Abandoned series...

From February 14, 2008: Have you ever fallen out of love with a favorite author? Was the last book you read by the author so bad, you broke up with them and haven’t read their work since? Could they ever lure you back?

Easy answer: I sometimes stop reading series that I initially liked. But not often. Usually I find an author good - or I don't.

Most authors, once I like them, I like them. They may have particular books I don't like so much - I didn't like Dombey and Son as much as I liked A Tale of Two Cities, for example - but I loved Dickens, and I thought his best book was his last one. Or second last, depending how you count - I'm thinking of Our Mutual Friend.

I didn't like the last few books by Georgette Heyer or Dorothy Dunnett as much as their earlier works.

All in all, I'm a fairly loyal reader. There are some series where I've fallen behind on my reading because I read one or more books in the series that weren't very good - Terry Pratchett is an example here - but always intend to go back or continue, and currently have Making Money out of the library.

I went off Lindsey Davis on reading Last Act in Palmyra, though The Silver Pigs is one of my favourite books. No problem: I read Saturnalia, liked it, and may go back to read the intervening books.

I liked Marion Zimmer Bradley when she was writing about Darkover, but her historical fantasies bored me dreadfully and I don't think I'd ever go back to reading her works - but it's a moot point, since she is dead.

C.J. Cherryh might be a case in point. I read maybe half a dozen of her books, enjoyed them, and then ground to a screeching halt with The Pride of Chanur - odd, because that's a popular one, but I found it close to unreadable. Have never gone back, despite good intentions of trying another of her series.

I like Lois McMaster Bujold's fantasy novels much less than her Vorkosigan books, but I'm still reading her. Quite happily.

I was just telling maaseru about Amanda Quick at lunchtime. The first book of hers that I read - I think it was Scandal - I loved. But after reading a few others, the similarities between them began to pall: too much formula. The moral of the story? Read them one novel at a time, once a year or less, and I'm okay. (But it's really more like once every five years....)

And Jilly Cooper? Same deal.

Torchwood: Jack/Ianto naughtiness...

There are things I don't like about Torchwood's Jack/Ianto relationship, but it has moments of brilliance. Another one from the BBCA Captain's Blog (#19):

Security: Must speak to Ianto about using names from ‘Sex and the City’ on fake IDs. Last week he sent me into an alien smuggling operation as ‘Mr Big’, without telling me. Wish I knew how he kept a straight face. I’d give him a stern talking-to, but I think he enjoys that too much.

Of course he does. Go for it, Jack!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: School Hard (2x03)

Suddenly it's like watching a whole other show.

It looks like Buffy, it sounds like Buffy, but it's all raised to a whole new level. Not just the presence of Spike - though that's the most startling new development - but the whole orchestration of the piece, as if suddenly they figured out what they were doing. Suddenly the actors can act, the fighters can fight, the pacing works, the characterization is in place. And my big complaint that the vampires were boring and dorky is wiped away from the first moment Spike opens his mouth.

It's the best episode yet, not only just better than the rest, but phenomenally better - I checked the writers: David Greenwalt, who did "Teacher's Pet", "Angel", and "Nightmares" - okay, two out of three isn't bad. Directed by John Kretchmer, who did "The Harvest", my least favourite episode of all. But the direction this time was remarkable. Well. Don't know how to add it up, but I'll look for his name again.

( 1. The first thing we see... )