The Black Hole: Series I Need to Finish

At long last I got my copy of Winter, by Marissa Meyer, from the library! Finishing The Lunar Chronicles, though, made me think of all the series I haven't finished mostly because not all of the books are available yet. These unfinished series make up what I like to call the black hole.

Admittedly, the black hole is mainly a result of my failure to research a book before reading with a little bad luck thrown in. The start of a black hole occurs when I pick up an excellent book, only to find out it the first of an as yet unfinished series. Once the initial disappointment wears off, I'll move on to a new book. This book will, unluckily, also be part of an unfinished series but because of the lack of research I mentioned, I won't realize this until I have finished the book. I will do this with anywhere between two to four more books, thus creating the black hole of series. So, here are some of the series that have recently sucked me into a black hole of anxiously waiting for the next book.

1. The Raven Cycle - by Maggie Stiefvater
When a friend recommended the first book of this series, I saw that three had already been published and assumed I was safely embarking upon the beginning of a trilogy. Even though I'm stuck waiting for The Raven King, I can at least hope that Goodreads is telling the truth when they promise this is the “fourth and final installment”.

2. Shades of London - by Maureen Johnson
I honestly thought the first book of this series was a standalone. When I realized it wasn't I was crushed, then ecstatic because the next two books were already available at the library, then crushed again when I realized nobody writes trilogies anymore and book four doesn't even have a title yet.

3. The Fjällbacka Series - by Camilla Läckberg
I actually could read the next book in this series, The Drowning, which is already at my library. I'm hesitant, though, because then I'll be right back to waiting for more books. There actually are more books already published in the original Swedish, so it might be faster for me to just learn the language instead of waiting for translations.

4. The Diviners - by Libba Bray
I definitely thought this was a standalone too. Then waited anxiously for the second book, read that in a day, and now I'm back to waiting. Like everyone else, Bray has at least two more books planned according to Goodreads. What is wrong with writing trilogies!?

5. The Temeraire Series - by Naomi Novik
This is the most recent series on my reading list and I've only read the first book. I'm listening to the audio books and waited too long to put the second book on hold. I'm trying to avoid the black hole by not checking any other audio books, but it's getting harder every day I'm kept waiting... I did actually research this series ahead of time and noticed that Novik hasn't finished writing it yet. Since it's so long though, I'm hoping that by the time I work through the first eight books the next one will be published.

6. A Song of Fire and Ice - by George R.R. Martin
I almost forgot this series because I've given up on seeing the next book anytime soon. Of course, with the huge jump in popularity who isn't waiting on Martin?

Also, as I was working on this post, one of my libraries shared this article on Twitter. Lists like this are lifesavers for people like me who never think to research a series before diving in.