Ike Porter <ikep at umbc.edu> writes: > Something I've always wanted to see was a site where people > could advise other readers when to stop reading a series. > There are some books out there that are really good, but > maybe don't get read because they morph into drek > *coughRAMAcough*. Maybe I'll start working on that in my > CST*. Many times there are warning signs, though most readers are optimists and so don't heed them: 1) Sequel written by or co-written with someone else (Rama, Foundation). 2) Time since previous books is at least a decade longer than previous gaps (Foundation). 3) Nothing happened in previous book[s] (Wheel of Time). 4) In the last book, the insanely powerful protaganist was still whining about not being able to do anything (Dune). (Sorry, couldn't think of anything better for Dune.) 5) Author keeps writing the same book over and over (Xanth, Valdemar). You can also have Google search rec.arts.sf.written for "brain eater" (you'll get tons of hits), "worst sequels", and "worst ending to a series". --KG