What do you prefer, Series, or Stand-Alone Books? I personally prefer Series, because there's more time to develop the characters, and by the end most of the loose-ends are wrapped up, and you can really relate to all the characters.
I like series. I am the sort of writer who writes 1000 words when someone else would do it in 500. If i wrote a stand alone it would be 1000s of pages long! I also prefer to read series because it gives me something to look forward too after i fall in love with the characters. I hate the feeling of 'what am i going to read next' after i read a stand-alone.
Series, for the same reasons everyone else said -- more character and plot development, and I get to read more about the character's I've grown to like.
If it's a standalone, it better be the best book I have ever read in my life, because I don't like forgetting about characters in only one book. It's like meeting someone once, have a conversation, then never seeing each other again Series is better.
I don't care what format it is, as long as the writing is good. A good writer can put a series' worth of character development into one book. (And then, if they're really good, make that into its own series!)
Stand Alones - So I don't have to go out and buy the next one. But it's all good to me if the writing is good.
I go to the store and find a series that grabs me. So, not wanting to waste my money, I buy only the first one. Then I like it a lot... and can't get back to the store to buy the rest. Stand alones are safer... to both my sanity and my wallet. But I read everything.
Definitely a fan of a series - although I must say, when I read that final book of the series, I practically grieve for the loss of those characters who have become such a part of my life! I guess that momentary depression is the downside for me - but on the plus side, you really get to kow the characters and you learn so much from them - even if they are fictional!
I prefer stand-alones, although it's best if an author is prolific and writes stand-alones because then he or she will frequently write on similar themes several times, from different angles. Also because while there are many, many bad books, there are too many bad books which form part of a longer series. For example, the His Dark Materials trilogy - the first book seemed pretty 'meh.' Animorphs - good initially, gradually less and less good. Same with the Terry Goodkind series involving Richard Cypher/Rahl. I've heard that Robert Jordan's series is really boring initially, then gets good around book 8 and is fantastic by book 11. And in some cases, authors who write a series get lazy about editing and pacing and start to drag their books out unnecessarily. Personally, I'd rather just read Bruce or Starship Troopers or Tigana or White Fang or Watership Down or Anne of Green Gables or The Misenchanted Sword. There are plenty of bad single novels out there, but you can avoid a lot of them by glancing through the pages and looking at the back cover. Don't get me wrong; I don't limit myself exclusively to single books when I read. It's just that with a single, self-contained novel, you can skip a boring/bad/poorly written paragraph or even a whole chapter and not lose much. If you read a good series with a bad part, you can't just skip it because you lose important plot points that way.
I also like stand-alones because they tend to have better quality writing. When a writer needs to put all the information in one book, the book becomes more focused and the plot is more intricately crafted, as opposed to simply being long and thorough. Also, the characters are deeper because every little action and thought says something about the character's background in addition to his/her personality. Whereas in a series, it's easy to create a character through a chain of stories instead of telling a story about an already existing character. Erm... if that makes sense. Is Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings considered a series? Or are they considered stand-alones with multiple parts?
I prefer series, myself being an avid fan of the Legend of Drizzt series. I started reading in April of last year and I'm still reading them. A lot of books in the series, but all of them as good as the ones preceding them. I like the character development and reference to past books in series'.
As a fantasy fan, I prefer series with some limitations. I don't care for Robert Jordan or Terry Goodkind who continue a series seemingly just for the sake of continuing, all the while lacking in quality of work. I would say, for a deep intricate story like A Song of Ice and Fire by GRRM, seven books is acceptable. Trilogies are good, too. The only downside with series is, of course, having to wait for the subsequent book. In some cases having to wait several years between each book. *cough* George R.R. Martin!
I tend to prefer a stand alone to be perfectly honest with you. Not sure why really. But I also like to stick to a few select authors as well. I also like it when an author tends to use characters from one book in another of the books and ties them all in together, but not as a series type thing. Just a..erm...I can;t think of the word for it...a connection I spose would do. I find that really does draw me into a writers work far more than a series.
I read and enjoy both, but I do own a lot more series than I do stand-alones. This is mostly because I am primarily a fantasy reader and series are quite prevalent in the genre. At this point I wish more authors would do some good stand-alone novels, if only for the sake of my wallet. And honestly it makes me a bit sad that because I'm currently collecting four different series, I don't have enough time nor money left over to really get into other books. If there were more stand-alones I'd be able to experiment a bit more, or at least take more chances with new-to-me authors. ~DragonHeart~
Stand alones because I tend to read more fiction than anything else. However, for fantasy, a series is nice because that allows for a more intricate and epic plot.
My favorite are series or connected books that don't depend on you having read the other books, although a really good stand alone book is wonderful.
I guess I prefer series simply because most of my favorite stories are series. When I finished the Harry Potter series I was disappointed that the series was over. Even though this isn't bad: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?r=1&EAN=9780545128285
