I’m quite unskilled at it, to be honest.
Often I tap out of a long series after five or six books – if I get that far. I think there are a number of factors that create this habit, but I’m not going to castigate myself about it; my brain makes requests for entertainment and I do my best to fulfill them.
Recently, to my utter shock, I’ve taken a deep dive into the Psy Changeling series. I read twelve of them in two weeks! One after another like a sleeve of Thin Mints.
This is extremely weird for me. I’ve read a few of the series, but probably stopped after book two? Maybe? I’m not entirely sure why this is working for me now, but it is WORKING. Wow, is it working. My brain is reaching for the series for comfort and soothing like it was reaching for medieval Wales and Murderbot earlier this year. And what’s more, there is a massive cast of characters in the Psy Changeling series, and I’m keeping track of nearly all of them (my biggest problem is Sienna/Brenna because while I know which person is which, the names get mixed up in my head. I think it’s the double n’s.) I might even be able to tell you which pairing was in what title – which is NOT a thing my brain can do. Ever.
The series also contains a lot of things I try not to read:
- high death counts
- terrorism
- violence
- torture
- holy crows, so much ominous harm.
I tend to skim those sections until I reach more dialogue, but I haven’t stopped yet, even as the body count gets higher within each subsequent book. I also skip installments that I don’t feel like reading, which so far totals only two. I’ve been told by the Read In Order And Read Everything residents of my household that this decision is akin to a crime against humanity if not against interstellar life forms everywhere, and that I should feel very bad.
I think what’s working for me is the overarching story, and the major themes within that arc. There is a romance in each book, and sometimes there are more than one — ooh, or, yes please, deliciousness, sometimes the start of a romance that won’t happen for three or four books. That’s that good shit right there. But the characters are operating inside a larger war being carried about with manipulation, strategy, and violence (skim skim skim ok back to the smooching) between the Psy, the Changelings, and the Humans.
The Psy Council wants power and control over everyone, and money, of course, and sees the other two groups as lesser beings not worth their time or energy (sounds familiar). Some individual Psy are finding that their conditioning to be emotionless (or Silent) is not working so well because emotions are totally a thing (again, familiar) (dammit) and so they experience crises of identity and mental safety because they no longer fit within the expectations of their group.
The Changelings and the Humans are tired of the Psy Council bullshit and the attacks from different factions, so they’re organizing their communities, forming alliances, and creating a different society among Psy, Human and Changeling individuals (mutual aid shapeshifters? Yes please!). Everyone participating in this shift of power and coordination must unlearn prejudices and examine their way of moving through the world in order to accommodate all these changes. The changes create more change, and people have to learn to work together in new patterns, undoing harm, and taking the most helpful and beneficial elements of their old societies to establish a new society.
Another aspect of the larger world story and the individual pairings is the role of empathy. Empathy is increasingly vital for their collective survival. Sascha, the heroine of Slave to Sensation, learns early in the first novel that her abilities are unique among the Psy, and deeply powerful, but are located within a speciality that has been nearly erased from common Psy knowledge (trying to avoid spoilers here). Throughout the series, the characters all have to learn to care for other beings, learn to accept those individuals as they are, and learn to accept themselves as they are. It’s no small task to reframe their worldview, either, and to do so repeatedly.
I think that’s it, now that I’ve typed that: everyone who wants to survive has to reframe their way of thinking about themselves, their world, the atrocities being committed (skim skim skim…to the smooching!) and how they want their world to be. The characters accept empathy and new emotional connections, adjust their world views and get over prejudices, learn to negotiate change instead of just demanding that it happen, and they learn to accept help. That is very reassuring and comforting to read about, even amid hella violence. Change, like emotions, can be painful and difficult, but fighting, rejecting, and suppressing either is not a good long-term strategy for contentment and peace. The Humans, Changelings, and rebel Psy no longer accept abuse and harm that benefits only the council, and refuse to endure pain for the comfort of a distant, powerful, few (again, ho boy familiar).
There are some hallmarks of early 2000s paranormal romance heroes and romance archetypes; it’s a 20 year old series, so there’s been an evolution of some of the possessive/obsessive alphas that eventually yields to a more nuanced character set. If empathy and cooperation are vital parts of the revolution happening in the world, many if not most markers of fragile heteronormative masculinity won’t survive – a concept that’s central to the conflict of a later book, now that I think about it. But even when I encounter a line or scene that’s Not My Thing, I’m still curious and fascinated by the complexity of empathy, the visual representation of emotional connections, plus the idea of skin privileges as a blanket permission for physical desire in all of the characters, and how there are different types of dominance and different roles for their community strengths. And there is plenty of deep emotional catharsis and secret communication (hello, telepaths) are some of my favorite strains of romance catnip. (I may have a major thing for telepath romance.)
A story with this much violence and suspense is a weird kind of reassurance for me, but, hey, it’s really, really working. I read the first five books in the series over a weekend and have kept on going. Two weeks later and I’m closing in on the final book of the first arc. I kinda remembered what happened in early books, but I didn’t recall all of it (and I’ve never read Allegiance of Honor so that’ll be a total surprise). I know the basic construction of the world but don’t remember the intricacies or all the pairings in the series. It’s half known and half unknown, much like playing a video game like Witcher 3 or Dragon Age: I know the world but the smaller side quests and story cutscenes are either unknown or not memorized so only vaguely familiar.
The inclination to re-read this series happened at exactly the right time for me to read and savor it. The more I see the thematic elements of compassion, empathy, community, mutual aid, and overthrowing toxic power structures, the faster I reach for the next one.
I think the end of Shards of Hope explains what has grabbed me, too, but it’s a spoiler so here come tags:
At the end of the first arc of the Psy-Changeling series, the Trinity Accord is created (and starts the arc of the second part). When the accord is announced, Aden is quoted with the following:
“The Trinity Accord is a test. For the United Earth Federation to come into being as more than an idea, we must first pass this test. That responsibility lies with every man, woman, and child in the world.”
“We can decide to remain in our isolated bunkers, becoming more and more obsessed with looking inward instead of outward, or we can decide to be great together. We can decide to stagnate, or we can decide to grow. We can decide to settle for the status quo, or we can decide to reach for the stars.”
“Choose.”
We can work together, or we can turn against one another. We can stagnate or we can grow.
The message of the larger world in the first arc is that if individuals don’t work together, they will suffer and decay. Supremacy of a single group over others doesn’t and cannot work. Caring about others is as important as caring for ourselves.
No wonder I’m enjoying this so much.
What about you? Have you re-read an entire long series? Which one? What brings you back? Why does it work for you?
I am SO glad you got into it! It’s a series I keep re-reading, from the beginning to the end, at least twice a year! And I read books like I eat nachos.
One of the reasons I was so glad with Bridgerton’s success was that it increases the chances of a Psy-Changeling series, something I have thought of so much I have proposals for opening credits, makeup that differentiates between the races, how PsyNet is depicted etc.
I would strongly recommend reading all of the books, because Nalini Singh is the Empress of Slow Burns, she plants seeds that sprout ten books later 😉
Most series I don’t get past book one, two, possibly the third book. To do a really good series, you have to have a big back story that unfolds over the whole series of books, as well as nuanced and interesting characters. I’m glad we are slowly moving away from the alpha male. Not that I mind a bit of hotness but most of these characters are terribly undeveloped, ditto for the badass heroine.
The only series I’ve endured beyond book three is Rachel Caine’s Weather warden series, Anita Blake (admittedly, for the WTF am I reading this this trainwreck hate read? But even that got dull by book 22) and the Peter Grant Series. Dipped in and out of Terry Pratchett and got to book 16 of an Alien romance series (sorry, too ashamed to name that one!)
I am constantly re-reading my favorite series. In fact, that is how I know my stress levels are high. I re-read most of the books by Ilona andrews, Patricia briggs, and JD Robb.
Love these, for the reasons you described so well!
Nalini’s Psy-Changling and Guild Hunters/Archanges are both “chicken soup” series for me. Add LaNora/JD Robb’s In Death series, and almost anything by Ilona Andrews (especially Kate Daniels and Hidden Legacy) to that list. I often reread/listen to the entirety of each of those series every year, usually about the time a new release is coming out. Personally, I LIKE alpha males and kick-ass females. I also like to see said ass-kicker “tame” the alpha. FYI, there is a difference between an “alpha male” and an “alpha hotel*. Even as a kid, I was into series. I LOVED Andre Norton’s Witch World. And later, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders. There’s just something…comforting about getting lost in someone else’s world. Bad things happen, sometimes to good people, but there’s going to be an HEA eventually, because in Real Life? That’s never guaranteed.
*Military speak for “asshole”
I can way without hyperbole that this was the first series I ever read that really gave me a good book hangover. I (luckily) only discovered the series after … hmmm…. five? books had already been written. I dived in and when I got to the last book I came out of the world with owly eyes. I had gotten so immersed that I had to really recalibrate.
At the time, I found the entire concept of the PSY so very fascinating. I had read shifters and vampires galore, but the PSY! Now they were interesting.
While some couples are more interesting than others, the world and how the authors has evolved it over time has been really good. At the end of Heart of Obsidian she created a seismic shift in her world, the ripple effects in other books were, imo, very well done and logical.
Also, I will continue to appreciate the widespread diversity in this series, which is surprisingly rarer than one would think in long running series with a big cast of characters.
I have read this series umpteen times, it is truly comfort reading for me.
I love the Psy-Changeling series. Yes, it’s got dark stuff, but it’s also so starkly emotional that it’s… cathartic I guess? I can’t stand some of the early, more alpha-hole-y heroes, but the last few books have just been *chef’s kiss*. When the most recent one came out in June I read it cover to cover, cried, then picked it up and read it cover-to-cover again.
So, so, so glad you wrote about this series! And I’m so jealous that you got to read them one-after-another! I’ve been used to waiting-waiting-waiting for the next book to come out. Your points about the diversity and the empathic nuances in this series are so GREAT! I’ve always loved Nalini Singh’s writing, but the way the series connects to what’s happening in our world today….that’s a dot connection I had not made! And I love the other series mentioned in the comments – top is Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern, and of course the J.D. Robb series – also to add Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series because that, too, is worldbuilding to an amazing level, and storytelling that grips you. Thanks again for this!!!
Feel you on the skipping book front. I’ve re-read this series (up to book 10 anyway) multiple times but usually skip book 2 of the Psy-Changeling series cos the hero makes me so angry :-/
I’m a regular series re-reader! I, too, am not always great at keeping up with a series, so I tend to re-read an entire series to remember what happened before I catch up on the current (usually 3 or so) books.
One series I re-read regularly (like every couple years) is J.D. Robb’s In Death. I’ve legit read every single book multiple times. For me, it’s like binging Law & Order on TV. I never get tired of it. (I’m definitely a TV binger over a movie watcher, which seems to be true about my reading habits as well!)
I actually need to re-read the Psy-Changeling series as I’m a couple books behind. Will add that to my reading list this month!
I love the Psy series and have read most of them at least twice. However, my favorite re-read series is Black Dagger Brotherhood by J R Ward. I didn’t read them in order or even all at first so don’t feel bad about skipping a book. I love the first 4 BDB’s the most and re-read them at least once a year or when feeling anxious/lonely I read the first, Dark Lover, one more time.
I’ve started the Psy series and read maybe three (?) but haven’t been able to make the chronological and intellectual commitment to continuing, at least for now. I liked what I read, though, so I’ll probably go back! I stand in awe of what Nalini Singh has been able to do.
Series are interesting. Years ago (long before the show) I was hugely invested in the Outlander series, but then I got to the end of I think book six and said, “no more.” I just got tired of being emotionally manipulated!
I did what you did, inhaled the entire series as fast as I could. I’d read one, put the next one on hold at the library, wait impatiently for it, and as soon as I got it, set everything else aside to fly through it. This means that a lot of the middle books are blurs for me, but the feel of the arc remains.
Just purchased “Alpha Night”, the latest one, and am hankering to reread it. Love at first sight! Virgin hero with Issues! Tough growly heroine who also wants to affectionately cuddle the hero! Put all of this plus the changeling family dynamics in my eyeballs.
I read this series pretty religiously until a couple of books ago. I preferred the earlier books which were more focused on the couples; I think the world got too big for my taste.
I started reading JD Robb’s … in Death series when it was new. I would reread all the books each time a new book was released. I burned out at about book forty, but I still collect them as I’d like to return to the series one day.
Some series I’m currently reading: Patricia Briggs’ Alpha and Omega series, the John Pickett mysteries, Anne Bishop’s the Others, Joanna Bourne’s Spymaster series, Martha Wells’ Murderbot books; there are more!
I had always avoided reading Psy/Changeling because the series had so many books and I don’t do well sticking with long series. However, a couple of years ago, I won an ARC of Silver Silence, the first book of the second series arc. Luckily, at the same time, I also won the first 4 books of the first series arc, so off I went. I’m not a binger in general and I’ve found that I love these much more if I space them a few months apart, so it has taken me 3 full years, but just this morning, I finally finished Silver Silence. I’ve read every book and have at least liked, more often loved (Kaleb/Sierra and Aden/Zaira, I’m looking at you!) all of them.
One of the reasons I love this series is the world building which is intricate, fully realized, and gets even more so with each successive book. This keeps my brain fully engaged whenever I sit down to read one of the books. Second, I love shifters in general in my PNR, but even more so, I love Psy, so a series filled with various types of shifters and Psy is all kinds of catnip for me. I want to be adopted into a shifter clan SO BADLY! Third, there’s a deep well of kindness running through the characters’ interactions with each other, especially with the Psy, who’ve often been raised with no emotion, have sometimes been forced by circumstances to commit horrible crimes, and who have to learn to love and forgive themselves for the choices they were forced to make in a world that they didn’t shape or create. There’s such a redemptive chord running through the entire series and it gives me hope for our own world in these trying times.
Oops, not Kaleb/Sierra, that’s Kaleb/Sahara LOL. Holy moly, the names in the pairings often escape me unless I go back and check my notes, especially all of the “S” heroines. Let’s see, we have Sascha, Sienna (not even Sierra LOL), Sahara, Sophia, Silver… No wonder I get confused.
Nalini Singh is a queen. I do not eagerly await her next book with breath baited, but I know when I settle with a book of hers it’s going to be good. The rapport between her h&h are balanced and her worlds are really cohesive, every book brings it further in a certain direction. I like that.
Other series I’ve liked enough to reach at least book 8 (as Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews are evident, I’m not listing them):
– Immortal After Dark by Kresley Cole. I was all caught up as of 2 years ago. The quality from book to book is pretty stable, with the latter being better imo. The world-building is also cohesive in a “what the heck now?” kinda way.
– The Elder series by Thea Harrison. Some books I really didn’t like, but those I liked, I liked enough to keep up with it.
– Catherine Asaro Skolian Empire, scifi with romance subplots. It reads like a tragedy with happy endings sneaking in here and there. The constant tortures brought about by the fundamental Aristo makeup is getting wearying though, and I’m not sure the earlier books hold up well. Usually when I reread I go from Spherical Harmonics on.
@Kit now I’m curious. An alien romance good enough to keep readers at the 16th vol… Ruby Dixon? Ice Planet Barbarian is one of the few Alien Romance I went past book 1 with titles going up to 16. Too bad you didn’t mention the series (I like the idea of alien romance, but when I try to find some on my own, 95% of the time the results are… not good; the latest I picked up was Interstellar Human Petting Zoo if you can believe that title) (maybe that’s my problem, I shouldn’t choose based on the level of outrageousness in the title/cover) but I respect your comfort zone. I remember bending my book covers until they almost tore while reading on the subway, because I wanted to hide the covers of my romance novels ^_^
I also have a hard time sticking with series. It doesn’t stop at just books either. I’m bad about it with tv shows as well. I can never get past season three of any show. For books I usually taper off around book four or five. I made it to like book 10 of the Mercy Thompson series before a throw away line in one of the spin-off books irritated me and I was just done. I’ve been thinking about why I can’t stick with things. For me, I think it’s about the investment versus the ending. I can’t imagine spending 10 to 15 years of my life with a series only to have the writer screw it up at the end. Never watched Game of Thrones but I definitely saw the anger at the show’s conclusion. I can usually tell when a book is heading in a direction that will make me mad and jump ship.
That said, I love the Kate Daniels series. Somehow, despite the darkness of the world it’s a comfort read for me. Last read it early last year at start of pandemic. I also often re-listen? To Anne Bishops Others series. Also a comfort read/listen. That world makes me feel safe because despite all of the “monsters and creatures” the Others are incredibly fair and do right by people if they’re treated well in return.
I love Nalini Singh and the Archangel series to me is just as good as the Psy series, all of which I have read this year. Also binged on all JD Robb books. 2020 included those plus JR Ward books. Prior to this I was into contemporary and historical so maybe the pandemic was reason for my change. I have only read the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews but have loved those. I agreed with your comments about the Psy series but I still like my alphas!
This series is comfort reading for me: compassion, overcoming division, diverse characters, and the family feeling of the changeling packs! There are a few books I skip on most read-throughs, but I reread them all once or twice a year in a big binge. The new arc really starts taking us to other places in the world. I also recommend the short story collections, especially the one containing “Secrets at Midnight.”
Just before alliance of honor came out I reread the series. It was interesting to see the evolution of writing style. And see all the connections and foreshadowing done. 🙂 I mostly read for the wider story arc, though. I love most of the pairings, but find some ( or how two people get together) to be too cringy for my taste.
I too loved this series and couldn’t understand why I waited so long to read them as the books hit lots of my book catnip. I read them all very quickly (by quickly I mean I bought some that my library didn’t have available because I couldn’t wait) in the spring last year and will definitely add to my reread list! There are a few series that I will read at regular intervals: Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward, Dragon Kin by G.A.Aiken, The Hathaways by Lisa Kleypas, The Brown Family by Lauren Dane and the Pride Series by Shelly Laurenston… I am sure there are more and I was just thinking this morning about rereading the Cainsville books by Kelley Armstrong!! I am definitely in the must be read in order camp although I do skip my least favourite book on rereads.
I absolutely reread – I think I may have reread Tamora Pierces Immortals and the first four Emelan books about fifteen times this year. And then I reread specific books in series – I reread Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas which is So Oddly Comforting For Me (it’s about trauma and found family and living with trauma but still having love and kindness. It’s about fighting to protect your people, to protect kindness even if you are going to lose it matters. And it’s something I’ve particularly needed lately).
Also Rose Under Fire/Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein really fills that trope above, I think especially for me being jewish, though again the comfort may not make sense. Also Courtney Milan in terms of romance. OH MY GOSH. And Alyssa Cole.
Psy-Changeling is ultimate comfort read for me! I stumbled on the first one by accident when there were about 12 out I think. I love me a long series, so it was a no-brainer to try it out. Lucas is my alpha and I’d trade places with Brenna in a heartbeat. I have a DarkRiver Pack t-shirt from Nalini’s Cafe Press store that I’ve worn enough times there’s a little hole in it.
I’ve had the incredible pleasure of meeting her twice. She remembered me the second time! Talk about a massive fangirl moment. Then the third time I was around her, I had a chance to tell her I was rereading it to study the world-building to help with my own writing. I’ve read Heart of Obsidian and Caressed by Ice so many times I don’t even remember how many it is.
I also love Guild Hunter and got my bestie hooked on those. I preorder every Guild and Psy-Changeling the second I see a preorder link for my store. Her thrillers are also amazing and I’m almost counting days until the second releases early next month. Thrillers in general aren’t my thing, but when it’s Nalini I have to have it.
My other comfort rereads are Dark-Hunter, usually cherry picking my favorites, and The Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells. Since you’ve read her Murderbot, I highly recommend checking those out if you haven’t already. Turns every fantasy norm and gender construct upside down in a world so fascinating and layered I want more than just the five and the two short story/novella collections.