So I have been reading MaryJanice Davidson’s Dead and Loving It…& enjoying it very much, I might add…but now I have run into a bit of a literary dilemma.
You see, the first three novellas of this collection are pretty much stand-alone stories. Oh, they’re connected, at least loosely, to “Wyndham” werewolf books, but nothing that can’t be read before, during, or after those, or even by themselves.
Then I get to the fourth & final story, & there is a note right there at the beginning that says, “The events of this story take place…following the 
events of Undead and Unreturnable.”
Uh-oh. 
I’m a little behind on my “Betsy” books, only having read the first two. So what do I do? Do I go ahead & read the novella just to finish this book & hope I can make sense of it? Or do I put Dead and Loving It aside for a bit & try to catch up enough to read everything in order?
The good news is, I do have both Undead and Unappreciated & Undead and Unreturnable, the two “Betsy” books I’d need to read to catch up with “A Fiend in Need.” But that’s going to take a little time, since—as you may have noticed—I’m a wee bit of a slow reader.
So what do you think I should do? Set aside Dead and Loving It & try to catch up with the Queen of the Vampires? Or dive into the out-of-order novella & hope for the best?
Help! I’m torn. 
I’d dive into the novella. I know sometimes I may start out of order but I always end up in order. I know I did read LMLMK before TUIL, but I’ll all caught up now.
*I’m all caught up now….need coffe.
If I remember right. A Fiend in Need is mostly about George and explains where he came from. Since it’s been a while since I read the early Betsy books I can’t remember if it really spoils anything. I don’t think where Betsy and Sink-lair are concerned it does, so you may be alright. But unfortunately, I don’t really remember.
See, that’s what I was wondering. Is it just going to be some loosely related characters doing their own thing, or are there going to be *events* mentioned that I’ll wonder about?
I’m usually pretty good at connecting the dots—even out of order—as long as I read the stories fairly close together. But if I go forward with the novella, chances are I *won’t* go back & did out the other Betsy books anytime soon.
Okay, I went ahead and scrolled back through AFIN and –question….
Have you found out what Garrett aka George’s hobby is?
If not…put away Dead and Loving it until you read the other books and then go back and read A Fiend in Need.
go for it! Finish the novel, but if you need to you can always reach for the other books as sort of a reference if ya get lost. I am going on no sleep so I may not make much sense right now lol!
ALWAYS read a series in order, that’s my rule!!! I really LUV a good series, and I have skipped around at times and regretted it. Since you have the books already, just take your time and read them in order. Authors say their books are stand alone, and it can be true, but if you plan to read the other ones anyway it can get confusing reading earlier books later. Good luck, Sue
P.S. LUV the Halloween theme here!!
Hey Heidi, I think you should put it down…step away from the book, and go read the other two. I think if you don’t you will continue to think about the two before as you are reading. Stopping now and going back, will enable you to focus on those books, then when you do pick up Fiend in Need again, you will be all caught up and you won’t have to wonder if you are missing something or worry about whether you should read the other two first. Just my two cents.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
As a huge MJ fan–both her writing and in person (she’s *hysterical*), I say go ahead and read. You’re not missing anything crucial, and she does a great job of giving you enough info that you can follow.
Ummm…different rules for different series. Twilight? Read in order. Harry Potter? READ IN ORDER. Is this book a direct prequel about all the same characters? Because that matters. I just read Stacey Kayne’s Wild series in reverse order because I found the last one first, then had to read the ones about the rest of the family, even though I already knew what happened to them. The first one wasn’t ebook so I had to order it so I read the second one while I waited.
Soooo…yeah. Different rules to different kinds of series.
Okay, still on the fence with all these opposing recommendations. *g* But that’s okay, I’m open to them all!
Laura~ I don’t even remember who George is, it’s been so long!
Wendy & QLady~ Welcome to The Dungeon! Thanks so much for popping in to voice your opinion on the matter. I’m still considering…
Glad you like the Halloween theme, too! We do love a good holiday around here…tho I think I’m the only one who goes for the really gory, scary movies. (I’m so lonely sometimes.
)
Maisey~ I agree completely. It wouldn’t hurt anyone to read my knitting books out of order…you may wonder about a few things, but nothing is going to be confusing or ruined for you. But stuff like LKH’s “Meredith Gentry” or “Anita Blake” series…read in order! Read in order! I tell everyone that!
George/Garrett is one of the fiends that Nosio (or whatever name she called him) turned into feral vampires for his evil plans in the first book. Somehow with Betsy’s blood he was getting parts of his humanity back. His first words (I think in book 3) were to ask for something in a particular color.
So go ahead and read Undead and Unappreciated and Undead and first because I think you’ll like what it leads up to in A Fiend in Need. I had forgotten it until skimming back through.
Normally, I’m okay with going out of order, but I would stick to staying in order on this one. As George/Garrett (or rather Garrett/George) does a lot of evolving over those 2 books.
(This is one series that a friend of mine would NOT let me read out of order –she’s big into reading everything in order. She told me it would really ruin things if I did)
I should also add that I understand being torn. I really hate reading anthologies and then one book being “in addition to” in the middle of a series of books, but not finishing the anthology right then and there when I’m reading it.
I’d say go ahead and read it, but if you already HAVE the ones you need for them to be in order, absolutely read those first.
I agree about being torn on this issue, especially when it depends on the author and how invested I am in a series when the novella pops up.
Okay, Dee took the halo *&* the horns today…congrats, Dee, but the rest of you are going to have to step up your game, I think, if you hope to beat her to either prize.
I sort of conked out early last night, which is why I didn’t pop in to chat more on this topic, but I really appreciate all the input & opinions. I knew you guys would have a better feel for the question than I did.
After much consideration…truly, it was hard to decide…I think I’ll err on the side of caution & set aside Dead & Loving it to read Unappreciated & Unreturnable. I do have them, after all, & I went ahead & dug them out, looked them over. They look like fun…it’s Halloween…it will help me catch up a bit… So what the heck. Wish me luck.