Generally I really don't like fantasy novels of any kind, although I did plough through all the Harry Potters and have read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials (didn't really enjoy the latter which I found contrived and at times just plain silly). I have tried to read Lord of the Rings three times and never got further than page 100 and I never got past the first chapter in the Game of Thrones books. I just find all the characters (and usually there are too many of them) confusing. The problem for me is not only do you have to get to know the characters who are usually not human, but you also have to step into an imagined world that just pushes my bounds of reality too hard.
But back to my question. I very rarely start at book one and follow a series through. That's mainly because I often buy books from charity shops or take them out from a library and so getting books in sequence is very difficult.
I read the first book in the Roy Grace series of detective novels by Peter James and then got hold of the latest and read that. Now that's quite a stupid thing to do as there is a story thread that goes through all the novels and which is explained in the latest volume. So if I go back and read the others I will know what the answers are to one specific mystery.
Same thing with the Ellie Griffiths crime novels set in Norfolk. I have read the latest before I read many of the previous ones.
There is of course another problem. Do you read the books or watch the TV series first? I find a problem reading the books first as you get a picture in your mind of the main characters which often don't match up with what you see on television. Sometimes I picture a character as being short and fat and he turns out to be slim and 6ft 3in on TV. Then there's the problem I have with certain actors (mainly Martin Shaw whose various accents in various roles are sometimes potty - Judge John Deed for example). Now I know many of you will be Martin Shaw fans and will hate me for what I've written there.
Sometimes I have a problem with police officer depictions in historic police dramas. Pieces such as the Jack Frost dramas which starred David Jason. My problem is that in the past police officers had to be 5ft 8in to get into the Force which would have precluded me and also David Jason. I know height restrictions (and I believe it was 5ft 4in for women) no longer apply but they certainly did in the past and at one time the limit in Norwich was 6ft.
As you know I have a police background and in the early days of my employment actually worked with a sergeant who genuinely believed that you shouldn't be a police officer unless you were 6ft. He of course was about 6ft 2in. I told him that this was an ignorant viewpoint and said "well at least I got my job on my ability and not my size" but he wouldn't listen.
Can you imagine how many brilliant detective brains have been lost in the past because a person hasn't been a specific height?
Then there's the age problem with some detectives. David Jason and now Brenda Blethyn were both far too old to be playing their characters. I do enjoy the Vera series which stars Blethyn. But she is 76 years of age in real life. When I worked for the police, officers retired after 30 years' service (this has slightly changed now). That meant most were retiring in their early or middle 50s and certainly way way before they were 76 years of age.