Ladies and gentlemen, how’s it going? This is the first of hopefully many blog posts to come on this sight. It occurred to me that I had this wonderful site that has been gathering dust for years and it was due time that I give it some attention. Especially since my book, THE WANDERER is all done. I find myself with a bit more time on my hands nowadays now that the mountain has been scaled. So begins the long, arduous task of finding an agent and getting this puppy published. Ergo, I’m going to have lots of hurdles to climb on the road and I thought this would be an appropriate place to let out everything that’s been nagging at me.
Without further ado, I’ll just go right into the subject of this post.
How long does a fantasy book have to be before you won’t consider picking it up off the shelf?
Counter point.
How long MUST it be in order to peak your interest?
Personally, I try not to let the length of a book influence my decision. If the hook attracts me, then I’ll give it a shot. To be honest though, I tend to look online for reviews and see if there’s any new and widely acclaimed fantasy tale that I haven’t heard about yet. The two most recent fantasy books I’ve read have been THE WAY OF KINGS, and THE BLADE ITSELF. Both of these have been extraordinary stories and ones I would instantly recommend for anyone who wants to read a good fantasy. However, harking back to the question of this post, I have to admit that the length of one of these could scare some away.
THE WAY OF KINGS, sits at 387k words and just over 1000 pages. That’s just the first book in the series. As we all know, book’s in series only get longer. The latest book in the series is OATHBRINGER and while I’m currently having trouble finding the word count, the page length is 1248.
Die hard fans of the genre won’t even look at the page count of the books they love or are dying to read. In fact, some even take pride in finishing such epics and being able to place them with pride upon their shelves. That way whenever they have guests who ask them if they’ve actually read books like that, they can smile and answer in the affirmative.
I love finishing the last pages of these books, closing the back cover, flipping it back around and marveling at the cover once more. Its so damn satisfying. Then the same question enters my head: Do I want to read the next one? Because, this is fantasy, and lets face it; there’s always a next one. In the account of Sanderson’s epic, THE WAY OF KINGS, I said yes. I would love to read what comes next. However, I need a break. I don’t prefer reading 1000+ pages of one story and immediately leap to the next (longer still) book.
I’m not saying I exclusively read long fantasy epics. I’m a lifelong gamer as well as reader and I will always have a soft spot for World of Warcraft and its story. I’ve read countless Warcraft books and those are generally very short. Fun little two day reads. Weekend books, if you will. Since I no longer play the MMO, this is the best I can do Blizzard.
What I’m trying to say here is; if it’s a fun read then I’ll pick it up. 200 words to 1200 words. Bring it on.
So, now I leave the question for the rest of you. How long is too long? How short is too short?