Jumping the Shark

From the Borderlands bookstore newsletter:

A few months ago I was chatting with some friends about those series where one should just stop part-way through. It's not surprising that this happens to some sequences of novels. Most fiction work is subject to "Jumping the Shark," whether it be novel series, television programs, or movie franchises.

What surprised me was the almost universal agreement among those present (which included two editors, two publishers, three booksellers, and several readers). For your amusement let me present some of our conclusions.

The Dune series by Frank Herbert - Stop at the first book, Dune. If you really loved it, you may read the second, Dune Messiah. But stop there.

The Amber books by Roger Zelazny - The first set, one through five (Nine Princes in Amber to The Courts of Chaos), are excellent. Don't even bother reading the second five (The Trumps of Doom to The Prince of Chaos).

The Ender books by Orson Scott Card - Read the first one, Ender's Game. Then, please, please, please do stop. Skip wwaaayyy ahead and read Ender's Shadow. Then stop for good. And while you're at it, you might want to skip the rest of his work entirely.

The Anita Blake series by Laurel Hamilton - They continue to deliver all the way up to Obsidian Butterfly, which is volume 9. After that, stop (unless, of course, you like porn, porn, porn, with a side of porn. But in that case, my I suggest Penthouse's Forum magazine? It's much cheaper and comes out every month.)

The Thomas Covenant trilogy of trilogies by Steven Donaldson. Read the first three (Lord Foul's Bane, The Illearth War, and The Power That Preserves) then stop. Not only are the later books inferior but they spoil your appreciation of the central character because they remove his only admirable trait.

The Xanth novels by Piers Anthony - Read the first three. They're really quite clever and funny. But then the jokes run out, the puns become onerous, and they just aren't good anymore. But, wow, have they gone on... and on... and on (Anthony is up to number 29 now and people still buy them... wonders will never cease).

I'd add Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality in there. I quite liked the first one, the second was boring, and they got worse from there - especially as they all told the exact same events.

What I'm reading: Naomi Novik, Victory of Eagles

One Bourbon, one Scotch, and one beer *

Friday etaine_pommier and J! came over for dinner and drinks. I picked E up from work - she had a rather heavy backpack of fabric for us and didn't want to schlep it along Muni. Quite reasonable.

Except the gobsmacking reason that her backpack was so heavy was not the fabric she delivered to us. It was their birthday present to me: the complete Far Side collection. I was very pleased (of course) and totally surprised. Thanks so much you guys. Mwah!

We had a reservation at Bourbon & Branch, a very nice speakeasy-themed bar here in SF. E&J had been there before, we hadn't. It was rather nice - the reservations meant it wasn't too crowded and loud. We got there slightly early and had a drink in one of the bar rooms hidden behind a bookcase. (Not the library - the Russells Room Cigar Shop.) I'd love to have a house with a wet bar hidden behind a bookcase...

I'm actually not a huge fan of bourbon. The maple notes are generally too sweet for me; I prefer scotch. The bartender suggested a "Blood & Sand", a 1920s cocktail with scotch, orange juice, cherry brandy, and a few other things. It was quite tasty and not too sweet. The wife had a lime & ginger champagne cocktail she liked, and E&J had varied bourbons.

All in all a lovely social evening.

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*Actual numbers consumed were four, one, and zero.