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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 1342437" data-attributes="member: 151">Ari, did you mean 2000 PAGE opus, there? Anyhow, I'm not saying that people don't want standalone books.  I do, too.  What I'm saying is that they just plain don't sell as well, and really haven't for a long time, in the narrow S&S sub-genre of Fantasy.  I think one thing that's occured is the assumption that if a story spans several books, it must be good, since it must be popular.  For example, when I picked up the first volume of "Age of Unreason", I knew that it would have several books to it, and that obviously someone had a good deal of faith in it. I tend to wait until a series has several books out, as well.  But what I've seen happen is that a new book in a series will come out, and someone who's interested in it will pick it and it's predecesors up, simulataneously.  A standalone book doesn't generate those kind of spontaneous sales with each new release.  But really, what we're discussing here is the emphasis on novels that aren't self-contained.  When I picked up one of Saberhagen's Book of Swords, I knew each was self-contained.  If I skipped a book, I would have missed some of the movement of the meta-plot, but each book, for the most part, could exist whole unto itself.  The beginning of the book might have some quick summaries for new readers, but then we're off.  (quick aside: one of my favorite Swords & Sorcery trilogies is Saberhagen's Empire of the East (1968-1973) which is still mostly self-contained, and Saberhagen's terse, succint style is a direct counter to Jordan's verbose prose). Unfortunately, most new series don't do this.  I wasn't joking about needing to review a FAQ file to try and remember what had gone before with Jordan.  More importantly, Jordan has so many viewpoint characters (most of whom don't actually contribute to the narrative significantly enough) and so much going on , I think even he's lost track.  There are no significant 'jump-on' points for such books, and that acts, as Ari says, as a significant turn-off to picking up the material. I can count on one hand the number of fantasy novels that I've purchased in the last three years or so. Let me think:  All 3 GRRM "Song of Ice and Fire" Books.  Jordan's "Crossroads of Twilight". ....  Well, if you count the Harry Potter books and Keyes' "Empire of Unreason", both of which I would consider fantasy, but not D&D-esque fantasy, then that would increase the number, somewhat. I tried Gemmel...but I was put off by his prose style, somehow.  I may try Legend again (which I got for free at Worldcon a few years back), but it just didn't click with me, somehow.</blockquote>

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