Do you prefer book titles within series to "match"?

[TimC]

I never really gave thought to matching cadence of titles within a series, but I get weary of titles that simply use the fill in the blank pattern "________ of _________". Fantasy adventure titles seem to use that generic pattern of words again and again and again, nearly like a trope of the genre. Bor-ring....

 

[Juliana]

I like ones where's there a subtle link.

Agreed. I don't think series titles have to be matchy-matchy, but I think it helps if there's a general feel to them that marks them as belonging to the same world. For instance, Seanan McGuire's InCrptid series have titles that don't match, exactly, but have a similar feel:

1. Discount Armageddon
2. Midnight Blue-Light Special
3. Half-Off Ragnarok
4. Pocket Apocalypse
5. Chaos Choreography
6. Magic for Nothing
7. Tricks for Free
8. That Ain't Witchcraft
9. Imaginary Numbers
10. Calculated Risks

EDITED TO ADD: A YA example of not-matching-but-same-feel is Tom Pollock's excellent Skyscraper Throne trilogy: The City's Son, The Glass Republic, and Our Lady of the Streets.

 

[Boaz]

I agree with tegeus-Cromis, but when I was younger I thought the similar names added to the epic feel. I guess I did not really care that if Conan was in the title, then he wasn't really going to die.

CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien did not bother with similar titles and I love their works. On the other hand I also love RE Howard's Conan books by Lancer/Ace in the 1970s where every book began Conan... and I loved ER Burroughs' Martian stories, by DelRey with the Michael Whelan art, where every book (except Llana of Gathol) ended of Mars.

I don't know that I've ever started a series based upon the fact that the books had similar or thematic titles.... except for David Eddings' Belgariad. I've come to learn that books I liked had similarly titled sequels, GRR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. And I've actually gone into reading a series cringing at the titles of the subsequent books.... Harry Potter and The Broken Empire come to mind. I loved the former and disliked the latter.

I think the marketing can be positive or negative on this title thing. All of Shakespeare's histories are shortened to just a name and number. I'd like to bash Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series because the title screams "If you liked Harry Potter, then read this!".... but I think using a child's name around which to develop a series goes back at least to Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys.

I mentioned Michael Whelan's covers for ERB above. I was always ten times as likely to read a book based upon it's cover art than it's title. John Carter, Conan, Riftwar, Dragonlance, Prydain Chronicles, Shanarra, The Iron Tower trilogy, A Song of Ice and Fire, Kingkiller Chronicles as well as others that I did not continue... Lord of the Isles, Taliesin, Witch World, Orcs, Across the Face of the World, The Dragonbone Chair, and more.

 

[HareBrain]

I was always ten times as likely to read a book based upon it's cover art than it's title.

For me too, to some extent. The cover art was likely to be the main draw when browsing in a bookshop and the books were shown cover out or on a table. But most of the time they're spine-out, or as thumbnails on websites, where a lot of the detail can't be appreciated. (And in e.g. The Dragonbone Chair it was the detail that swung it, IIRC.)

 

[Night_Eternal]

I'm not a big fan of titles like these myself. I prefer something where each book has a good, original, memorable title and I would likely pass on a lot of things (maybe unfairly) when it comes to anything that has Swords/Dragons/Magic in the title itself.

That said, if a book has a good cover to it, I may pick it up anyway.

 

[Danny McG]

Starting with Tarnsmen and ending with Quarry there are 31 books ending in 'of Gor' by John Norman, but tbh you can read them in any sequence really, the stories don't vary much

 

[HareBrain]

ending with Quarry there are 31 books ending in 'of Gor' by John Norman

Quarry of Gor? Were they hoping to turn it into a 1970s BBC SF series?

 

[Elckerlyc]

I'm not into Fantasy much, where Series Without End seems to be the norm these days. When titles share a common theme, that signals repetition and a never-ending story, it only adds to my reluctance to pick up and read The Great Architect's First Steps - First Volume of The Infinity World.

If done at all, titles should indicate the progress of the story arc, including indicating a closure.
Memorable titles, like Len Deighton's 3 sets of (Bernard Samson) spy-trilogies :
1. Berlin Game
2. Mexico Set
3. London Match

4. Spy Hook
5. Spy Line
6. Spy Sinker

7. Faith
8. Hope
9. Charity

 

[.matthew.]

For me too, to some extent. The cover art was likely to be the main draw when browsing in a bookshop

That's a good point. Cover art draws me in more than the names and the artwork of the series I mentioned earlier really sold it to me.

It bummed me out when they stopped producing that cover theme right near the end of the series

 

[HareBrain]

the artwork of the series I mentioned earlier really sold it to me.

I agree, it's very appealing. But it backs up my point above: it relies on detail that would be invisible at thumbnail size. I've checked out the more recent versions, and they seem to be designed to be clearer as thumbnails. However, all they basically say to me now is "dragons". (Or possibly, "dragons with snowglobes".)

 

[Rodders]

I'm not too bother in the titles, but it does bother me when books of a series get released in a different size, or the spines don't match.

 

[.matthew.]

Yea, a detailed cover is a wonderful thing, it's one of the reasons I reject Kindles and their bizarre not showing cover in sleep mode thing.

It's also why I tend to love ebooks even more - I can set whichever version of the cover I like

But back on topic, if the titles have some sort of vague theme I appreciate it, just so long as it isn't so banal.

 

[Vince W]

If an author (or publisher) wants titles in a series to match that's fine. If the story is good and I enjoy it, I don't care.

Starting with Tarnsmen and ending with Quarry there are 31 books ending in 'of Gor' by John Norman, but tbh you can read them in any sequence really, the stories don't vary much

You could also burn them in any order and get the same satisfaction.

 

[ginny]

Seems there was a time that both titles and covers often had less to do with novel-series than to do with what publishers thought would sell a book.
When: or did that change.

 

[paranoid marvin]

1.Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy
2.The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe
3.Life, The Universe And Everything
4.So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish
5.Mostly Harmless

Could you have four such diverse titles in any book series?

 

[Ori Vandewalle]

Probably not, and especially not in a trilogy!

 

[Juliana]

1.Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy
2.The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe
3.Life, The Universe And Everything
4.So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish
5.Mostly Harmless

Could you have four such diverse titles in any book series?

Yes, BUT... They may be different, but at the same time they have a similar 'vibe' that shows they fit within a series. And I think this may be the key to diverse titles — having them feel like they belong together, even though they're very different.

 

[Narkalui]

@Elckerlyc I'm glad you mentioned Deighton's Sampson series, I would have done so if you hadn't.

I'm not sure why no one has mentioned Sharpe. This is a titling device that works extremely well, except with some of the later entries like Sharpe's Havoc which is, frankly, a rubbish title for what is possibly the best book in the series