I have a favorite author whose books I read to pieces as a kid/teenager. Back when I was making all of $2/hour as a very underpaid teenaged babysitter, I would save up and automatically buy this author’s newest works as soon as they were released and it was totally worth it…until it wasn’t. A couple of decades ago, this author totally changed their writing style and all their input became first-person, stream-of-conscious style, with lots of in-universe slang and dangling plot points. The voice in each subsequent novel, regardless of the age, sex, location, and style of the main protagonist, is the same and it all mirrors how this author writes on their social media. The first novel in the new style was great – a delightful change-up, but since then, it’s been diminishing returns. I mostly read older books, and there aren’t many living authors that I follow and so my book loving heart is sad that there are that many fewer new releases for me to look forward to.
Anyway, have any of you encountered a complete and *permanent* change of style in a favorite author? Other than this instance, I can’t think of any other times I’ve encountered it. I think sometimes the quality of output might devolve with age (late era Agatha Christie comes to mind), and I do know authors try new styles/genres/etc. but in those cases they usually continue to bounce around trying new things. Maybe this is actually really common and I should read more diversely, and if that’s the case, at least I got my venting out.
by My_Poor_Nerves
1 Comment
Robert Heinlein and Stephen King both kind of famously did this because of (maybe) syphilis and a cocaine addiction respectively.
I can think of lots of examples of authors charging style in a new series but that’s not really the same I guess.
Who is the author you’re thinking of?