeeper.vic.com says...
>>
>> Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:
>>> I'm not sure if this thread is about stories told IN exotic locales
>>> (early Bond etc) or stories that are mostly ABOUT exotic locales.
>>
>> What about stories that have CHARACTERS who are exotic locales?
>>
>> Dave, ObExample: The Doll's House, Gaiman
>
> Lovecraft's "The Street". New England might not that exotic, but I
> submit a sapient street is.

Grant Morrison's DOOM PATROL had a sentient street, as well.

> Lots of things by Iain M. Banks.
>
> Lem's _Solaris_, maybe.
>
> Marvel comics has a couple of standouts like Krakoa, the island that
> walks like a man, and Ego the Living Planet.

Braggadoom, the Mountain That Walked Like A Man, Spragg the Living Hill
-- but those might have been hyperbole. Krakoa and Ego were legitimate
locales.

kdb
--
Visit http://www.busiek.com -- for all your Busiek needs!

[Robert Carnegie]

On Sunday, October 7, 2012 9:50:54 PM UTC+1, Kurt Busiek wrote:
> On 2012-10-07 20:42:14 +0000, Juho Julkunen <giao...@hotmail.com> said:

> > [Exotic locales that are "characters"]

> >
> > Lem's _Solaris_, maybe.
> >
> > Marvel comics has a couple of standouts like Krakoa, the island that
> > walks like a man, and Ego the Living Planet.
>
> Braggadoom, the Mountain That Walked Like A Man, Spragg the Living Hill
> -- but those might have been hyperbole. Krakoa and Ego were legitimate
> locales.

And various spaceships with minds - particularly if something's gone
wrong and they're stationary. Or just big enough. X-Factor had "Ship",
I guess; the Micronauts had several incarnations of "Bioship", basically
a /licensed/ character?...

We could have a contest to name the most times it happened in Star Trek...
but probably we won't?

It just came to mind when I wanted to describe Jack Hawksmoor's
relationship to cities and came up with "Captain Kirk".

[David Goldfarb]

In article <k4spvd$sgj$1...@dont-email.me>, Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.com> wrote:
>Grant Morrison's DOOM PATROL had a sentient street, as well.

Who is currently a member of the Teen Titans.

>> Marvel comics has a couple of standouts like Krakoa, the island that
>> walks like a man, and Ego the Living Planet.
>
>Braggadoom, the Mountain That Walked Like A Man, Spragg the Living Hill
>-- but those might have been hyperbole. Krakoa and Ego were legitimate
>locales.

Perhaps we should mention the Great Beast called Tundra, as well.

--
David Goldfarb |"To summarize the summary of the summary:
goldf...@gmail.com | People are a problem."
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | -- Douglas Adams

[tphile2]

Does Ego still qualify as a planet or just a very large sentient being? I don't recall it revolving around star.
DCs Green Lantern Corps also had a planet for a GL.
Planetary and The Authority also had very LARGE aliens. So big that sentient life and cities evolved or lived on them.
Then their is all the subatomica worlds. The Micronauts Microverse. Marvels Psychomans home. etc.

[Robert Carnegie]

On Monday, October 8, 2012 11:34:00 AM UTC+1, tphile2 wrote:
> Does Ego still qualify as a planet or just a very large sentient being?
> I don't recall it revolving around star.

I think Ego's contract specifies that in all appearances he will be
introduced as "Ego, The Living Planet".

I guess he's one of those celebrities who has a big... um... yeah.

Re billing, also see: "Klarion... Bum, Bum, Bum... The Witch Boy", at DC.
Well, probably not now.

[Brian Palmer]

"Brian M. Scott" <b.s...@csuohio.edu> writes:

> As far as I'm concerned, Carey's Terre d'Ange novels qualify
> as a successfully sustained series that includes a great
> deal of locale-shifting. The Modesty Blaise novels are
> another fine example.

The Kushiel arcs made it work. I just thought the Naamah series went
too far.
--
I'm awfully glad I'm a Beta, because I don't work so hard.

[Lynn McGuire]

On 10/3/2012 4:44 AM, Brian Palmer wrote:
> What I mean: there are a number of book series that follow a pattern like
> The Prince
> The Prince Goes to Germany
> The Prince Goes to Italy
> The Italian Adventures of the Prince
> The Prince and the Dykes of Amsterdam
>
> It's an easy way to generate new novels in a world; the first book in
> a series gets to spend a lot of time building up a world, so each book
> in a new locale can keep the same energy and worldbuilding. How would
> you describe this type of series? It's not exactly a travelogue since
> each book is itself an independent novel, but the extended plot feels
> like one.
>

> I was thinking about this when I recently read Barbara Hambly's _The
> Magistrates of Hell_, which revisits Professor Asher's encounters with
> vampires and the undead in the years leading up to WW1; this time he
> travels to China. Like the rest of the books in the series, it's good,
> but it did feel like it was cheating the characters just a bit by
> following this pattern, distracting the reader by presenting yet
> another oddity.
>
> You see the same thing in the Novik's Temeraire series by Novik, or
> Carey's Naamah's X series. Each individual book is at least good, but
> as a whole, I was losing enthusiasm by the end. Am I perhaps being
> overly grumpy at this technique?
>

> Are there any extended series (say, 4 books or more) that sustain the
> series while doing this sort of locale-shifting?

The Flynx and Pip series by Alan Dean Foster.
http://www.amazon.com/Tar-Aiym-Krang-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/034530280X/
Went 14 books over 35 years.

Up the universe!

Lynn

[Dan Tilque]

Kip Williams wrote:
> Brian Palmer wrote, On 10/3/12 5:44 AM:

>> What I mean: there are a number of book series that follow a pattern like
>> The Prince
>> The Prince Goes to Germany
>> The Prince Goes to Italy
>> The Italian Adventures of the Prince
>> The Prince and the Dykes of Amsterdam

> ...

>> Are there any extended series (say, 4 books or more) that sustain the
>> series while doing this sort of locale-shifting?
>

> It happened with M*A*S*H, of which two books were written by "Richard
> Hooker," and after that another name (William Butterworth?) started
> showing up alongside. I think the last one was _M*A*S*H Meets Abbott and
> Costello_.

And not surprisingly, the first two are worth reading and the rest are not.


--
Dan Tilque

How did I get into this mess? Miles isn't even /here/.
-- Ivan in _Captain Vorpatril's Alliance_, Lois McMaster Bujold

[Kip Williams]

Dan Tilque wrote, On 11/30/12 7:24 AM:

> Kip Williams wrote:
>> Brian Palmer wrote, On 10/3/12 5:44 AM:
>>> What I mean: there are a number of book series that follow a pattern
>>> like
>>> The Prince
>>> The Prince Goes to Germany
>>> The Prince Goes to Italy
>>> The Italian Adventures of the Prince
>>> The Prince and the Dykes of Amsterdam
>> ...
>>> Are there any extended series (say, 4 books or more) that sustain the
>>> series while doing this sort of locale-shifting?
>>
>> It happened with M*A*S*H, of which two books were written by "Richard
>> Hooker," and after that another name (William Butterworth?) started
>> showing up alongside. I think the last one was _M*A*S*H Meets Abbott
>> and Costello_.
>
> And not surprisingly, the first two are worth reading and the rest are not.

That's unsurprising enough that I'm not even sure whether I looked
inside the third one or took that part for granted. "Hooker" had a
viewpoint nothing like where the TV series ended up, and probably
grumbled all the way to the bank. I haven't seen Butterworth's name on
anything in a while, but hadn't been looking.


Kip W
rasfw

[Mark Bestley]

Willian E. Butterworth IV has started wrting books (now on his own but
first as coauthor) in the series that his father started. His father
started writing under the name of W.E.B. Griffin after his earlier
Butterworth books, both on his own as well as the ones with Hooker's
name on.


--
Mark

[Kip Williams]

Mark Bestley wrote, On 12/1/12 6:13 PM:

Okay, thanks.


Kip W
rasfw