http://www.amazon.com/Hardy-Boys-37-Undercover-Brothers/dp/144240258X/ref=sr_1_1_oe_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281977963&sr=1-1
Not again!
I think this is just going to be the standard for the Undercover Brothers series from here on out.
I think it's been standard since 2008.
And usually the story arcs in the trilogies aren't even one long story; they are just 3 seperate stories that are connected by, mostly, the location, and then you end up with one bad guy working alone at the end of each story.
Quote from: tomswift2002 on August 18, 2010, 01:35:32 PM
And usually the story arcs in the trilogies aren't even one long story; they are just 3 seperate stories that are connected by, mostly, the location, and then you end up with one bad guy working alone at the end of each story.
Yeah, S&S is using the word "trilogy" pretty loosely with these books.
It's more marketing. If it's a trilogy, you HAVE to get all 3 in order to complete the story. Thus, this helps ensure sales for all 3 books in the story arc- even if there's a lesser effort to truly have the stories really connected in a compelling story arc.
More profits and returns for less work is always a plus in business. (Though at some point you also have to weigh in customer satisfaction...which ideally for a business should be the first priority.)
Actually, after reading one or two trilogies, people are going to clue in that you don't have to buy all three books.
Good idea, bad execution. I was really looking forward to the trilogy format when it was first reveled, but, as it turns out, that's what finally put me off the series for good. I haven't finished a UB since 2008, now.
Then stop reading them completely. Just buy them and stick them on a shelf or in a box.
Quote from: MacGyver on August 18, 2010, 04:19:45 PM
It's more marketing. If it's a trilogy, you HAVE to get all 3 in order to complete the story.
I don't think its marketing, since there have been a few Hardy Boys and Star Trek trilogies where I've noticed that the two "outer" books will have higher print runs while the "middle" book will usually have a lower printing, or the middle book will still be on the market while the other 2 books are out-of-print.
(Back in the spring of 1998, I remember my mom tried to order the
Operation Phoenix trilogy, and the only book that came in was
No Mercy, and shortly afterward the bookstore phoned to say that the other two books had gone out-of-print. I've also have the
Star Trek Deep Space Nine Millenium Trilogy, and the copies of books 1 & 3 that I have are 2nd and 3rd printings, while the 2nd book is a 1st printing, and I special-ordered all 3 books at the same time, and they all came within a week of each book, starting with book 3, then it was book 1 followed by book 2.)
I myself am also disappointed at how the UB's trilogy has panned out. I really enjoyed the ones prior to the trilogy phase (don't we wish it was one?!!), but now I am bored with them to be perfectly honest and haven't read one in about a year. And of course my library no longer gets the newer copies. Darn it.
And I really never thought I was going to say that. I truly did enjoy about 11-20 something. I enjoyed the plots, characters, and humor but now it's the same everytime. Not all that interesting.
Quote from: Scourge on August 19, 2010, 05:08:18 AM
Then stop reading them completely. Just buy them and stick them on a shelf or in a box.
That's exactly what I'm doing. I did start reading
Children of the Lost because the story sounded intriguing and I'd heard good things about it. I haven't finished it yet, though, so, needless to say, I didn't think it was great. Pretty good.
Good. There's a good example for the rest of you Undercover Brothers haters, Stop Reading Them and quit repeating yourselves about how awful they are.
Quote from: SDLagent on August 19, 2010, 10:34:24 PM
That's exactly what I'm doing. I did start reading Children of the Lost because the story sounded intriguing and I'd heard good things about it. I haven't finished it yet, though, so, needless to say, I didn't think it was great. Pretty good.
I haven't even started
Children of the Lost yet, since I would rather wait for all the books to be out, or read the first two close to the release of the final book.
But I did start
Gold Medal Murder and I've set it down and I've read a few Star Trek novels since.
Well, there's a shocker
Quote from: Q on August 20, 2010, 07:03:38 AM
Good. There's a good example for the rest of you Undercover Brothers haters, Stop Reading Them and quit repeating yourselves about how awful they are.
I don't hate all the
Undercover Brothers books. Just the bad ones.
So, other than Wanted, which one wasn't "bad"?
I liked the first three pretty good. Trouble in Paradise, Death and Diamonds, Murder at the Mall, and Comic Con Artist were good too. There's probably other that were but evidently they weren't very memorable.
How come you never mention the ones you like?
Quote from: SDLagent on August 21, 2010, 07:23:53 PM
I liked the first three pretty good.
I remember with the first 4 books when they came out in April 2005 I found that the odd numbers were good, while the even numbers were not up to the others. But since
Burned was released I've found the books have just stuck to the same formula where if its set at a reality show/something-Hollywood related, you can expect to have a celebrity trying to clean up their image, some sort of brat, a loud-mouther, and someone who is a bully; and you have all those characters reappearing with just their name changing from book to book, but you can tell that it is the same character from
Bayport Buccanneers that's in the
Murder House Trilogy, etc.
Quote from: Q on August 23, 2010, 01:27:29 PM
How come you never mention the ones you like?
I have but those books came-out a long time ago. Check-out my posts in the threads for the books I mentioned.
"Three book story arcs"?
Give me a break! Why not just stick with:
TRILOGY
Well, they're hardly trilogies. Heck, they're hardly three book story-arcs. More like three stories with some recurring characters and locations.
Quote from: Q on August 19, 2010, 05:08:18 AM
Then stop reading them completely. Just buy them and stick them on a shelf or in a box.
I will do that, when the books start appearing at the used book stores I go to. That way I can get the books cheap and save some money.
Quote from: SDLagent on August 26, 2010, 07:21:13 PM
Well, they're hardly trilogies. Heck, they're hardly three book story-arcs. More like three stories with some recurring characters and locations.
Now that I think about it, that does seem true.
lol SDLagent. To be fair, there were some lesser novels in the other series as well. *Gasp* A few Casefiles for instance...I am a Casefile FANATIC...so for me to say that....it must have been not so good. But that's how it is with all series.
http://series.simonandschuster.com/Hardy-Boys-(All-New)-Undercover-Brothers
Appears that the first book in this story-arc will be called Movie Menace
Quote from: Dinosaur Dan on September 25, 2010, 05:19:20 PM
http://series.simonandschuster.com/Hardy-Boys-(All-New)-Undercover-Brothers
Appears that the first book in this story-arc will be called Movie Menace
Now this is intersting. After the
Lost Trilogy wraps up in January, then this Movie Trilogy won't start till May, 4 months later.