6 ms·

I think the response is more accurate - that big ideas and epic world-building require a lot of space. http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/may/20/fa

by kbutler 11y ago

I think the response is more accurate - that big ideas and epic world-building require a lot of space. http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/may/20/fantasy-imaginary-worlds-george-r-r-martin-robin-hobb http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/may/20/fanta... And I would cite Brandon Sanderson as a good example (and good counter-example to the original article) - smaller ideas get novellas (Legion, Emperor's Soul), medium-sized ideas get novels (Elantris, Rithmatist, Warbreaker), epic ideas get large novels in series(Mistborn, Way of Kings). All excellent, by the way...

fabian2k 11y ago
One huge point in Sanderson's favor is that he writes fast and consistent enough that his epic series might be finished in a reasonable amount of time. I also get the impression that he plans a lot more in advance than many other fantasy writers, so I doubt he'll add a few more novels to his series at the end.
mattmanser 11y ago
Brandon Sanderson is a truly unique author though, his output at the moment is phenomenal. I'm not entirely sure what the point of the original article was though, mega-novels, otherwise known as series to normal people, are a common thing in sci-fi and fantasy and always have been.
panglott 11y ago
There's no way that page counts are a reflection of the size of the ideas in the book. You can huge ideas and absolutely marvellous worlds in under 200 pages. Maybe the book doesn't have 1000+ named characters. but why would that be an important metric?
vanderZwan 11y ago
> that big ideas and epic world-building require a lot of space. That's not the same as requiring a mega-novel. You can have a series of stories set in one universe. Just look at Discworld. Or superhero comics, for that matter.
gaius 11y ago
That's not true. A truly skilled fantasy or sci-fi author can hint at a huge and complex world with just a single, casually-delivered line of dialogue.

by kbutler 11y ago

fabian2k 11y ago

One huge point in Sanderson's favor is that he writes fast and consistent enough that his epic series might be finished in a reasonable amount of time. I also get the impression that he plans a lot more in advance than many other fantasy writers, so I doubt he'll add a few more novels to his series at the end.

mattmanser 11y ago

Brandon Sanderson is a truly unique author though, his output at the moment is phenomenal. I'm not entirely sure what the point of the original article was though, mega-novels, otherwise known as series to normal people, are a common thing in sci-fi and fantasy and always have been.

panglott 11y ago

There's no way that page counts are a reflection of the size of the ideas in the book. You can huge ideas and absolutely marvellous worlds in under 200 pages. Maybe the book doesn't have 1000+ named characters. but why would that be an important metric?

vanderZwan 11y ago

> that big ideas and epic world-building require a lot of space. That's not the same as requiring a mega-novel. You can have a series of stories set in one universe. Just look at Discworld. Or superhero comics, for that matter.

gaius 11y ago

That's not true. A truly skilled fantasy or sci-fi author can hint at a huge and complex world with just a single, casually-delivered line of dialogue.