Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
The original theme for this week was “Satisfying Book Series,” but it’s been a long time since I read a series that I was quite happy with. So many of the series I have read start off fantastically but then fizzle out in the end.
Therefore, I am going to list some series that I have not yet read but hope will end on a high note. If you can confirm or deny that they have great endings (at least so far if they’re still ongoing) without sharing spoilers, I’d love to know your thoughts on anything on this list.
1. Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle, #1) by Diana Wynne Jones
2. The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1) by Robert Jordan
3. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) by N.K. Jemisin
4. Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1) by Seanan McGuire
5. Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1) by Anne Rice
6. Dune (Dune, #1) by Frank Herbert
7. The Magicians (The Magicians, #1) by Lev Grossman
8. Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes, #1) by Elizabeth Lim
I wasn’t able to make it to ten answers this week, but my fingers are crossed that some of you will have great suggestions.
Hope these all surpass your expectations!! I’ve heard of Elizabeth’s but haven’t looked very close at what they’re all about. Putting together a list like this reminds me I have so many series to start yet. 🙂
Thank you. Yeah, there are so many cool series out there.
Wheel of time is a good one. I did read book 1 to book 5. Nice picks.
Here is my TTT. https://dmhoisington.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/top-ten-tuesday-4/
Cool!
Hello Lydia, I don’t think I’ve read any of these series to help you out, but I do know that there have been series that have fallen short for me at other times.
Here’s a link to my TTT post
https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/%f0%9f%93%9a-toptentuesday-10-satisfying-book-series-tuesdaybookblog-booktwitter-bookx/
Thanks for sharing, Rosie, and no worries.
Hah….I was preparing tomorrow’s Long and Short post on series I’ll never read, and have Wheel of Time tentatively included because it’s so huge!
Nice! I’ll come check out your post tomorrow, too.
Oh, I want to say that I loved the ending to the Six Crimson Cranes duology but I found the second book slightly disappointing… The first book is fantastic though! The Fifth Season is also on my TBR and I’ve heard so many amazing things about it. I hope that it does end on a high note (I’m assuming it’s at least satisfying though cos people keep raving about the series, lol). Great take on the prompt!
Thank you for letting me know. I will keep those thoughts in mind. 🙂
Nice list. I haven’t read any of these. I hope they are good ones and that you enjoy them.
Thank you. 🙂
My daughter keeps pushing me to read The Fifth Season (and everything N. K. Jemisin writes) — I haven’t yet, but she assures me that they’re all amazing. I have read the Dune series (many, many years ago) and remember really enjoying it at the time. I’ve also read The Wayward Children series, which is still ongoing, and love it (and basically love every single thing by Seanan McGuire). Interview with the Vampire — I stopped after four books, and felt like that was plenty. I think there are something like 13 or 14? And I really enjoyed The Magicians too! (This may be sacrilege to say, but The Magicians is one of the rare series/books where I actually liked the TV version even better!)
I sure liked the TV version of The Magicians. Thank you for sharing all of your thoughts.
I don’t read series very often these days so I had to go back quite a few years to make my list!
I haven’t read any of these, so I’m not much help. Enjoy whichever ones you read!
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/top-ten-tuesday-satisfying-book-series/
Thank you. Yeah, I haven’t read many series in a very long time!
I haven’t read any of them so I can’t help you there. However, I *have* heard good things about Wheel of Time, and the Howl’s moving castle anime was fantastic.
Nice! Thanks. 🙂
I haven’t read any of these yet, but I’ve heard great things about the Broken Earth series!
Thank you!
I read DUNE a few years ago. The book was super long and then I realized it was really the first three books in the series. I didn’t feel the need to go on in the series which has, what 15 books in it? I was satisfied with where I stopped. // I too want to read Howl’s Moving Castle, which I hope it as cute as its illustrated show.
That makes total sense.
And, yeah, Howl’s Moving Castle looks adorable.
Just a heads up, while Howl’s Moving Castle (the book) is a ton of fun and well worth a read, it is not the same flavor of story as the anime is. The plots and characters are similar, but I think the film has more of a whimsical tone, while the book feels more like a classic-style fantasy. I do recommend reading the book, but I wouldn’t call it “cute” the way the movie is.
I would never have guessed that. Thank you for the heads up!
I love the Vampire Chronicles, but I will say that taken as the whole 13/15 book series, it doesnt really have a smooth series arc as we’d think of it. imo The first 3 books make for a really strong, smooth trilogy, and then the books get a little less connected and a little more hit and miss.
Good to know!
The Wayward Children series is a favorite of mine. So far I am happy with where the series is overall, though of course I have some favorite books within the series, and others I don’t like as much. But I also know the series itself has a way to go before it’s done, so I hope that the “love it overall” trend continues.
As to Howl’s Moving Castle… I loved book 1 (Howl’s Moving Castle), liked book 3 (House of Many Ways), and DNFed book 2 (Castle in the Air). Your mileage may vary, but moving forward I personally plan to reread Howl’s Moving Castle and House of Many Ways as related-but-separate books and ignore the second book entirely.
Such a detailed response. Thank you for it!
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy whichever books/series you decide to try.
🙂
I think this is one of the best places to ask if the series are good or not! This blogging community is such a diverse group of readers, odds are good someone has read them all. Have a great week, and I hope you do get your answers 😉
Oh, totally! And thanks.
I finished Dune last week and loved it. I did not think I would. haha. I just finished Fifth Season this morning and it was really good, but very brutal. I have read 3 of the Wheel of Time books and have struggled with each one. My husband loves it and I’ve been reading them with him and it’s been rough.
Wow, you’ve read a lot of the book on my list. Thank you for sharing.
While I haven’t read any of these, I have heard that most of the Dune series is good. The person I saw talking about it on YouTube said they can be a bit thick, which he also says could have been due to the time between him reading book 3 and book 4. But he came across an event around halfway through book 5 that made him DNF it. That said, he still recommends the series.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/the-rs-have-it-ten-titles-starting-with-r/
That is good to know. Thank you.
I really enjoyed Six Crimson Cranes. That’s a book Melody and I read together. It’s a good fantasy. 😀
Cool!
Of the ones on your list, I struggled through Dune and really hated it 😂 the only way I finished it was because it was on audio. I found all the characters unbearable, and the whole Chosen One plot irritating. David Lynch’s batshit movie adaption is fund though lol
I also found Jemsesin to be really overrated. She’s not terrible but I found her writing very heavy handed with the preachy messaging and characters never gained a lot of depth (The City We Became is really bad with that!). It’s a message I agree with but I don’t like being beaten over the head with it.
First book was OK, I lost interest in the second one and didn’t care at all by the third.
Thank you for sharing. I’ve struggled with Jemsesin, too.
I have read many of the books in the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, but not the most recent ones. It has been a while since I read them, but I remember enjoying the first few books in the series the most.
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I only read the first two Wayward Children books, but really enjoyed them. Hope you enjoy the rest of the series and that it is satisfying.
Thank you very much!
Such a neat list, Lydia. Many of these are new to me, but they all sound fascinating. Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog.
You’re welcome, Cheryl.
I have only read the first one in the Wheel of Time and also the Broken Earth trilogy so far.
Good to know. 🙂
I’ve read the first book of the Howl’s Moving Castle series, and I enjoyed it, but I probably will not read on.
Thanks for sharing, Deb.
I love Howl’s Moving Castle, but one way or another never had the same affection for the other books in the series. Fortunately it stands alone well!
Good to know. Thanks for sharing.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t give you any advice on this, I haven’t read the books you listed.
But thanks for visiting my post. Enjoy The Little House series.
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/top-ten-tuesday-book-series.html
No worries there. 🙂
I love the Wayward Children books and I hope you do too!
Thank you.
I hope you end up loving many of these! I haven’t read/finished many of the ones you listed either, but Howl’s Moving Castle and Dune is at the top of my list to read!
Thank you. I hope you like those titles.
Great list! I like the spin you put on it this week, and I wound up doing the opposite and only listing completed series. I can think of so many more that I hope will be amazing.
I enjoyed Interview With the Vampire and Six Crimson Cranes – they’re both good reads in different types of fantasy sub-genres. I hope you enjoy them when you read them!
Thank you, Leah!