Sometimes one wants to put something extra under the Christmas tree. A book is always great, but it is always amazing to get a complete boxed set. However, boxed sets are a little tricky for a few reasons.
The first reason is the series you love may not always be available. The series must first be successful enough to warrant the publisher putting it in a set. Then, sure the juggernauts (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Lord of the Rings, etc.) will always be in print as a set, but some boxed sets are only available for a few years when the books are first released and then after that they are only available on the secondary market. Even classic sets seem to go through a rotation of availability/unavailability. So the moral of the story is: if you have a set you love and you want to own it as a “set”, then don’t procrastinate purchasing it, as the window of opportunity may shut on you.
Second, boxed sets can be a little pricey so as an investment, one wants to make sure all books in the set are fabulous. I still remember my mom buying me a boxed set when I was in fourth grade and money was tight in our household so it was a pretty special gift, She chose a set based on a librarian’s recommendation of what was a “great” and “acclaimed” author for kids. I only liked one book in the set and I downright hated a couple of them. Both my mother and I were disappointed that she had relied on someone else’s recommendation and she hadn’t investigated more herself.
Third, series tend to have content creep–just like movies. It seems like every sequel needs to have and be “more”. So a first book in a series can feel quite different than the last in a series and that may not be what the giver or the reader had in mind.
It is unusual for us to have all books in a series reviewed on our website, but we have hand-picked a few boxed sets that we have all reviews for or that we have high confidence in. Below there are links to the reviews we do have. We suggest you review the content analysis for the titles we have in our database.
Of course, if you can’t find a particular boxed set, you can assemble your own “set” by buying the books individually.
We hope you can find something extra special to put under the tree this year for your young reader!
We have all these titles in our database. (Click on Title to go to Full Review.)
- Dragonwatch
- Wrath of the Dragon King
- Master of the Phantom Isle
- Champion of the Titan Games
- Return of the Dragon Slayers
Middle Grade, Fantasy
We have a couple of these titles in our database. (Click on Title to go to Full Review.)
YA, Science Fiction/Action
We only have the first book in our database but we still highly recommend the series. (Click on Title to go to Full Review.)
Middle Grade, Adventure/Action
This series is in my personal top ten of best series ever! (Click on Title to go to Full Review.)
Upper Middle Grade or YA (Who wouldn’t love this?), Fantasy
