Book

Sequels: An Annotated Guide to Novels in Series

📖 Overview

Sequels: An Annotated Guide to Novels in Series is a reference book that catalogs and describes thousands of book series published between the late 19th and late 20th centuries. The entries span multiple genres including mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and literary fiction. Each entry contains key publication details, a synopsis of the first book, and information about subsequent volumes in the series. The annotations note series length, reading order, interconnections between books, and whether the series was completed or remains ongoing. This guide serves as a resource for readers, librarians, and researchers seeking to explore connected narratives or track the evolution of serial fiction. The comprehensive index and cross-references enable users to locate series by author, title, genre, or character names. The work highlights the cultural significance of series fiction and its role in shaping reading habits across generations. Through its systematic documentation, the guide reveals patterns in how authors construct long-form narratives and build fictional worlds across multiple volumes.

👀 Reviews

Book database enthusiasts praise this reference work from 1994 as a handy guide to finding sequels, prequels, and series order. Multiple reviewers note its value for tracking down older and obscure series published before the internet era. Readers liked: - Clear organization by author last name - Includes both adult and YA titles - Brief summaries avoid spoilers - Publication order details - Mix of popular and lesser-known works Common criticisms: - Now outdated (pre-1994 only) - Some series listings incomplete - Focuses mainly on US/UK books - Limited subject/genre indexing Ratings: Goodreads: 3.67/5 (6 ratings) Amazon: Not enough reviews for rating "Helped me track down many forgotten favorites from my childhood," wrote one Goodreads reviewer. Another noted it was "useful for its time period but needs updating for modern series." No significant presence on other review sites likely due to its age and specialized reference nature.

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🤔 Interesting facts

🔖 This reference book catalogs over 2,300 series novels, helping readers discover what comes next in their favorite book sequences 📚 Peter Davison spent three years compiling the information, corresponding with hundreds of authors and publishers to ensure accuracy 📖 The guide includes both adult and young adult series, with entries organized alphabetically by author's last name rather than by genre or target audience 🏆 The book became an essential resource for librarians and booksellers in the pre-internet era, helping them track series order and recommend titles to patrons 📑 Each entry provides publication dates, series order, brief plot summaries, and notes about how the books connect to each other in the sequence