Why is it that most of the book series I've been reading lately have really started to go downhill?
Case in point, the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. The first four were very entertaining and irreverent. There was danger, intrigue, romance, and the plucky heroine always somehow managed to stay positive despite the hardships. But then a strange thing happened: the books just became... BLAH. Almost as if Charlaine Harris just got tired of writing about Sookie but still had her contractual obligations to fulfill.
Book 10 in the series, Dead in the Family, was a hot mess. Nothing happened, no climactic moment, no exciting vampire sex even. Oh, there was the act of making love, but not the usual hot stuff we've been treated to in the past. And everyone's favorite bad boy Viking vampire, Eric Northman, was reduced to a confused, docile relationship man. What happened to the Sheriff of Area 5? He's been whipped, is what.
And don't even get me started on JR Ward's Lover series. Sheesh.
So what is it that makes a series start to go downhill? I'm very interested because my novel is only the first of 5 novels, and I'm trying to avoid the same fate that has befallen other previously good series.
Is it because the author just lost interest?
Is it because their story is open-ended and thus they need "filler" books in order to continue with the series?
Is it because the author/editor just got complacent after the success of the first few books?
I wish I knew!
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