I’ve had some good and varied reads lately! First, I finished this book:
It was interesting, and a little hard to describe, possibly due to the fact that I didn’t always understand what was going on. It’s a sci fi/mystery mashup with a bit of horror and romance mixed in. Two agents are thrown together in the investigation of a dangerous substance called “Prophet.” It turns out the agents have a complicated past, present, and possible future together. The relationship between the two was my favorite part of this book- but I did enjoy the investigation as well. It got intense and scary at the end, so after that I was looking forward to something lighter.
Here’s the problem though. I started the book and thought, “Wow, they really throw you right into this.” There was no explanation of who the characters were or any background like that- I almost felt like I was starting the story in the middle. Well, I don’t mind that…
I kept reading and after a couple chapters finally figured out that I had gotten the SECOND BOOK IN THE SERIES. Don’t ask me HOW I made that mistake, but I did. And, I was on an airplane, and it was the only book I brought with me. ARRRG!
I had no other choice but to keep reading. As the book went along, it did reference things that happened in the first book (which means that I don’t want to go back and read that one now, since I know the entire plot). And, I can’t really describe much of the plot of this one without ruining parts of the first book for anyone who hasn’t read it. Sigh.
Let’s just say that this series has been compared to Harry Potter. Now, we all know Harry Potter is in a class by itself, but I get the comparison. The main character is a twelve year old girl living in the magical world of Nevermoor. There’s mystery, suspense, and interesting creatures and characters. It was a very fun read- I recommend it, but for the love of God, please start with THE FIRST BOOK, which is The Trials of Morrigan Crow.
After that, I dove into one of the books I bought on my trip:
In this book, a Scotland Yard inspector is laid up with a broken leg, and decides to delve into history, and the mystery of Richard III. What really happened to the princes in the tower- did Richard kill them, as everyone has been taught to believe?
Let’s look at the quote on the cover: “One of the best mysteries of all time.” AHEM. I’m going to push back on that. I think part of the problem is that I don’t really… well, care about Richard Plantagenet and that period of history. It’s not compelling to me to find out what happened to those princes 550 years ago. But, I’m not finished yet. Tey could pull off a stunning ending to this book and I’ll eat my words. I’ll report back soon!
Have you read any of these?
Would you ever read a series out of order? – Normally I would NOT do such a thing!
Top photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash
16 Responses
Ok, we’ll keep an open mind on The Daughter of Time, but Richard III is a hard sell.
I can only remember reading books out of sequence in cases where it didn’t matter, like the Dover series. That was a case of the books being hard to get so I had to take what I could find. I read two of the Linda Castillo books out of sequence because that was how the library holds came in, and for whatever reason I’m dead set on reading the Alphabet murders in order, knowing full well it doesn’t matter. But I can’t remember ever reading out of sequence and then being lost because of it.
Yeah, you definitely want to read this series in order, EYE ROLL. Well- I still enjoyed the book. I can see how in some series it wouldn’t matter though.
I have not read “Prophet”, “The Trials of Morrigan Crow”, “The Trials of Morrigan Crow”, or “The Daughter of Time”, Jenny. I also read non-fiction books much more often than I read fiction.
I would normally not read a series out of order unless, like you, I didn’t recognize that it was a noninitial book in a series before I read it.
Yes, I really had no choice in this case, unless I just didn’t read during the flight- which was not an acceptable option!
I HAVE read a series out of order, but like you, not intentionally. Some books just seem like they are okay to read out of order – like, as a stand-alone they are fine – but some are really confusing. I’ve read some Elin Hildebrand and I do think that her books can be read out of order, but they would be better in order.
NO, I haven’t read either of those books, but our reading interests don’t interlap much! Sci-fi/ mystery mashup with horror thrown in is my personal nightmare! Too scary! I’ll leave those to you and will be over here reading my women’s literary fiction!
Yes, I would say Prophet is the absolute opposite of a book for you. If you were going to delve into fantasy, the Morrigan Crow series would be a good one (but I don’t think you want to do that either!)
I read a romance book that was the 2nd in a series. I didn’t realize they were a series. The wait for the first book was so long so I decided to just proceed with the book and ruin the other one. I could still read it but probably won’t.
I do want to read Nevermoor, maybe with Paul at some point. We had such a delightful night last night of snuggling side by side and reading. He was reading a new graphic novel series called ‘Stick Man’ and I read ‘The Joy Luck Club’. It was basically a parenting dream come true!!
Yes- you could definitely read the Nevermoor series with Paul. It’s like Harry Potter but a little lighter. Not that there aren’t bad guys and some slightly scary moments- but the HP books definitely have a darker feel to them.
The first one I haven’t read, and I’m not much for “intense” reading right now, so I probably won’t.
The second I have, but I read the first in the series when it was the only one out, so yeah, I can’t imagine how hard it would have been to dive in with the second! And to be stuck on a plane with it, nightmare! In general, the only ones I will willingly read out of order are ones where the listing says a book is part of a series, but don’t have to be read in order: I like it when they spell that out.
I do love The Daughter of Time, though I don’t know about that NYT quote, that’s a big sell. I wouldn’t say I’m all that interested in Richard III either, though I was on his side as more was learned about it. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about the end.
Okay, now I’m intrigued to read the ending! I’ll finish it today and report back!
I read The Prophet and my favourite part was also their (very weird) relationship. The other parts were cool but I thought they dragged on a lot. I have read the first TWO books of the Morrigan Crow series, lol, and loved them – I think they rival Harry Potter easily (but I’m a bit soured on JK Rowling so…) I would maybe suggest at least reading the first part of the first book because it establishes Morrigan’s personality so well and is so enjoyable in an Edward Gorey-ish way.
Oh, and I’m always a little wary of reading anything that is billed as ‘the best whatever of all time’. Classics are often classic for a reason, but they can also be dated and you can never read them as if they had just come out. Adjustments have to be made, is what I’m saying.
I haven’t read any of these books. I would probably not read a series of books out of order, but I could make that mistake easily.
One of the best mysteries of ALL TIME? That is quite the claim, NYT. But now I’m eager to find out what you think of the ending!
How frustrating to have the second in a series as your only airplane read! But WHY does it not say it’s part of a series on the book cover?! That should be a pre-requisite of all books-in-series, I think.
I read a lot of romance series out of order, but I think most romance novels are written to be able to be read as stand alone books. There are a few authors that it’s better to read the last book last, but everything before that is perfectly fine to read in whatever order because there are different main characters in each book, even though the world is the same.
I’ve never read the books in this post, and every time I read a book post full of books I’ve never read, I think, “Isn’t it great there are so many books in the world that everyone can find something that suits them?” Sci fi and horror are just not genres I gravitate towards.
I used to read romance series out of order, but now I try not to, even though most of them can be read out of order. But everything else I read in order.
I haven’t heard of any of these books! The last one sounds like it could be interesting, but only if you like history and don’t need a super twisty mystery to get you through, it seems!