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.

 

[Autumnal]

Big books? Big series? This is the song of my people.

The Sun Eater Saga by Christopher Ruocchio is my current fin of this sort. Seven big volumes - the seventh is coming in November - and several interstitial novellas and four volumes of related short stories. What began as excellent but relatively typical Dune-esque future space opera but with aliens has flowered into a denser, weirder fabric including a cosmological dimension remiscent of Gene Wolfe and Dan Simmons.

Others have already brought up other faves of mine, like the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and the Expanse.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I get questions like this often enough that I just started a list in my Notes App:

Ben Bova The Grand Tour
David Brin Uplift Saga
Harry Turtledove Darkness Saga
Kristine Katherine Rusch The Retrieval Artist
CJ Cherryh Foreigner

Barbara Hambly has made a name for herself in genre fiction, but my favorite series of hers is The Benjamin January novels. They’re historical dramas/detective novels, following the life of a French trained black doctor in 1840s-50s New Orleans.

 

[Maxperson]

I always think of Wheel of Time when I think of the giant series of giant fantasy novels in the 1990s, but of course, it was just one of many from that era. And I know that there are still some published today, but it feels like the focus of fantasy and sci-fi novels has moved on.

If you miss those big novels and big series, what are your favorites? What's the appeal? Have you moved on to another series or are you on your third re-read of a favorite series?

I like the Wheel of Time, but The Dresden Files has taken over as the new biiiiiig series. There are 14 main Wheel of Time books and the series is done. The Dresden Files has 17 already, and it's slated to have 25. It's a great series of books, though. I highly recommend it.

 

[zottel]

I like the Wheel of Time, but The Dresden Files has taken over as the new biiiiiig series. There are 14 main Wheel of Time books and the series is done. The Dresden Files has 17 already, and it's slated to have 25. It's a great series of books, though. I highly recommend it.

This series read by James Masters got me into audiobooks! Still prefer to read a big fat book, listening to a book while going for a run is awesome. And the series is great fun, too. I really love the MC, Harry Dresden, despite all the often valid criticism that gets aimed at him.

 

[Maxperson]

This series read by James Masters got me into audiobooks! Still prefer to read a big fat book, listening to a book while going for a run is awesome. And the series is great fun, too. I really love the MC, Harry Dresden, despite all the often valid criticism that gets aimed at him.

Yeah. And it has paladins in it that aren't lawful stupid. Best paladins I've seen in novels.