Trilogies

Extollager

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I've begun to think of a fanzine article proposal on Trilogies I Have Known and Loved. Towards this article, I might take time to read, view, or listen to a few things that I haven't yet known but might love.

The Lord of the Rings isn't a trilogy. It's one very long romance usually (not always) published in three volumes. The Divine Comedy is also a very long work typically published as three books. A trilogy is three more or less self-contained but closely related works. Here are some trilogies I already know & like or love:

The Cosmic Trilogy by C. S. Lewis (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength)
The (Original) Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guin (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore)
The Eustace and Hilda Trilogy by L. P. Hartley (The Shrimp and the Anemone, The Sixth Heaven, Eustace and Hilda)
The Theban Trilogy of Sophocles (Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus)
The Long Walk Trilogy by Patrick Leigh Fermor (A Time of Gifts, Between the Woods and the Water, The Broken Road) -- travel books

Mervyn Peake's three Gormenghast books may be considered a trilogy, but my understanding is that he didn't intend to write three, but rather more, as long as he could keep going; and, as it was, his powers were much impaired after the first two.
The Sword of Honour Trilogy by Evelyn Waugh (This was originally published as three books, but the final version is presented as about a dozen sections, and that form is what I have read)
Arthur Machen's autobiographical books: Far-Off Things, Things Near and Far, The London Adventure (There is some discussion as to whether this is three books or two with a "pendant," etc., I believe)
Shakespeare may be considered to have written a Falstaff trilogy
I believe I've seen Wagner's Ring Cycle described as a prelude and a trilogy... That seems kinda stretching things.

A possible trilogy is by Alan Garner, with two children's books I love (The Weirdstone of Brisingamen especially, The Moon of Gomrath rather less, and Boneland as a book for adults; like Garner's other recent novel for adults, Thursbitch, I found Boneland unreadable -- but I might try it again)

My guess is people here will have some other suggestions.

I'm interested in but haven't read

The Oresteia of Aeschylus (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides)
Milos Banffy's The Transylvanian Trilogy (They Were Counted, They Were Found Wanting, They Were Divided)

& haven't read E. R. Eddison's Zimiamvia Trilogy.

I believe there's a Ford Madox Ford trilogy of novels. I read one of his novels a long time ago & I'm not sure I'd be interested enough to look up the trilogy, but ...
 
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A trio of others I've enjoyed:

The Alexander Trilogy by Mary Renault (Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy, Funeral Games)
The Karla Trilogy by John le Carre (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, Smiley's People)
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams (The Dragonbone Chair, The Stone of Farewell, To Green Angel Tower)
 
I must confess that I often find myself wondering, "why three". Why is the trilogy so prevalent in sci-fi? The ones that I have read that come immediately to mind are pretty popular.

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is often labelled as a "Trilogy of Four Parts" (five if you get have the later versions). The first three were always the best and are very much the heart and soul of the story. I wasn't overly impressed with the later additions.

Neal Asher has a few trilogies set within his greater Polity Series. (The Skinner, Transformation Series and the Rise of The Jain.)

Alistair Reynolds Revelation Space series was excellent and I must read them again.

Peter F. Hamilton's "Nightsdawn" trilogy. Over 3, 000 pages between the three books, I must confess that I thought it a lot longer than it needed to be. Lots of great ideas and excellent world building was ultimately let down by what I considered to be a pretty weak ending.

Hugh Howey's "Wool". I've only read Wool and Shift so far and will probably read the final instalment next year. I always think that this and Patrick Tilley's Amtrak Wars could be set in the same fictional universe.

Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy was superb. I haven't read it since it came out, but it has to be one of the finest colonisation stories yet.
 
Lois de Berniere’s Latin American trilogy

Dark Forest trilogy Cixin Liu

Jack Vance: Lyonesse, the Cadwal Chronicles, Durdane.

Laurie Lee’s autobiographical trilogy, starting with Cider With Rosie.
 
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I wondered if Respighi's Three Botticelli Pictures for orchestra would qualify.
 
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams (The Dragonbone Chair, The Stone of Farewell, To Green Angel Tower)

I second this one and enjoyed it far more than the behemoth it inspired (GRRM's GOT), but this does raise the question of how do you draw the line? Tad may have intended 3 books from the beginning, but like Tolkien, it's really one long romance. Does the author's intent (or maybe just resigned capitulation to publishers or the realities of book-binding technology) matter?

Popular as the form is, I find it hard to think of many REALLY great trilogies. I'm partial to the Weis/Hickman Drangonlance Chronicles and Zahn's Star Wars Thrawn trilogy, but I'd chalk a lot of that up to nostalgia, and the former is essentially more of the same Tolkien/Williams variety fantasy.

Maybe a good contrast to this sort of high fantasy would be Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. I enjoyed it immensely and would say it's a great foil for LOTR, but I also wonder if I'd enjoy it nearly as much now as I did 10-15 years ago when I read it.
 
I second this one and enjoyed it far more than the behemoth it inspired (GRRM's GOT), but this does raise the question of how do you draw the line? Tad may have intended 3 books from the beginning, but like Tolkien, it's really one long romance. Does the author's intent (or maybe just resigned capitulation to publishers or the realities of book-binding technology) matter?

My memory of it is that there was a clearer separation between the first and second book than in LOTR, but it's a fair point. (You could also point out that it's now really a quartet, but I read To Green Angel Tower in its original one-volume hardback edition, and my God, I'm not sure my arms have ever recovered.)
 
My memory of it is that there was a clearer separation between the first and second book than in LOTR, but it's a fair point. (You could also point out that it's now really a quartet, but I read To Green Angel Tower in its original one-volume hardback edition, and my God, I'm not sure my arms have ever recovered.)
I was very grateful to have this one on my kindle for that very reason! :)
 
Asimov's Foundation Trilogy is three books each of which is complete in itself but that are related, right? It's about 50 years since I read this, but it's a trilogy, right?

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How could I forget Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy? That is a magnificent sequel of novels set in medieval Norway, one of the finest literary works (or three of finest literary works) I have personally discovered in 20 years.


To mention something not well known to me, Tom Stoppard's Coast of Utopia trilogy of plays.... or Maxim Gorky's autobiographical trilogy....

 
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Waugh's Basil Seal Trilogy:
Black Mischief
Put Out More Flags
"Basil Seal Rides Again"
-- a short story or novella
 
The Waugh reminder above was sent to me by a friend; another suggests

The Ring trilogy by Selma Lagerlöf – published in 1931 as The Ring of the Löwenskölds, containing the Martin and Howard translations, LCCN 31-985
  • Löwensköldska ringen (1925; novel). Translated as The General's Ring (Francesca Martin, 1928) and as The Löwensköld Ring (Linda Schenck, 1991)
  • Charlotte Löwensköld (1925; novel). Translated as Charlotte Löwensköld (V.S. Howard)
  • Anna Svärd (1928; novel). Translated as Anna Svärd (V.S. Howard, 1931)
 
Tanith Lees BirthGrave Trilogy
1. The BirthGrave
2. Shadowfire
3. Huntingthe White Witch

1 Map of Time by Felix Palma
2. Map of the Sky by Felix Palma
3. Map of Chaos by Felix Palma


The StarChild Trilogy. by Frederick Pohl and Jack Williamson
1. The Reefs of Space
2. StarChild
3. Rogue Star


Empire of the East by Fred Saberhagen
1. Broken Lands
2. The Black Mountains
3. Changling Earth


Bnote Saberhagen writer a 4th book in the series decades after the original 3 books Ardeneh's Sword which I have not read.
 
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Thanks to all who have contributed so far.

Not read by me is Balzac's Lost Illusions, which seems to be a trilogy.
 
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