a question a day
Today's question from the question-a-day meme:
1 Do you have a favorite book series?
Several. I like serial storytelling, which combines the comfort of familiarity (yay, I get to hang out with these characters again!) with the pleasure of a new plot. It's the same reason I like fanfic.
A few favorites:
Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series
Mary Renault's Greek novels, which are a sort of loose series with recurring characters (not all of them historical)
Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford series
John Le Carré's George Smiley series
But if I had to pick one, it would be Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series. These police procedural mysteries (with a decent dose of police-skepticism built in) offer inventive and varied mystery plots, excellent prose, and characters with growing depth and complexity (including the women, and also one of the first recurring gay characters--one of the detectives, not a killer or a victim--that I know of in any mystery series). The worldview is broadly leftist and always compassionate and thoughtful. I re-read these books a lot, which says something in itself, because not a lot of mysteries will bear re-reading.
1 Do you have a favorite book series?
Several. I like serial storytelling, which combines the comfort of familiarity (yay, I get to hang out with these characters again!) with the pleasure of a new plot. It's the same reason I like fanfic.
A few favorites:
Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series
Mary Renault's Greek novels, which are a sort of loose series with recurring characters (not all of them historical)
Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford series
John Le Carré's George Smiley series
But if I had to pick one, it would be Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series. These police procedural mysteries (with a decent dose of police-skepticism built in) offer inventive and varied mystery plots, excellent prose, and characters with growing depth and complexity (including the women, and also one of the first recurring gay characters--one of the detectives, not a killer or a victim--that I know of in any mystery series). The worldview is broadly leftist and always compassionate and thoughtful. I re-read these books a lot, which says something in itself, because not a lot of mysteries will bear re-reading.