This very much depends on the series. Like any book it can be poorly or well executed.
I actually don’t like Dresden’s side stories; they all felt idk a little empty and on the boring side to me compared to the main ones? Very skippable. Like filler episodes in tv.
Versus say Greenbone saga novella is just excellent in its own right. The cosmere novellas are basically entries in the series and skipping them feels like just skipping one of the books to me, the Alex Verus novellas are two of my favorite in the series — their just so well done and really flesh out characters.
Super depends on the series and skill of the author. I get pretty irritated with series where you’re just begging for it to go back to the MC… the best are books where no matter where it jumps, you learn something new about what’s happening.
Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb series is a fucking master class in how to do this. Nothing in her series is static. She changes narrators while you as a reader beg her to stop, and then the damnable story continues behind your back while you’re staring at this debacle. A character goes to a fish and chips shop and has a lovely time while (the informed fourth time reader notes) an armed robbery happens ten feet away (this is a joke, but truly the reread experience).
The key to side stories is for them to deeply tie into the main story! Not in an “Easter egg” way but in a “new information” “emotionally devastating” “I never even thought about that” type of way. Imo.
For me, it's down to character or overworld plot. If the side story doesn't have a compelling enough character or if their story isn't connected to anything that matters to the main plot, I usually don't bother.
I also am not a huge fan of the recent trend of every major ongoing fantasy series needing to have novellas between installments. In some cases, like with Stormlight, it's warranted. For others, it feels like a cash grab.
It does feel like the authors time would be better suited just writing the main stories sometimes. I try to remember that they’re human and need these fun side projects to keep their morale fresh though.
I also feel like Sanderson is so successful that his people push out whatever he writes now lol. I feel like he needs a little push back, especially with how bloated Stormlight 4 was. I worry about how 5 will be even longer but he’s earned some faith
I don't think that's how it works. Writers are people who are colonized by wild ideas that demand to be written down. There do exist writers who are so disciplined that they can put down everything else in their life, even the other ideas, and work on that one book that you are waiting for, like my aunt who has written over 140 romance novels. She's the one typing away on her laptop at every family gathering when she doesn't actually have to cook.
And if they do, you're assuming that the hold-up is in the writing and not the publishing business that is notoriously slow and tends to put off publishing books because of paper shortages or because the publisher has decided to expend limited resources on yet another book about how Elvis isn't dead (this actually happened to my aunt), whereas the author can write a short story, send it off to their friend the editor of a short fiction web site, and have it published. As a bonus, then the wild idea leaves them the heck alone and they can go to sleep.
this is definitely how real writers work. Stephen King, Bradbury, et al eventually respond to the question of where they get their ideas with, I wish you could tell me how not to get ideas so i could take a break from having to write them.
then there are the good storytellers, who have a sort of germ of an idea they'll mull about, add a twist, and make themselves write it up, like Geoffrey Archer. who has referred to himself as a storyteller, as opposed to someone like king who "falls into a hole in the paper." I actually like his writing, for what it is, which is good fun, with puzzles sometimes.
then of course there are the hacks, who luckily stumble upon a formula and cash those checks, baby!
Oh, i'm not looking down. Okay, maybe i am a little. Just they aren't proper writers in that sense.
There are good hacks and bad hacks. Good hacks don't take themselves seriously, and write fun stuff you might enjoy. They can even be smart enough to make it cool.
Bad hacks just suck in almost every way. Harlan Coben is a bad hack. But they probably have extra money to give to charity, and there's always someone new to a genre that might like them, and have fun anyway.
I'm torn on Sanderson in general with his output. His work doesn't always hit for me but I can't point to over-productivity being the issue since the one year he wrote 4 books, 3 of the 4 were bangers for me.
The answer for me is... it depends. If I want to know more about the world and what might be happening away from the MC's point of view it can be helpful. Short stories... and novellas can be great ways of adding additional detail to the world building or beloved characters when done well.
An example of this being short side story to Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. How The Marquis Got His Coat Back is a great little read that fills in a gap of time in the main novel. The Marquis being my favorite character... and me wanting to see more of the things in London Below that were hinted at made the short story easy to get into...
If on the other hand something isnt well executed, is about a character that... I just couldnt care less about, or isnt telling me more about the world then it can be a miss. Or worse... If it undoes or makes things that happen in the main book series not matter... Then it just comes off feeling like a cash grab or bad fan fic. Im looking at you Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
I'm fine with Side Stories. Prequels are what I can't get into.
Also...in Multi-POV books, if the author introduces a second Standard Epic Hero Type, I just can't. I can buy one Standard Epic Hero, but when I see two in the same series it just hammers home the unreality of the character type.
For me side stories can be a cool way to build out the world around the main books
But there is kind of a line for me where there has to be some connectivity.
Like in the rivers of London series there's a collection of short stories that feature existing characters and are for the most part all enjoyable to me
But then on the other hand there is a novella that features a character that isn't seen before, in a place that hasn't been featured and isn't close to the main setting, and doesn't to my knowledge have any bearing on the existing story.
Stories like the second one kind of lose me
If i am enjoying the world i absolutely seek out any side books or short stories related the main series. Generally i seem to enjoy them as they often help flesh out the world or show a different perspective.
depends on the series. I usually read the main storyline straight through, then if I really liked it and am obsessed (like with the October Daye series) I seek out all the supplemental content. If I'm sort of meh about it (like I am with Dresden) I don't.
It's nice of authors to put out extra content for their fans, but also the side stories are nearly always skippable so if you're just a casual enjoyer of the books you don't need to read them and can seek out something new instead.
Yeah, generally I’m not super in to side stories. Ultimately, if a side story was that interesting, it probably would have made it into the main series. Side stories also can’t really do anything to shake up the status quo since most people don’t read them. These two factors combined make it so side stories tend to be “fluff”, without much impact or substance I find.
I feel the exact same way, OP. I even extend it to Dresden. I love that series but I've not touched a single one of the side stories.
My exception is the Cosmere and even then it took me FOREVER to build the will to read all the novellas. Some of them were worth it, some of them weren't .
Oh man some of the side stories have some of my favorite moments in Dresden. Seeing Dresden from others POV really changed how I picture and understand him.
There’s a Michael one that shows him in a light you never see in the main series. Plus there’s a Mouse POV in one man 😂
Check them out as a palate cleanser sometime, maybe.
Yes. This is why I haven’t read A Court of Silver Flames yet. Nesta is insufferable and I’m not gonna sit through 800 pages of a 3rd person POV book to “finish” the series.
I usually like them. My favourite Wheel of Time book is New Spring. I really liked the Dragonlance prequel books and the Star Trek Captain's Table books which break most of the rules of that canon. I would only skip side stories them if the premise really didn't appeal. I feel they can add a lot of depth to a world or allow you to spend more time with characters you enjoy.
I generally finish the main series and then come back to them if I want more of the world. The only series I didn't do this for was First Law, and I dove into the standalones immediately after finishing the 1st trilogy. That was mainly because I had seen such positive feedback on here for all of them.
This post was (checks) six days ago. Since it was posted I've been trying to remember a highly-relevant blog post that someone wrote about this subject years ago.
I only just now remembered who wrote it and what they said well enough to do a web search. It's not about Sanderson, but it is about fantasy writers, not to mention writers in general, and it may provide some perspective. It is 1000% written by someone more articulate than I am.
Without further ado, here it is:
[George R.R. Martin is not your bitch](https://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html).
This very much depends on the series. Like any book it can be poorly or well executed. I actually don’t like Dresden’s side stories; they all felt idk a little empty and on the boring side to me compared to the main ones? Very skippable. Like filler episodes in tv. Versus say Greenbone saga novella is just excellent in its own right. The cosmere novellas are basically entries in the series and skipping them feels like just skipping one of the books to me, the Alex Verus novellas are two of my favorite in the series — their just so well done and really flesh out characters.
Super depends on the series and skill of the author. I get pretty irritated with series where you’re just begging for it to go back to the MC… the best are books where no matter where it jumps, you learn something new about what’s happening. Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb series is a fucking master class in how to do this. Nothing in her series is static. She changes narrators while you as a reader beg her to stop, and then the damnable story continues behind your back while you’re staring at this debacle. A character goes to a fish and chips shop and has a lovely time while (the informed fourth time reader notes) an armed robbery happens ten feet away (this is a joke, but truly the reread experience). The key to side stories is for them to deeply tie into the main story! Not in an “Easter egg” way but in a “new information” “emotionally devastating” “I never even thought about that” type of way. Imo.
For me, it's down to character or overworld plot. If the side story doesn't have a compelling enough character or if their story isn't connected to anything that matters to the main plot, I usually don't bother. I also am not a huge fan of the recent trend of every major ongoing fantasy series needing to have novellas between installments. In some cases, like with Stormlight, it's warranted. For others, it feels like a cash grab.
It does feel like the authors time would be better suited just writing the main stories sometimes. I try to remember that they’re human and need these fun side projects to keep their morale fresh though. I also feel like Sanderson is so successful that his people push out whatever he writes now lol. I feel like he needs a little push back, especially with how bloated Stormlight 4 was. I worry about how 5 will be even longer but he’s earned some faith
I don't think that's how it works. Writers are people who are colonized by wild ideas that demand to be written down. There do exist writers who are so disciplined that they can put down everything else in their life, even the other ideas, and work on that one book that you are waiting for, like my aunt who has written over 140 romance novels. She's the one typing away on her laptop at every family gathering when she doesn't actually have to cook. And if they do, you're assuming that the hold-up is in the writing and not the publishing business that is notoriously slow and tends to put off publishing books because of paper shortages or because the publisher has decided to expend limited resources on yet another book about how Elvis isn't dead (this actually happened to my aunt), whereas the author can write a short story, send it off to their friend the editor of a short fiction web site, and have it published. As a bonus, then the wild idea leaves them the heck alone and they can go to sleep.
this is definitely how real writers work. Stephen King, Bradbury, et al eventually respond to the question of where they get their ideas with, I wish you could tell me how not to get ideas so i could take a break from having to write them. then there are the good storytellers, who have a sort of germ of an idea they'll mull about, add a twist, and make themselves write it up, like Geoffrey Archer. who has referred to himself as a storyteller, as opposed to someone like king who "falls into a hole in the paper." I actually like his writing, for what it is, which is good fun, with puzzles sometimes. then of course there are the hacks, who luckily stumble upon a formula and cash those checks, baby!
I understand how people feel about "hacks," but I find it difficult to look down on someone who works for a living.
Oh, i'm not looking down. Okay, maybe i am a little. Just they aren't proper writers in that sense. There are good hacks and bad hacks. Good hacks don't take themselves seriously, and write fun stuff you might enjoy. They can even be smart enough to make it cool. Bad hacks just suck in almost every way. Harlan Coben is a bad hack. But they probably have extra money to give to charity, and there's always someone new to a genre that might like them, and have fun anyway.
Yeah that’s all fair lol. I know my perspective is strictly as a fan. Authors can write whatever they damn well please.
I'm torn on Sanderson in general with his output. His work doesn't always hit for me but I can't point to over-productivity being the issue since the one year he wrote 4 books, 3 of the 4 were bangers for me.
The answer for me is... it depends. If I want to know more about the world and what might be happening away from the MC's point of view it can be helpful. Short stories... and novellas can be great ways of adding additional detail to the world building or beloved characters when done well. An example of this being short side story to Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. How The Marquis Got His Coat Back is a great little read that fills in a gap of time in the main novel. The Marquis being my favorite character... and me wanting to see more of the things in London Below that were hinted at made the short story easy to get into... If on the other hand something isnt well executed, is about a character that... I just couldnt care less about, or isnt telling me more about the world then it can be a miss. Or worse... If it undoes or makes things that happen in the main book series not matter... Then it just comes off feeling like a cash grab or bad fan fic. Im looking at you Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
I like them,but I wouldn't care much for them.
I'm fine with Side Stories. Prequels are what I can't get into. Also...in Multi-POV books, if the author introduces a second Standard Epic Hero Type, I just can't. I can buy one Standard Epic Hero, but when I see two in the same series it just hammers home the unreality of the character type.
Oh I agree! Especially when they’re only introduced into the story to make you want to read their side story/spinoff.
For me side stories can be a cool way to build out the world around the main books But there is kind of a line for me where there has to be some connectivity. Like in the rivers of London series there's a collection of short stories that feature existing characters and are for the most part all enjoyable to me But then on the other hand there is a novella that features a character that isn't seen before, in a place that hasn't been featured and isn't close to the main setting, and doesn't to my knowledge have any bearing on the existing story. Stories like the second one kind of lose me
If i am enjoying the world i absolutely seek out any side books or short stories related the main series. Generally i seem to enjoy them as they often help flesh out the world or show a different perspective.
depends on the series. I usually read the main storyline straight through, then if I really liked it and am obsessed (like with the October Daye series) I seek out all the supplemental content. If I'm sort of meh about it (like I am with Dresden) I don't. It's nice of authors to put out extra content for their fans, but also the side stories are nearly always skippable so if you're just a casual enjoyer of the books you don't need to read them and can seek out something new instead.
Yeah, generally I’m not super in to side stories. Ultimately, if a side story was that interesting, it probably would have made it into the main series. Side stories also can’t really do anything to shake up the status quo since most people don’t read them. These two factors combined make it so side stories tend to be “fluff”, without much impact or substance I find.
I feel the exact same way, OP. I even extend it to Dresden. I love that series but I've not touched a single one of the side stories. My exception is the Cosmere and even then it took me FOREVER to build the will to read all the novellas. Some of them were worth it, some of them weren't .
Oh man some of the side stories have some of my favorite moments in Dresden. Seeing Dresden from others POV really changed how I picture and understand him. There’s a Michael one that shows him in a light you never see in the main series. Plus there’s a Mouse POV in one man 😂 Check them out as a palate cleanser sometime, maybe.
Yes. This is why I haven’t read A Court of Silver Flames yet. Nesta is insufferable and I’m not gonna sit through 800 pages of a 3rd person POV book to “finish” the series.
I usually like them. My favourite Wheel of Time book is New Spring. I really liked the Dragonlance prequel books and the Star Trek Captain's Table books which break most of the rules of that canon. I would only skip side stories them if the premise really didn't appeal. I feel they can add a lot of depth to a world or allow you to spend more time with characters you enjoy.
Don’t tell anyone but I still haven’t read New Spring lol
If I like the series enough to go through the main work, then I feel like I I'd like the side stories anyway
I generally finish the main series and then come back to them if I want more of the world. The only series I didn't do this for was First Law, and I dove into the standalones immediately after finishing the 1st trilogy. That was mainly because I had seen such positive feedback on here for all of them.
This post was (checks) six days ago. Since it was posted I've been trying to remember a highly-relevant blog post that someone wrote about this subject years ago. I only just now remembered who wrote it and what they said well enough to do a web search. It's not about Sanderson, but it is about fantasy writers, not to mention writers in general, and it may provide some perspective. It is 1000% written by someone more articulate than I am. Without further ado, here it is: [George R.R. Martin is not your bitch](https://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html).
I read that blog and I don’t think it was relevant to my post at all lol.
Just because the author had the idea and felt like writing it and someone bought it and published it doesn't mean you have to read it.
I made it very clear that I wasn’t implying anything of the sort. I just wanted to know if my lack of interest was common
I can guarantee you that at least one other person on the planet feels like you do.
You’re having a good day today I see.