Book Series by Volume

This might be a bit late to the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” party, but there is never a bad time to dive into a great series of books. If you’re like me, a plain ol’ trilogy just doesn’t cut it – I want to live in that world for as long as I can, and that means LOTS of books. While not usual, I’ve found that measuring a book series by volume is far more informative than merely counting the number of books themselves so, here are three series that will take up an entire bookcase all on their own. All measurements are in hardback, because we all know that’s how books should be measured.

Honor Harrington by David Weber

At 14 books it’s a bit light at only slightly less than 1 cubic foot, but each volume sports over 400 pages. The novels follow Honor Harrington’s career climbing through the ranks of the Royal Manticoran Navy and the impediments of being a strong woman and her adoption by a telempathic Sphinxian Treecat. This series sets a high standard for space-based ship-to-ship tactics and combat while continuing to develop and grow a relatable main character.

Xanth by Piers Anthony

At 42 books it clocks in at a whopping 2.5 cubic feet! I’ve read a lot of Piers Anthony over the years, but these books are like, well, books; you can’t have just one. They’re built on puns and literalisms – Knot Gneiss is the title of the 34th book, for example. The series is initially focused on Bink who can’t seem to figure out his particular bit of magic. EVERYONE has magic; even if it is ‘spot-on-the-wall’ magic, it’s still magic. As the series progresses the books tend to follow a related character on their quest to solve their or another’s problem. In later books Anthony began to incorporate fan ideas for plants, animals, or situations.

Notably, Anthony does a cross-over into the ElfQuest universe with the character Jenny Elf and Sammy Cat who debuted in Isle of View. Jenny Gildwarg is a real girl who was hit by a drunk driver and, after spending some time in a coma and then paralysis, she recovered enough to use a wheelchair. Their correspondence was published in a book titled Letters to Jenny.

Discworld by Terry Pratchett

Discworld’s 41 volumes measures at about 2.75 cubic feet, though even as humor they have far more size than meets the eye. Most of the books are placed in Discworld’s city of Ankh-Morpork, a city run by the rule “One Man, One Vote” and the despotic Patrician Havelock Vetinari is that man so he has the vote. The city is, for want of a better word, “protected” by the City Watch run by Samuel Vimes, a grizzled, angry, idealistic believer in true justice that would be comfortable in any detective noir book. One of the most engaging characters for me is DEATH. DEATH speaks all in capital letters and has a deep curiosity and desire to understand the human condition. And DEATH likes cats, so there’s that too.

What makes this series particularly wondrous, besides the complex layers of humor poking fun at humans and societies, is that Pratchett tells us these truths of our humanity in a funny and simple way that cuts straight to the heart of our behaviors. A great example is “The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they’ve found it.” If you enjoy screamingly funny absurdity thoroughly infiltrated with behavioral philosophy this series is for you.

~Posted by Jay F.