The longest fantasy series, and why we read them
Update: because of all your recommendations, the list actually has over 90 items now (it started at 40), and more are still being added. Thank you!
With the help of the members of The Green Dragon group, some LibraryThing.com web scraping and Amazon’s API, I put together a list of the longest fantasy series. It was a fun exercise, but it also made me a little sad, realizing that I will probably never find the time to read them all. But by Moradin’s hammer, I will sure try!
Some things to be kept in mind about the list:
- Not all pages have the same number of words on them. Some books have a larger format, and some are written with a smaller font. The list is not 100% accurate because of this, but unfortunately I cannot find the number of words for each book belonging to these series, which would provide the ideal measurement.
- I tried to only include the main books of a series, ignoring auxiliary short-stories, graphic novels, comics, and other related publications.
- Some series, like the Riftwar Cycle, are actually multiple series and trilogies that take place in the same universe, they don’t necessarily share the same characters throughout the series.
- I kept the minimum criteria for inclusion in the list to 2000 pages or 5 books.
- Some of these series (e.g. A Song of Ice and Fire, Wars of Light and Shadow) are still running, so I will try to update this list periodically to reflect new releases.
| # | Series | Books | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conan’s Journeys | 78 books | 20549 pages |
| 2 | Discworld | 38 books | 13674 pages |
| 3 | Gor | 28 books | 13050 pages |
| 4 | The Riftwar Cycle | 26 books | 11873 pages |
| 5 | Wheel of Time | 14 books | 11362 pages |
| 6 | Xanth | 33 books | 11480 pages |
| 7 | Valdemar | 26 books | 10592 pages |
| 8 | Saga of Recluce | 16 books | 9696 pages |
| 9 | Malazan Book of the Fallen | 10 books | 8981 pages |
| 10 | Dragonriders of Pern | 24 books | 8980 pages |
| 11 | Shannara Universe | 20 books | 8976 pages |
| 12 | Sword of Truth | 12 books | 8784 pages |
| 13 | Anita Blake Vampire Hunter | 19 books | 8192 pages |
| 14 | Redwall | 21 books | 8081 pages |
| 15 | The Three Worlds Cycle | 11 books | 7926 pages |
| 16 | Realm of the Elderlings | 11 books | 7749 pages |
| 17 | The Legend of Drizzt | 20 books | 7243 pages |
| 18 | Deverry Cycle | 15 books | 6912 pages |
| 19 | Wars of Light and Shadow | 9 books | 6281 pages |
| 20 | Kushiel’s Legacy | 8 books | 6192 pages |
| 21 | The Dresden Files | 14 books | 5771 pages |
| 22 | Witch World | 24 books | 5757 pages |
| 23 | Crown of Stars | 7 books | 5264 pages |
| 24 | Books of the Orokon | 10 books | 5019 pages |
| 25 | The Complete Chronicles of Thomas Covenant | 10 books | 4948 pages |
| 26 | Lord of the Isles | 9 books | 4808 pages |
| 27 | The Sun Sword | 6 books | 4704 pages |
| 28 | Chronicles of an Age of Darkness | 10 books | 4646 pages |
| 29 | Tarzan | 25 books | 4563 pages |
| 30 | MythAdventures | 19 books | 4414 pages |
| 31 | The Hollows | 9 books | 4410 pages |
| 32 | Deryni | 15 books | 4352 pages |
| 33 | The Dark Tower | 7 books | 4341 pages |
| 34 | Oz | 14 books | 4277 pages |
| 35 | Solar Cycle | 12 books | 4252 pages |
| 36 | Belgariad/Mallorean | 10 books | 4224 pages |
| 37 | A Song of Ice and Fire | 4 books | 4195 pages |
| 38 | Drenai | 11 books | 4191 pages |
| 39 | Harry Potter | 7 books | 4136 pages |
| 40 | Corean Chronicles | 7 books | 4030 pages |
| 41 | The Realms of the Blood | 9 books | 4016 pages |
| 42 | Avalon | 8 books | 4000 pages |
| 43 | The Last of the Renshai | 6 books | 3960 pages |
| 44 | Earth’s Children | 5 books | 3952 pages |
| 45 | Dragon Knight | 9 books | 3944 pages |
| 46 | Wayfarer Redemption Series | 6 books | 3840 pages |
| 47 | Symphony of Ages | 6 books | 3760 pages |
| 48 | Saga of the Noble Dead | 8 books | 3728 pages |
| 49 | Sunrunners world | 6 books | 3672 pages |
| 50 | Last Rune | 6 books | 3632 pages |
| 51 | Chronicles of the Black Company | 9 books | 3478 pages |
| 52 | Chronicles and Legends of the Raven | 7 books | 3430 pages |
| 53 | The Runelords | 7 books | 3347 pages |
| 54 | Codex Alera | 6 books | 3312 pages |
| 55 | Guardians of Ga’hoole | 15 books | 3227 pages |
| 56 | The Death Gate Cycle | 7 books | 3168 pages |
| 57 | Chronicles of Amber | 14 books | 3155 pages |
| 58 | Chronicles of the Cheysuli | 8 books | 3120 pages |
| 59 | Guardians of the Flame | 10 books | 3051 pages |
| 60 | Fortress | 5 books | 2944 pages |
| 61 | Majipoor | 6 books | 2941 pages |
| 62 | The Chronicles of Elantra | 6 books | 2867 pages |
| 63 | The Pendragon Cycle | 6 books | 2736 pages |
| 64 | The Winter of the World | 6 books | 2736 pages |
| 65 | Guardian Cycle | 5 books | 2711 pages |
| 66 | House of Night | 8 books | 2704 pages |
| 67 | Memory, Sorrow and Thorn | 3 books | 2672 pages |
| 68 | The Banned and the Banished | 5 books | 2668 pages |
| 69 | Dragaera: Vlad Taltos | 12 books | 2634 pages |
| 70 | Einarinn | 5 books | 2623 pages |
| 71 | Sword of Shadows | 4 books | 2600 pages |
| 72 | Shadows of the Apt | 5 books | 2565 pages |
| 73 | Ixia/Sitia | 6 books | 2544 pages |
| 74 | The Elemental Masters Series | 6 books | 2537 pages |
| 75 | Paksennarion’s World | 6 books | 2521 pages |
| 76 | Nightrunner | 5 books | 2512 pages |
| 77 | Chronicles of the Kencyrath | 5 books | 2479 pages |
| 78 | Tiger and Del | 6 books | 2460 pages |
| 79 | The Demon Wars Saga | 4 books | 2268 pages |
| 80 | Temeraire | 6 books | 2262 pages |
| 81 | Ryhope Wood | 7 books | 2261 pages |
| 82 | The Second Apocalypse | 4 books | 2240 pages |
| 83 | The Chronicles of Westria | 8 books | 2214 pages |
| 84 | The Lord of the Rings | 5 books | 2144 pages |
| 85 | Twilight Reign | 4 books | 2144 pages |
| 86 | The Magic Kingdom of Landover | 6 books | 2096 pages |
| 87 | Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms | 5 books | 2064 pages |
| 88 | Tales of Alvin Maker | 6 books | 2038 pages |
| 89 | World of Tiers | 7 books | 1933 pages |
| 90 | The World of the Alfar | 6 books | 1864 pages |
| 91 | Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser | 8 books | 1863 pages |
| 92 | The Earthsea Cycle | 6 books | 1436 pages |
Also, although I tried to manually check every series, the process was mostly automatic, so please correct me if you find any mistakes.
Why do we read epic series?
Like probably no other topic, fantasy has some of the longest series in literature. Why?
Character development
A series gives the author time to shape her characters better. A longer development time means the characters will be a lot deeper, and this in turn will make the reader share a stronger bond with them, so it’s no wonder that good series are real page-turners. I always feel a small amount of regret when finishing a book whose characters I started to like, because that usually is the last time I will read about them.
Multi-dimensional characters that are not defined by a single trait, that are neither good nor bad, etc (A Song of Ice and Fire is a marvelous example of this) tend to appear in longer series more often, because they are put in enough situations to cover all the sides of their personalities.
Also, some things can only be accentuated properly if the reader witnesses them. For example, the deep friendship / hate between two characters is a lot stronger in the reader’s mind if he gets to see it grow through actions, rather then simply being told in the beginning of the book “Also, they are best friends / worst enemies”.
Epic stories
There is only so much action you can pack into 300 pages. In a normal book there is normally just one story arc, and it must come to conclusion pretty fast. Some people enjoy stories that span over a long period of time (sometimes entire generations), multiple connected plots that come together and overlap at points, numerous adventures involving the characters you know so closely, and so on.
Universe
Some series share neither characters nor plots between books, so what makes them a “series”? Their setting does, and the universe they are placed in. Sometimes it’s not the characters or the action that hold a series together, but the marvelous world in which they take place, a world that is large enough and has enough potential to accommodate multiple character sets and story lines.
Thank you for reading
Please let me know if there is something I missed, or of any mistakes.
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I belive you missed the Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb http://www.librarything.com/series/Realm+of+the+Elderlings – 11 volumes so far.
You also don’t mention where you got your page counts, which would be helpful
Thank you, I updated the list to include Realm of the Elderlings (number 12 in the list now). If there are any more, just let me know, and I will add them.
I got the page counts like this:
1. I made a script that parses a series’ page on LibraryThing.com, and fetches all the links to individual works.
2. I parsed each book’s web page on LibraryThing to get it’s ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number).
3. Using this ASIN, I used the Amazon Web Services API to get the page count, which I then summed up to get the final number for the entire series.
Hi, I believe you also missed ‘The Dark Tower’ series by Stephen King, 7 books, with a page count totalling 4320 (and several of the books are still in a large edition format) with another book on the way.
Truly an epic fantasy series
my mistake, just saw it…
Chronicles of Amber would probably have a decent spot as well.
I added Chronicles of Amber (position 34, with 14 books and 3155 pages). Thank you.
Much as I love Amber, it does not seem correct. The great book of Amber has 1264 pages. Add the four later ones by Betancourt cannot bring to 3155.
The LibraryThing series page puts the Chronicles of Amber series at 4 prequels and 10 books. Is this not correct?
That is correct. But none of them has much volume. The great book of Amber contains 1 to 10 in 1264 pages.
Umm, I’m pretty sure I’ve read at least 40 books from the Dragonlance series.
Dragonlance isnt on this list why? probably because no one wants to actually count all the books…. would take waaay to long.
lol thats because there is like 150+ books for dragonlance…. some are repeats sure, but I’d say it would easily take a top 10 spot in page count.
The Belgariad and the Malloreon seem to be largely the same series.
Agreed. Came to say same
I removed The Belgariad, the shorter of the two.
It should be 13 books . The page ‘Belgariad/Mallorean: Kronologisk ordning’ in related series shows them.
I came to say the same thing.
What an amazing series :)
Belgariad = 5 books
Mallorean = 5 books
Belgarath the Sorcerer
Polgara the Sorceress
The Rivan Codex
13 total volumes
All the same characters dealing with the same issues in a continuous cycle, ending in a spectacular finale.
I updated the entry.
Elric and the various interconnected stories by Moorcock?
The Elric Saga only has 1483 pages.
Moorcock’s multiverse doesn’t count and Discworld’s stories do?
If Harry Potter counts, how about Oz, Narnia, Prydain?
What about Conan or Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser?
Sherri Tepper’s True Game series.
Unfortunately Amazon only has page count information for 3 of the 9 books. Perhaps I will find another source for the script to parse when Amazon fails.
P.C.Hodgell’s Kencyrath series is at 5 books.
Done, position 40.
How about deryni from Kurtz?
Done, position 25.
How about Tarzan, does it qualify? Or John Carter of Mars?
And maybe Oz?
I added Tarzan and Oz (positions 23 and 28, respectively). Adding John Carter of Mars would be stepping too far into science-fiction, and I am planning to do that in a future list :)
Don’t let the word ‘Mars’ distract you. Just get one e.g. from Gutenberg
(& congrat with the list)
Thank you :)
You forgot to include “Dies the Fire” by S.M. Stirling, one of my favorite authors. The seventh book just came out this year.
The “Dies the Fire” series actually starts with the Nantucket books, there are 3 nantucket books, which lead to the 3 “War of the Eye” books, which lead into the 4 (so far) Montival books; these are technically called “The Emberverse”.
Book 6 sees the two sets of characters coming together.
I concur they’re awesome books — I’m working my way through the latest book right now! :)
As I replied above regarding John Carter of Mars, it appears these are science-fiction, and I will make a separate list for sci-fi :)
Very much NOT sci-fi IMO; there is time-travel, but only as the catalyst for the fantasy plot, the entire story is swords and magic.
‘Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter’ – 15 books, between 250-400 pages each
Done, position 11.
Don’t forget the Gor series by John Norman. ~30 books
The Sunrunner books by Melanie Rawn should be on the list. There are six of them and, by my count, 3,762 pages among them.
http://www.librarything.com/series/Sunrunners+world
Updated, 3,762 pages indeed.
The Guardians of Ga’hoole series has 15 books containing 3,227 pages.
Cool, position 37.
Shouldn’t Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn be on this?
It only has 3 books, but it passes the 2000 page mark, so I added it to the list.
Patrick Tilley’s AMTRAK WARS (which has post-apocalyptic SF elements but also strong use of magic) just scrapes over the 2,000 page mark in my paperback editions.
As many have said on the Westeros board, Hugh Cook’s CHRONICLES OF AN AGE OF DARKNESS is long enough to get up there, although good luck trying to find page counts, as they’ve been out of print for years.
For the DRIZZT books have you excluded the spin-off novels which don’t feature Drizzt but do feature some of the other characters?
Actually, Amazon has page count information for all the books in the Chronicles, so I added them to the list.
Yes, the Legend of Drizzt only includes the books on this page.
And another couple – Realms of the blood by Anne Bishop http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Realms+of+the+Blood
and Saga of the Noble Dead by Hendee http://www.librarything.com/series/Saga+of+the+Noble+Dead
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Banned+and+the+Banished
http://www.librarything.com/series/Chung+Kuo
http://www.librarything.com/series/Codex+Alera
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Elemental+Masters+Series
http://www.librarything.com/series/Guardian+Cycle
http://www.librarything.com/series/House+of+Night
http://www.librarything.com/series/Ixia/Sitia
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Last+of+the+Renshai
http://www.librarything.com/series/Nightrunner
http://www.librarything.com/series/Paksennarion%27s+World
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Pendragon+Cycle
http://www.librarything.com/series/Symphony+of+Ages
http://www.librarything.com/series/Wayfarer+Redemption+Series
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Winter+of+the+World
http://www.librarything.com/series/Earth%27s+Children
http://www.librarything.com/series/Tales+of+the+Five+Hundred+Kingdoms
Sorry i just found so many! you realise this could end up numbering over 100 and there are series like Sandersons Warbreaker which is number 1 of a predicted 10 and Scott Lynches Gentlemans Batards which is only on 2 but could go forever.
Another “couple”? :)) It appears I will have to change the title of this post. Thank you :)
I added them all, the list now has 73 items.
I’m sure there will be even more rolling in over the next week or so, those 18 are just what i found in my own collection that i thought fit that you didn’t already have. Sorry one more
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+World+of+the+Alfar
At this rate you might well have 100 by the end of today never mind the end of this week
I added the last one, because it has 6 books, although the page count is the lowest so far.
I just thought of PJ Farmer: World of Tiers & Riverworld. Don’t know if they break the page mark though.
http://www.librarything.com/series/World+of+Tiers
http://www.librarything.com/series/Riverworld
Just one other..
http://www.librarything.com/series/Fafhrd+and+the+Gray+Mouser
Position 75 :)
How about the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson?
http://www.librarything.com/series/Repairman+Jack
Is it not more horror and supernatural than fantasy?
When you do the SF list, don’t forget the PERRY RHODAN series of novellas, of which there are more than 2,500:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan
:-)
Noted :)
How about my Raven series? Seven books in two linked trilogies (Chronicles and Legends of the Raven) followed by the seventh novel, Ravensoul. Certainly meets your length and page count criteria.
Cheers
James
Done, thank you :)
How about the Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley? It is more of a mix of sci-fi and fantasy, but definitely long enough to appear in your list.
Yeah ! Where is Darkover ?? If Pern is in the list, Darkover has its place too ! :)
Absolutely right! If sagas such as PERN are included as well as sagas as DISKWORLD and XANTH and VALDEMAR, then DARKOVER definitely should be included.
Although its on a different planet its more fantasy than sci/fi anyway.
++ for Darkover :-)
+++ Darkover!
How could you miss one of the Grand Daddies of fantasy?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_(books)
Fair enough, straight to position 1!
Glen Cook’s BLACK COMPANY series is more of a series of series, but I think it qualifies with 9 (possibly 10) books.
http://www.librarything.com/series/Chronicles+of+the+Black+Company
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Company
Oops. Scratch that last comment.
I think I just didn’t see it in the list there.
I would say your Raymond Feist entry has a couple errors. First of all, you’re counting the same book twice in that Magician was later split and republished in two volumes as Magician: Apprentice & Magician: Master. Secondly, the volumes co-written with Ms. Wurts aren’t truly part of the Riftwar Cycle at all, they only take place in the same fictional universe. And though I gave up this series many titles ago, it would seem as though several of the other titles in the list are guilty of the same issue. I believe this entry belongs lower on the list for these reasons.
Just realized that the page linked to from the list isn’t necessarily your source information so I’m likely mistaken about how you compiled that entry. But remain curious as to which books were counted. Thanks!
Actually, that is the page the info is taken from, but it does not include the subsequent two parts of Magician, only the first book. So, from that page, all the books are included, except the two Magician parts, and the short stories.
Then I would say the Wurts ‘Empire’ novels shouldn’t count toward the total. They are only peripherally involved with the main Deathgate Cycle sequence at all.
Great work, overall! I’m really glad and excited that someone has actually undertaken this project. Thanks.
It seems that _Dune_ is missing, no?
Dune will appear in the future science-fiction list.
If you ever do SF, don’t forget Perry Rhodan. I don’t know how to get a page count though.
Hey nice list! Just wanted to add that technically the Mallorean (David Eddings) is part of a larger cycle which includes the 5 books of the Belgariad, since it continues the story with the same characters and constantly references the first series. Also, just wanted to say that the Chung Kuo series by David Wingrove is science fiction and not fantasy so you may want to move it to your SF list. Regards!
I updated the Mallorean entry, and removed Chung Kuo.
Ok I see you have updated to combine Mallorean and Belgariad but you have now taken out the two prequals – ‘Belgarath the Sorcerer’ and ‘Polgara the Sorceress’ which are very much part of the broader story arc and are there on the LibraryThing page.
Some more series I would recommend:
Robert Holdstock’s ‘Ryhope Wood’ with 7 books:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Ryhope+Wood
Jacqueline Carey’s ‘Kushiel’s Legacy’:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Kushiel%27s+Legacy
Alan Dean Foster’s Spellsinger:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Spellsinger
Diana Paxon’s ‘Chronicles of Westria’:
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Chronicles+of+Westria
tom Arden’s ‘books of the Orokon’:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Books+of+the+Orokon
Ian Irvine’s ‘Three World Cycle’;
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Three+Worlds+Cycle
Andre Norton’s ‘Witch World’:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Witch+World
Actually, the page count was correct, and included all the 12 books, the book count was wrong, and I fixed it, thanks :)
Wow, thanks for the suggestions, I will check them out and start adding them.
Sorry, just realised that you already have Kusheil’s Legacy and Irvine’s Three Worlds cycle up. But a few more series:
Tom lloyd’s Twilight Reign (4 books so far but page count of 2128):
http://www.librarything.com/series/Twilight+Reign
Modessitt’s ‘Correan Chronicles’;
http://www.librarything.com/series/Corean+Chronicles
Tchaikovsky’s ‘Shadows of the Apt’ (5 books so far):
http://www.librarything.com/series/Shadows+of+the+Apt
Le Guin’s ‘Earthsea Cycle’:
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Earthsea+Cycle
Juliet McKenna’s ‘Einarinn’ series:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Einarinn
I added all of them. 85 series so far! :)
The book count should be 12. The list view for me right now reads 10. Thanks.
There are also two more books in the “World of the Alfar” series for a total of 8. “The Dragon’s Carbuncle” and “The Lord of Chaos”.
Amazon places them in the Wizard’s War series:
http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Carbuncle-Wizards-War-Book/dp/0345354591
http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Chaos-Wizards-War-Book/dp/0345363027
Is this the same series?
It is a sequel series, like Malloreon and Belgariad
I think that for the “Malazan book of the fallen” you could also add the two books writtent by Ian Esselmont (Night of Knives & Return of the Crimson Guard) which are in the same universe and share some of the character of the Erikson’s series.
I have not seen that the series had to be published in english, and so I suggest Guin Saga, by Kaoru Kushimoto. Only the first five books have been translated in english, but the original saga (without spin-off) has more than 120 books, though the author deceased before ending. If you think that only the english langage books have to appear, then forget it…
I would gladly add the series, but because it’s not listed on LibraryThing.com, I cannot run my script on it to start parsing, and I am not going to search for 120 books by hand :)
You are missing John Norman’s Chronicles of Counter-Earth aka the Gor Series. 25 books go to 9694 pages. There are 3 more books taking the series to 28 but I do not have them so can’t give a page count.
It’s a shame most fanstasy readers will pass on this series because of the sexual nature. John Norman wrote the best combat, siege and action sequences in all fantasy.
Apparently I cannot find the page count for some of the books in the series anywhere. Please tell me what books are you missing, and if I find their page count, I will add them to the 9694 pages you counted and add them to the list.
Book 26 – Witness of Gor
Book 27 – Prize of Gor
Book 28 – Kur of Gor
The first 25 books were written from the late 60′s to 1988 so they are normal for the time 350-450 pages. The three new ones are much larger in page count. I have put some feelers out to find the page count for these.
The popular known name for this series is ‘Chronicles of Gor’
Actually, the page count for those books is on Amazon, so this was easy. I added the series to the list, and it went straight to number 3 :)
My page count was from old EU editions. The new printed editions by the US publisher come to a total of 13,050 pages exactly for the 28 books.
This list is a good resource you have here Victor, many series we have not heard of before.
Malazan Book’s shouldent the 4 novella’s by Steven Erikson, and Ian Cameron Essselmonts books be included there?
Only these 10 books are included:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Malazan+Book+of+the+Fallen
Please tell me which books are part of the same series.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Knives-Novel-Malazan-Empire/dp/0553818295/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287748767&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Return-Crimson-Guard-Malazan-Empire/dp/0553824473/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287748791&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stonewielder-Malazan-Empire-Cameron-Esslemont/dp/0593064445/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287748822&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Bauchelain-Korbal-Broach-Vol/dp/0593063945/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_12
This is a great list to build up a list of books to read! Thanks again for taking the time to do this. I have one suggestion though – it may be helpful to have the author’s name after the name of the series. Sometimes I don’t recognise the name of a series and its only after clicking on the link that I realise what this is referring to (for example i didnt know that the Robin Hobb books are called ‘Realm of the Elderlings’).
Also a few more suggestions:
Gordon Dickson’s ‘Dragon Knight’ series:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Dragon+Knight
Michael Moorcock’s ‘Eternal Champion’ series:
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Eternal+Champion
Philip Jose Farmer’s ‘World of Tiers’: http://www.librarything.com/series/World+of+Tiers
Alan Dean Foster’s ‘Spellsinger’ (seem to have missed this one from the previous list):
http://www.librarything.com/series/Spellsinger
Robert Silverberg’s Majipoor Chornicles:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Majipoor:+Publication
Also a couple of series that are just 4 books so far but with 5th books coming soon:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Sword+of+Shadows
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Second+Apocalypse
Finally, about the World of Malaz books, here is the full list, including the books by IC Esslemont and Erikson’s short works:
http://www.librarything.com/series/World+of+Malaz
Great, I will start adding them, thank you :)
I didn’t add an Author column because some series have multiple authors. Perhaps I will specify “multiple” in that column for those series.
I would suggest the name of the main author or creator, and then ‘et al’, for example for Conan: ‘Robert E. Howard et al’. or for the Amber books ‘Roger Zelazny et al.’ Regards.
Oh, and sorry, I keep adding more suggestions! Here’s another one: Fred Saberhagen’s ‘Book of Swords’:
http://www.librarything.com/series/Book+of+Swords
I just got around to adding them :). I cannot find the page count for the first book of the Spellsinger series anywhere. I will gladly add it as soon as I find out the exact number of pages.
I have that copy at the cabin. We are going down this weekend and I will count the pages if it is still in the lending library. It was there 2 weeks ago so still must be there now as hardly anyone up now but hunters. If I find it will post the coundt.
Don’t forget Melanie Rawns “DRAGON PRINCE” saga as well as J. V. Jones SWORD OF SHADOW-saga
LibraryThing only mentions 3 books in the Dragon Prince series, with a total page count of 1648. Are there more in the series (because as it is, it doesn’t meet the minimum requirements)?
You have already accounted for Melanie Rawn’s Dragon Prince trilogy, actually. This trilogy – along with its sequel trilogy – comprise the “Sunrunners’ world” that currently holds spot #49 in your list.
I was also going to mention, there are more Conan books than you have listed. In the Lancer/Ace/Bantam/Tor Series, there are 66 volumes, two of those are Illustrated Reprints of two of the Non-Conan alterations that LSdC made into Conan stories.
Those 66 volumes total 16504 pages, without the two reprints its 16201 pages.
I have this on the authority that I just went and counted them, and made note of the page count of each volume as I counted them.
Thank you, I updated the first entry :)
not a problem. One could probably make the argument of including the 6 Red Sonja novels, and the 9 “Age of Conan” books as well, even if he isn’t in them they are set in his world. But I don’t own them, so I can’t tell you how many pages there are.
I’ve actually sat down and typed up a complete list of all the Conan novels and Hyborean Age out-rigger tales. These either directly involve Conan, or some aspect of the world conceived of by Robert E. Howard. I’ve chosen not to include the Red Sonja books as I feel they are more of a tie in to the Marvel Comic (where she originated) than the novel based Conan which REH created and others created such a vast amount of material for.
The Total comes to 78 Volumes of Conan and Age of Conan. For a total of 20,549 pages.
Wow, that was a real effort. Thank you very much! I updated the list.
well I actually am in the process of reading them all, so it really was something I would have gotten around to doing anyway.
Personally I think your list has the opportunity to turn into a major resource in the Fantasy online community.
Great list, You may also want to look at Kim Harrison’s The Hollows Series of books, in the same vein as the Dresden Files of Jim Butcher.
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Hollows
Done, position 31 :)
IWAS WONDERING AS ILOOKED ALL THROUGH THESE LISTS OF SOME OF THE MOST WONDERFUL BOOK SERIES EVER….ISTARTED READING SOME OF THESE AS A CHILD, I REMEMBER THE “WHEEL” BOOKS SERIES WHEN I WAS 10. IWAS HOOKED AND READING EVER SINCE bUT JUST RECENTLY FOUND THE dRESDEN fILES of Jim Butcher. I read the first 3 books in one day…..but then I was in the hospital bored and waiting to go home so had a reason to read read read. I feel that the Dresden series should be in this grouping and not sci fi. But maybe I am way off key on this. But thank you thankyou thankyou for the time and effort you have placed in this compiliation of books for all of us to read. Adding this to my bucket list……
Come on, folks. Don’t any of you read real literature. Am I the only one who read/reads the High History of Dom Manuel of Poictesme (21 titles) by James Branch Cabell. It is the single most complex study of Religion, Fantasy and human Psychology. Read Cabell and you don’t need anything else.
I’ve read the six that got reprinted in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy line, and Jurgen. But the rest are almost entirely out of print, or only available via small press at silly prices, or in an E-Book format.
I don’t think all of them are even available via E-Book either.
The main thing with the majority of these series, they are either easy to find second hand, or are still being re-printed. It is a great series to add though.
I thought of another thing unrelated to Cabel, Mike Moorcocks series while all being able to be read separately are also part of a series “The Eternal Champion” all told it has something like 58 titles in it.. even the 15 volume omnibus series from White Wolf is impressive..
I believe someone already mentioned that your Belgariad/Mallorean entry only includes 10 books while there are three more in the cycle (Belgarath the Sorcerer, Polgara the Sorceress, and The Rivan Codex).
This is also the case with the Renshai books. The entry includes six books, but a seventh book was released last year.
Here are some other series to consider:
-the Mithgar novels by Dennis L. McKiernan – either 12 books if you count the Silver Call and Iron Tower omnibus collections, or up to 16 if you split said books into a duology and trilogy, respectively (as they were originally published) and if you include The Vulgmaster (a short story graphic novel adaptation). I would suggest condensing it to 12 books. I can specify all 12 titles, if it would help.
http://www.librarything.com/tag/Mithgar
-The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series by Greg Keyes – 4 books
http://www.librarything.com/tag/Kingdoms+of+Thorn+and+Bone
-the Dragoncrown War Cycle by Michael Stackpole – 4 books
http://www.librarything.com/tag/DragonCrown+War+Cycle
-Chronicles of the Necromancer by Gail Z. Martin – 4 books and counting
http://www.librarything.com/tag/Chronicles+of+the+Necromancer
-the Inhumans trilogy by John Marco – 3 books, with a 4th on the way
Tyrants and Kings trilogy by John Marco – 3 books
http://www.librarything.com/tag/John+Marco
-the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson – 3 books, with 6 more planned
http://www.librarything.com/tag/mistborn+trilogy
-the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks – 3 books
http://www.librarything.com/tag/night+angel+trilogy
-The Bridge of D’Arnath series by Carol Berg – 4 books
http://www.librarything.com/tag/bridge+of+d%27arnath
Forgive me if I repeated something that was already addressed elsewhere. Some of these are close calls, but I believe they all exceed the 2,000 page requirement.
I can’t believe I forgot the Mithgar series.. it’s definitely up there in the page count….
Mistborn is up to four books with Alloy of Law.
Dragonlance has a book count in the hundreds by now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dragonlance_novels
The Ile-Rien books by Martha Wells:
The fall of Ile-Rien trilogy + The element of fire + The Death of a Necromancer
Did you update the entry for The Wheel of Time? Towers of Midnight (#13 in the series, #14 counting the prequel) was released in the US at the beginning of November. Thanks.
Yes, the page count includes Towers of Midnight
Loved your list. Did you consider the Thieves World Anthology edited by Robert Lynn Asprin?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves'_World
The original anthologies spanned 12 books and then there were spin-off full length novels for some of the more popular characters.
I will add it as soon as the Sci-Fi series is completed, because for now I can barely keep up with the recommendations :)
I’d argue that your entry for the Sun Sword should include the Sacred Hunt (2 books, 1,047 pages) and the House War series (2 books, 1,248 pages and counting) as the three series tell the story of different battles of the same war and all series have common characters. I’m not entirely sure what you’d call the series, as there really isn’t an overarching series title and the author herself seems to refer to them as “the West books”, which I believe is in reference to the fact that they’re published under the name Michelle West.
As soon as I finish the Sci-Fi series, I will update the fantasy one and will surely use your suggestion :)
Dune ?
It’s on the science-fiction list.
How about ” curse of challion” and ” the sharing knife” of Louis mcMaster Bujold
What about the Nightside series by Simon R. Green? Eleven books currently (through “A Hard Day’s Knight”) plus cross-over into his Secret Histories series, as well as several of his stand alone novels.
Also, what about the Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire (aka Sookie Stackhouse) novels? Ten novels (through “Dead in the Family”), several short story collections, and a hit TV series.
There’s something like 200 Dragonlance novels, so surely they have rocked up a couple of thousand pages by now ;) Even just the 2 original trilogies by Weis and Hickman would easily span 2000 pages I reckon.
What about the foundation serious by Isaac Asimov?
2001 a space oddessy Clarke
iRobot series of books?
They are included in the Sci-Fi list
What about Robin Hobb’s:
The Rain Wild Chronicles (Two books)
The Farseer Trilogy
The Liveship Traders Trilogy
The Tawny Man Trilogy
11 Books set in the same universe (Realm of the Elderlings)
(They’re really-really-really Good!)
If you are still adding, Juliet Marilliers sevenwaters Trilogy is now 5 books
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Sevenwaters+Trilogy
Yes, I am still adding them. I am in the process of migrating the HTML table to a database, like I did with the Sci-Fi list, so that I can easily output new HTML when a series is added / updated, and then I will start adding the ones I missed.
I don’t know if it’s been mentioned before, but:
With The Malazan Book of the Fallen, the books by Ian C. Esselmont (Night of Knifes, Return of the Crimson Guard and Stonewielder) should also be included.
Also you include the (incomplete) Complete Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, but fail to include the 5th Book of the Song of Ice and Fire, which is about to get published.
Maybe I just did not spot them, but I believe Harry Turtledove’s Videssos (11 books) and Darkness (6 books) cycles would also qualify?
Problems: Xanth should be above WoT. And Book 5 of ASOIAF has been released.
I see the Anita Blake series but not the Merry Gentry series o.O
There are a total of 8 books and ~3320 pages in paperback. If you are looking for hardcover count, I am not sure =/ sorry.
GC
Not sure if Artemis Fowl series could count. 7 books, 2434 pages, 8th book will drop next year.
Also Dresden Files 13 just came out today, 432 pages.
Thanks, I will update the list one of these days to also include A Dance with Dragons.
Note that Jordan gets double credit, considering that he wrote at least eight of the Conan novels.
Firekeeper Saga
6 books
4176 pages
Heyyy what about inheritance cycle (2773 pages)
you forgot the “keys to the kingdom” . 7 books 2,500 pages no clue how many words but a good series
Here’s another to add to your list:
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Riyria+Revelations
The Riyria Revelations: 6 books: 2,373 pages
Nice job compiling this!
And one more – my trilogy of trilogies – nine books in three sequences, Age of Misrule, The Dark Age, Kingdom of the Serpent, beginning with this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Worlds-End-Age-Misrule-Book/dp/159102739X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1336066235&sr=8-3
Excellent list!
The Oz books consist of many more than 14. Baum’s widow and publisher approved the continuation of the series, which led to what is commonly called The Famous Forty to designate the 40 books produced up until the time the publisher Reilly & Lee went out of business.
But there are even more than 40 volumes. Baum wrote several additional Oz stories, and brought his other fantasy titles into the Oz universe (in the books The Road to Oz, Scarecrow of Oz and other volumes). Additionally, other authors of the original series wrote volumes that were later put out by different publishers.
Then, when Baum’s books entered public domain, numerous titles sprang up, and continue to this day to be written. While not all hew to the canon of the original series (such as the popular Wicked Years series), many do. To date, there are over 200 Oz books, including those which follow continuity (and are part of a shared universe), alternate universes (reimaginings), and parallel universes.
the pendragon series has 10 books. the rest (after the 6 accounted for) have around 600 pages each i would say :)
The Dragonlance Saga is going strong with over 190 novels and counting.