My copy of Robert McCammon’s novel, Mister Slaughter, arrived today. I read his first book in the series, Speaks the Nightbird, in 2019 or 2020 – the pandemic and its lockdown messed with my sense of time. Next, and just this year, I read the latest novel, Cardinal Black, which I think is the seventh in his series of books set around 1700, from America to England and elsewhere. Between those two books there are five other novels, all long out of print, and also mostly from small press publishers in limited numbers. This means they now far exceed their original published price. Now, I have two of those five “in-between” novels and, naturally, as with many series I’ve stumbled across “late to the party,” I’ve read them out of order. I lack books two, five, and six. Number two is my main goal, I think, as I’d like to know how McCammon continued his series after the first book. The others, while intriguing, merely flesh out the story.
Of those three books that remain in the middle which I don’t have (and I’m not sure if I should add the word, “yet” to that sentence), I wonder where’s my threshold? Do I pay whatever price I find on the collector’s market? Do I try to wait and see, hoping for new editions? I do like the fact that I have them in their original editions (though not all are firsts, and at some point the publishers changed).
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. I sometimes wonder when I pick up books in series, whether I should wait until I have the right sequence, and then start from the beginning. Or, should I just jump right in and read them, and the order be damned?
Then again, I’ve read many series in the right order, because I was able to buy the first book first, found it enthralling enough to continue, and that made the experience richer. Jack Vance’s Lyonesse books come to mind, as his Cadwal chronicles and Planet of Adventure novels. (Although, his five Demon Prince novels I likely ready out of order, but I found it didn’t matter as much.) There’s also F. Paul Wilson’s Repairman Jack series, which spans more that a dozen books, and probably a few trilogies here and there.
Usually the first scenario happens; I read what I have at that moment, in sequence or not. That was the case with Julian May’s Adversary cycle, years ago. It was the case with Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, several mystery series (Billy Boyle, Inspector Montalbano, Wahloo and Sjovall’s Swedish mystery novels, Jørn Lier Horst’s novels, Gunar Staalensen’s books, and many more), plus a few SF series and other interconnected novels. It’s also happened with TV shows, so I guess I’m just an impatient person. Today I finally watched the first episode of the Murdoch Mysteries, a TV show where I’ve seen almost all episodes from seasons one through eight. Did it seem like the first episode? Not really. Not like Castle, another TV show I liked for a few years.
Books often give a brief summary of what happened in earlier stories, although a few paragraphs as a summary never feels like the real thing. Now that I have Mister Slaughter, which is referenced in a later book that I already read, The Providence Rider, there’s a heightened sense of awareness, I think, which probably clouds my enjoyment of the novel. I just can’t help it, I guess, as I want to read the books that I have, regardless of where they fit into a series. After all, it’s not like I can order the earlier once from online book sellers at retail prices, or hop down to the nearest bookstore. Books are limited, and should be taken advantage of the moment one has them, unless you either have patience, or get in on the ground floor.
Maybe, I should delay my gratification. I could, with certain books like the Montalbano series, or Billy Boyle, have done just that, but as I’m a haphazard collector, I’m also a haphazard reader. Life is short; read what you have.
