Fans of long series of big novels, sound off!

[zottel]

A much shorter series (3 books) but indubitably doorstoppers from the 80s/90s was the Memory, Sorrow, Thorn series by Tad Williams.

I guess the modern doorstoppers are Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive, I suppose, which feel a bit like Sanderson flexing the muscles he got from finishing the Wheel of Time. I’ve personally found them hard to get into, it feels like he’s being paid by the word.

I honestly liked the first few books quite a lot, but lost interest somewhere along the way. A lot of people like Sanderson's world building, but to me, it feels kind of shallow and flat, and while I really like Dalinar (and to a lesser extent Adolin) as characters, the rest was not that interesting.

 

[Reynard]

If it is a quality series, I am okay with a lot of books (The Expanse has 9 novels plus novellas, for example) but I am not so patient with massive tomes, especially ones that don't go anywhere. I listened to the first 2 and a half volumes of the Stormlight Archives (totally about 120 hours) and... not a lot happened? That isn't why I ultimately dropped it, though -- I could not take Shallon any longer.

What I wish there were more of were standalone fantasy novels. Sci-fi is lousy with them, but it can be genuinely difficult to find self contained fantasy stories.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Very much depends on the quality and content of the series for me.

I finally finished Feist's Multi-War (Riftwar, Serpentwar, etc) series recently. The latter part was meh, but Riftwar through Serpentwar are great.

I liked Eddings' various series. Wheel of Time I only got through books 6-10 on audio; the Sanderson ending books were great, though and redeemed it for me. Goodkind's Sword of Truth series had a great opening novel then I dropped it later when it went all BDSM.

On Book 5 of Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series with about 6 hours of 62 left on audio. While I liked the earlier books, this one wanders too much, I only care about two of the major storylines, and I won't read any further books in the series. At this point, Sanderson needs an editor willing to say "no" much like Jordan did.

The Expanse nine-novel series was fantastic. On the other hand, I've never made it past the original Dune.

 

[nyvinter]

A much shorter series (3 books) but indubitably doorstoppers from the 80s/90s was the Memory, Sorrow, Thorn series by Tad Williams.

And there's a follow-up series too that I've yet to read but it's on the list for me. But yes, the world building and scope and all of that are things I love about these books.

What I wish there were more of were standalone fantasy novels. Sci-fi is lousy with them, but it can be genuinely difficult to find self contained fantasy stories.

I really like how Steven Brust did with the Vlad Taltos books — they all fit together as a whole but they're also mostly readable as single stories. (The spin-off Khaavren Romances are far more linked due to their source material.)

I will have to mention Marshall Ryan Maresca and his Maradaine books. They're not doorstoppers big but he has four series in the same city/world and they intersect is small ways. So for some background events that happen in the city, you get the explanation in another book that deals with that directly. The first series is about a mage student that vigilantes on the nights, the second is about a pair of street detectives, the third is about a gang of thieves with big heist focus, and the fourth is about the elite and palace guards. There's also some short stories that don't fit in completely. Book one of each series occur roughly in the same time, and then the second books. They're really good.

 

[jian]

What I wish there were more of were standalone fantasy novels. Sci-fi is lousy with them, but it can be genuinely difficult to find self contained fantasy stories.

There are a few but it depends what you want. If we're talking doorstoppers (as this thread is about) then I can recommend The War of the Flowers, an urban fantasy standalone from Tad Williams, which I personally think is his best work.

More recently... well, there are quite a few standalones, some of which may get sequels in time but don't necessarily need them. From my reading from 2025 so far, I'd recommend:

• Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge: Technically both a children's book and urban fantasy, but one of my favourites. Hardinge is a brilliant author and this is probably one of her best, IMO. Standalone.
• Blood Over Bright Haven by ML Wang: Industrial sorcery fantasy, and very likely a standalone. An excellent debut.
• The Steel Seraglio by Mike, Linda, and Louise Carey: An Arabian Nights pastiche myth-story about the origins, foundation, and downfall of a fantasy city with gender equality. Standalone.
• Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell: An excellent and compassionate retelling of the Heracles myth. Very likely a standalone.
• Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell: Cosy body horror fantasy? Didn't even know it was possible. One of the Hugo runners-up this year and well deservedly so. Very likely a standalone.
• Sadly I don't think any of them count as doorstoppers, I think Blood Over Bright Haven is the longest at 430 pages.