Book Burnout
Over the past few months, I’ve read a lot of books by the same author, frequently in the same series. Because of that, I’m experiencing a lot of book burnout.
It probably started with Brandon Sanderson. I was flip flopping between his Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series. These books are long, with some very dense content. Mistborn books are around 20 hours of audio each, and Stormlight Archive books are roughly 50 hours each. They’re great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a lot of material.
I wanted to finish book 3 of Stormlight Archive before book 4 came out, and then I wanted to read book 4 while it was in that new release phase. After I finished book 3, I also read the final book in the Mistborn trilogy to wrap that up. I started book 4 within a few months, but goodness gracious, I was just so spent on it from the beginning. The characters and plot are interesting, but it’s so much.
After reading about half of Rhythm of War (book 4 of Stormlight Archive), I just… stopped. The checkout period expired, but I didn’t bother pursuing it further. I think I may have put a hold on it, but once my turn was available, I honestly may have just passed on it. I can’t recall now. I just didn’t have any interest in digging into it again. At some point, when I had the Rhythm of War ebook available, I synced it to my Kindle so I could read it at my leisure. That ebook is collecting digital dust, because I haven’t touched it once.
In addition to Sanderson, I did something similar with Eoin Colfer and the Artemis Fowl series. I read through the core series of Artemis Fowl, and that was a pretty casual read. Each of the books individually is pretty short, and the whole series is only 8 books long. I realize that there are more books in that case, but I feel like there’s less mental overhead when reading more books that are shorter. The stories are more granular, and there are fewer plot points to keep up with in my head.
Artemis Fowl was great, but I was sad to finish it. Fortunately, Colfer wrote a spin-off series called The Fowl Twins, starring the twin brothers of titular character Artemis. Same author, same family, I figured it should be more of the same stuff that made Artemis Fowl a fantastic read.
While The Fowl Twins series is undeniably similar to Artemis Fowl, it does have a few differences.For whatever reason, the characters just don’t appeal to me as much, specifically Beckett. I can’t pin down why I don’t like Beckett, but I don’t. And since he is so core to the series, there isn’t any escape from him.
Starting on The Fowl Twins so quickly after I finished Artemis Fowl was probably a bad idea. This bad idea was made worse, when I went in with the expectations that the spin-off series would be just as good as the original. Burnout and disappointment made me resent The Fowl Twins, though I am glad that the family does live on in new books.
Lastly, I almost did the same thing with The Expanse by James S. A. Corey. These are probably the best books I’ve read lately, and it may very well be my new favorite series. BUT, even with content so good, too much is definitely a real risk.
I sensed the fact that I was going overboard with these, and I stopped for a period after I finished book 4. With 9 books planned in the series, and 8 already released, I wasn’t quite halfway finished with them. If I continued going at the pace that I started with, I would be sick of them by the time I reached the end.
Leviathan Falls, the final entry in the series, is scheduled to come out in November 2021. As much as I wanted to catch that early after release, I saw how bad that played out with Stormlight Archive. I’ll read The Expanse at a reasonable pace. If I get through the currently available books before November, awesome. If not, Leviathan Falls will still be there whenever I get around to it. Plus, I haven’t even touched the TV series, and I’ve heard amazing things about that.
So take it from me, book burnout is a real thing. Don’t ruin an otherwise amazing series because you got a little overzealous with it. These books aren’t going away any time soon, and you can probably get a lot more pleasure out of them if you read at a slower pace.
It probably started with Brandon Sanderson. I was flip flopping between his Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series. These books are long, with some very dense content. Mistborn books are around 20 hours of audio each, and Stormlight Archive books are roughly 50 hours each. They’re great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a lot of material.
I wanted to finish book 3 of Stormlight Archive before book 4 came out, and then I wanted to read book 4 while it was in that new release phase. After I finished book 3, I also read the final book in the Mistborn trilogy to wrap that up. I started book 4 within a few months, but goodness gracious, I was just so spent on it from the beginning. The characters and plot are interesting, but it’s so much.
After reading about half of Rhythm of War (book 4 of Stormlight Archive), I just… stopped. The checkout period expired, but I didn’t bother pursuing it further. I think I may have put a hold on it, but once my turn was available, I honestly may have just passed on it. I can’t recall now. I just didn’t have any interest in digging into it again. At some point, when I had the Rhythm of War ebook available, I synced it to my Kindle so I could read it at my leisure. That ebook is collecting digital dust, because I haven’t touched it once.
In addition to Sanderson, I did something similar with Eoin Colfer and the Artemis Fowl series. I read through the core series of Artemis Fowl, and that was a pretty casual read. Each of the books individually is pretty short, and the whole series is only 8 books long. I realize that there are more books in that case, but I feel like there’s less mental overhead when reading more books that are shorter. The stories are more granular, and there are fewer plot points to keep up with in my head.
Artemis Fowl was great, but I was sad to finish it. Fortunately, Colfer wrote a spin-off series called The Fowl Twins, starring the twin brothers of titular character Artemis. Same author, same family, I figured it should be more of the same stuff that made Artemis Fowl a fantastic read.
While The Fowl Twins series is undeniably similar to Artemis Fowl, it does have a few differences.For whatever reason, the characters just don’t appeal to me as much, specifically Beckett. I can’t pin down why I don’t like Beckett, but I don’t. And since he is so core to the series, there isn’t any escape from him.
Starting on The Fowl Twins so quickly after I finished Artemis Fowl was probably a bad idea. This bad idea was made worse, when I went in with the expectations that the spin-off series would be just as good as the original. Burnout and disappointment made me resent The Fowl Twins, though I am glad that the family does live on in new books.
Lastly, I almost did the same thing with The Expanse by James S. A. Corey. These are probably the best books I’ve read lately, and it may very well be my new favorite series. BUT, even with content so good, too much is definitely a real risk.
I sensed the fact that I was going overboard with these, and I stopped for a period after I finished book 4. With 9 books planned in the series, and 8 already released, I wasn’t quite halfway finished with them. If I continued going at the pace that I started with, I would be sick of them by the time I reached the end.
Leviathan Falls, the final entry in the series, is scheduled to come out in November 2021. As much as I wanted to catch that early after release, I saw how bad that played out with Stormlight Archive. I’ll read The Expanse at a reasonable pace. If I get through the currently available books before November, awesome. If not, Leviathan Falls will still be there whenever I get around to it. Plus, I haven’t even touched the TV series, and I’ve heard amazing things about that.
So take it from me, book burnout is a real thing. Don’t ruin an otherwise amazing series because you got a little overzealous with it. These books aren’t going away any time soon, and you can probably get a lot more pleasure out of them if you read at a slower pace.
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