Can the Repairman Jack novels be read as stand alone stories? Or must they be read in order?

You can probably read up to The Haunted Air as stand alone books and not miss much, but I think past that point you will get a lot more out of them if you have read the past books and then go in order. You can certainly read the later books on their own, and they would still be good books, but at some point you will not get as much out of them without reading them in order because the Otherness stuff builds from book to book.

I'm hoping someone else weighs in too. I read a lot of the books back to back to back and sometimes they blur together a bit if I don't have them in front of me to look at.

You can read Black Wind as a stand alone, which also ties in to events in some of the later Jack books. You do not need any background before reading it, but it should be read before By the Sword (I think).

I think i'll stop there, I'm too tired to be able to remember things clearly at the moment.

Thanks for the input. I just discovered FPW at a late date, and there is so much material it is overwelming.

The last 5 books feel much more like one large novel and should be read in order. (Bloodline, By the Sword, Ground Zero, Fatal Error and The Dark at the End) Everything else is as stand alone as something that's a part of a series can be.

I'll echo what everyone else has said. The earlier books in the series can be read out of order/stand alone. BUT>>>>they make much more sense in the way of a story line if you read them in order.

Black Wind is more of a stand alone......but this book...my favorite btw....adds to the series as essential background.

Can the Repairman Jack novels be read as stand alone stories? Or must they be read in order?

I've been accidently reading these books without being aware of the tie-in's for years.To me for a long time they were books I enjoyed enough to keep to reread.There used to be these things called used bookstores and I'd just pick up any I hadn't already read.So I did not read any of them in order-I recently tried to make an effort to do so like I do with other series but I get impatient and if I have one that's supposed to be read after another I just read it.I am up to the last and I'm not sure I'm going to read it(course I will)My point is I did notice the "threads" while rereading several at the same time and part of the fun is-"wait-I know that character's name!"and "oh that one with that boy and that other one with the house where are they?" There are so many little connections and it is just plain fun.Don't get intimidated-even with the last book you will if you wish to read the ones previous-even the recent releases-you will be intrigued and finish them

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Thanks for the input. I just discovered FPW at a late date, and there is so much material it is overwelming.

It is sort of overwelming, but it is very much worth it. I just started reading the RJ & Adversary series a few months ago and I'm going to start on Ground Zero sometime tomorrow. In fact, I've just placed my order for the last two that I didn't have (not counting the revised Nightworld which isn't out yet).

I've stayed close to the core of the thing, just sticking to purely Repairman Jack and Adversary books. I read Sibs because it was on the Secret History list, but while it was a great book and took place in the RJ/Adversary world, I was left wanting to continue the center of the whole epic story line for now. I'll go back and pick up the side books when I'm done with the two main series.

What I'm really starting to dread is that these books are going to spoil me. It's going to be difficult resuming my giant stack of random horror novels when I'm done with these. I have almost completely neglected my Unread Stack since I started in on Jack and Rasalom.

It is sort of overwelming, but it is very much worth it. I just started reading the RJ & Adversary series a few months ago and I'm going to start on Ground Zero sometime tomorrow. In fact, I've just placed my order for the last two that I didn't have (not counting the revised Nightworld which isn't out yet).

I've stayed close to the core of the thing, just sticking to purely Repairman Jack and Adversary books. I read Sibs because it was on the Secret History list, but while it was a great book and took place in the RJ/Adversary world, I was left wanting to continue the center of the whole epic story line for now. I'll go back and pick up the side books when I'm done with the two main series.

What I'm really starting to dread is that these books are going to spoil me. It's going to be difficult resuming my giant stack of random horror novels when I'm done with these. I have almost completely neglected my Unread Stack since I started in on Jack and Rasalom.

I agree, the RJ series spoils you. It's rich as hell, but just as tasty on the second-through-sixth-sevevth-who-knows-how- many rereads. I call my Unread Stack the On-Deck Circle, and there was a period when FPW caused a hefty pile-up.

I am assembling the Secret History now. Sometime next year (2012), I will begin with "Demonsong" and work my way through chronologically.