There once was a time in which I only tried to find standalone novels to read. I didn’t want to be sucked into a long series that would take forever to get through.
At some point that philosophy went right out the window. Though I do currently have quite a few standalone novels, I’m looking for more. Why? Because I don’t think it’s necessary for an author to devote multiple books to the same character in order to write quality stories.
I think a good mix of standalone and series books helps equalize one’s reading. So tell me, tell me! No genre or author limitations.
Johnny Reads 
One of my all time favorite stand alone works is “Iron Chamber of Memory” by John C Wright
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Hm. I looked it up. Has really good reviews. Might have to check it out if I can find a copy locally.
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I like standalone books too. The problem is, they’re harder to sell to publishers. I have a standalone written before my published series, but I can’t seem to sell it though to me it’s of equal if not better quality. However, if you want standalones, early Chris Brookmyre books are mostly all standalone, a couple of recurring characters, but they aren’t a series. Similarly, early Simon Kernick, though the recurrence of his characters does make them slightly more serial in nature, my favourite is “The Sacred Art of Stealing”, that is absolutely brilliant.
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I bet. One of my favorite authors began his published career with quite a few standalones. Then tried a couple series. And I think recently released more of them. I will look up the ones you mentioned.
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Aaahhh it depends on your tastes, right? If you tend to like more genre fiction like crime, fantasy, etc. then it’s like it is mandatory to write a series. However, general and literary fiction tend to be standalones. What sort of thing are you looking for?
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Yes. But I’ll pretty much read anything, though I guess my preferred genre would be crime fiction. I think most of the ones I already have would be literary fiction? I think. And those have been sitting on my shelves for years now.
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I see your problem and I’m here to tell you that… you should probably grab one of those that have been waiting for ages. Ill try to think of a literary one that has a mystery in it for you.
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You’re probably right. I really should. I have a bunch of classics. Not sure I really want to tackle any of them.
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I am legend.
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Read it.
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How about The Drop by Dennis Lehane?
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I havent read anything by him but forever have wanted to read Mystic River.
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