Longer series
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I bing read Campione (20 volumes) and if I remember correctly I started Rokujouma when it was near or past volume 20, so I don't have many problems with longer series. Actually, sometimes I prefer to start reading a series with more volumes because there is more material for me to enjoy and I have some guarantees that it will reach a conclusion (but that's not always the case, I'm looking for you Haruhi Suzumiya). But if a series has a large volume count in Japan and the translated ones are published too slowly I might decide to not bother reading, because I don't like having to wait decades to catch up. Luckily, it's not the case with JNC.
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@lex said in Longer series:
I bing read Campione (20 volumes) and if I remember correctly I started Rokujouma when it was near or past volume 20, so I don't have many problems with longer series. Actually, sometimes I prefer to start reading a series with more volumes because there is more material for me to enjoy and I have some guarantees that it will reach a conclusion (but that's not always the case, I'm looking for you Haruhi Suzumiya). But if a series has a large volume count in Japan and the translated ones are published too slowly I might decide to not bother reading, because I don't like having to wait decades to catch up. Luckily, it's not the case with JNC.
The prime example of this would be a certain magical index, where the official translations are nearly 30 volumes behind and aren't showing any signs of catching up until a few decades after the series finishes
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I grew up preferring series over one-shots (Magic Tree House, Warriors, Land of Elyon, Harry Potter, Ranger’s Apprentice, Percy Jackson - the list goes on) and that holds true to this day. Anything less than three volumes and there’s a decent chance I’m not interested simply because there isn’t room to explore the sort of stuff I like to read; five volumes and onwards, I’m usually content; and I do love me some 10+ volume reading.
Of course, this is all under the prerequisite clause of said content being an enjoyable read. Whether it’s one volume or ten, I need to like what I’m spending my time on... it’s just that I like spending my time on more in-depth narratives.
(And on that note, give Bookworm a chance! Forget light novels, it’s one of my favorite book series ever. Of all time.)
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For most genres that I actually read, I don't mind long series at all (with the caveat that there be a proper end or conclusion to the story on the horizon). One important exception to this, however is the romance genre. I usually find that the longer a series with a major/main focus on romance goes on, the less and less focused it becomes, either repeating the same old tropes, or veering off into the territory of drama, which I don't tend to enjoy much, if at all.
Of course, series with a lot of filler often become a bore as well, and far too often, authors end up running out of ideas as the series keeps on going, causing a gradual decline in the quality of its storytelling. Far too many series end up overstaying their welcome, and far more authors should know when to give their series its final send-off.
It may be old fashioned of me, but I still hold The Lord of the Rings as the ideal when it comes to the length of a high quality novel (equivalent to about 10 light novel volumes), as well as how to write a satisfying ending; a nicely self-contained story, with a wider legendarium to dip into for those interested.
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I don't mind long series, but I think it's a problem if the length of the series means the character-count goes through the roof. As more and more people get introduced the story starts to drift all over the place and loses focus.
Infinite Dendrogram for example, was cool when it was just 'the adventures of Ray Starling', but now there's a hundred different characters each with unique powers and a hundred different factions and motivations. Even with the wiki it's hard to keep track of everything that's happening and it makes for a less enjoyable read.
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Bookworm in particular stands out among long series. The author has a story she wants to tell, and needs over thirty books to tell it at the level of details she wants to tell it.
That's different from most series, where the author has the start of a story and lets that start carry them for five books, and then wanders off unsure how to continue the story, forever inventing new plots that never seem quite as interesting as the original premise.
That said, both of these kinds of series are good. For the second kind, just be vigilant and drop the series once it stops being worthwhile to read. If there's 16 books in the series, you don't have to read all 16 - just read the good ones! With very few exceptions, a series' best books will be at its beginning.
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@vegangoth i really dont consider Bookworm a long series.
If you consolidate the Parts to a single book each it be like 5 books of a decent sized Novel.
Problem with Light Novel formats in japan is that they are limited to a set number of pages. which Bookworm kinda skips by splitting the parts into seperate volumes again.I've read novel series like "Sword of Truth" which is basically 22 Full Length Novels and Bookworm is short in comparison.
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I'd like to make sure we're on the same page regarding "length" of a volume/novel etc.
- Typically LN's are around 50,000 words
- @WaterDweller posits that LOTR series is ideal length for them (and I tend to mostly agree, it is a good benchmark) LOTR (including The Hobbit) is about 575,000 words- so about 10 or 11 LNs
- depending on whom you ask, a "novel length work" is between a minimum of 40,000 or 50,000 words (where some say 100,000 is the minimum) - to give an idea of scale- The Hobbit is just under 98k words about the same length as some of the Bookworm volumes (for example Part 2, Volume 2 is 91K words) and longer than either of the first 2 Harry Potter books (77K, and 85K respectively)- compare to A Dance of Dragons (5th in the series after Game of Thrones ) at a massive 415K!
- The length of a 'novel' isn't a standard and isn't just up to the author- publishers do market research and have input as to what price point will sell for what work, publishers and editors may advise an author to split longer works (or stretch shorter ones) to cater to the market.
So, to elaborate on my previous post and in light of the points above, my answer is "it depends".
As of now Bookworm has 27 volumes (plus 2 fan books) and I can't wait to read them all, Infinite Stratos, on the other hand, has had 12 volumes and I can't wait for it to be over! I would've like to have seen some definitive conclusion to the story...somewhere around volume 9. In comparison, The Extraordinary, The Ordinary, and SOAP! wraps up nicely with just 3 volumes, somewhere about 170K total words (and at a satisfying stopping point. The author could write another series in that setting/with those characters but the trilogy stands nicely on it's own) -
@jon-mitchell said in Longer series:
As of now Bookworm has 27 volumes (plus 2 fan books)
Just for reference, it's actually at 5 fanbooks (5th came out in November 2020), and at least 2 side story volumes that I'm aware of. Not counting other media like drama CDs which I know at least 2 exist.
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@ephidiel said in Longer series:
@vegangoth i really dont consider Bookworm a long series.
If you consolidate the Parts to a single book each it be like 5 books of a decent sized Novel.
Problem with Light Novel formats in japan is that they are limited to a set number of pages. which Bookworm kinda skips by splitting the parts into seperate volumes again.I've read novel series like "Sword of Truth" which is basically 22 Full Length Novels and Bookworm is short in comparison.
The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind (11 volumes): 2,761,170 words (3,643,650 including the sequels). and is literally one of the longest series (by word count) to ever be printed in the SF/F genre- maybe 5 or 6 series are longer.
Bookworm isn't completely translated yet, but the first volume (the shortest!) is about 86K words with most volumes being over 100K (long for an LN!)- could easily top Goodkind's original series length of 2.8M words (hardly short by comparison but that's just my opinion)
also regarding page count - yes, many LN's are limited to about 200 bunko sized pages (about 50,000 words, when translated)- Bookworm breaks the mold, omnibuses of each "part" would not be a 'decent sized novel' they'd be massive tombs of half a million words - likely over a thousand pages each, each "part" is a LOTR trilogy sized work!
Bookworm seems smaller (to me at least) because I consume it in weekly chunks, and each installment seems to be over too soon. Kudos the Quof and the editorial team to week after week output a quality translation and keep the pacing set up in such a way that each installment leaves me just a little bit hungry for the next bit. (note that installments of Bookworm are longer than most weekly prepubs, something like 10-12K words where most other LN installments are about half that size)
I don't want to go off on a tangent - yes JNC pls present longer works. Series of 10 volumes (500K words or so) with satisfying endings would be great. Add to the mix of epically long series like Rokojouma and Bookworm and more compact complete series like SOAP. I'd like fewer orphans, but I know that is difficult to predict.
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I usually don't really like overly long series because it often means it becomes somewhat repetitive (like Shield Hero or Grimgar).
I have absolutely no problem with it in Bookworms' case as it stay really good. -
The problem is it’s hard to tell when a long series will stay good or go bad, especially before you start reading it.
It’s a pretty big ask to commit to longer series when you are playing catch-up.
For instance I’m thinking of starting irregular at magic high school but am reticent because I know it’s like 30 volumes long and already has 18 or so released in English.
Yet bookworm is probably going to be as long but I wait for and read every weekly release because I’m reading concurrent with the releases, so it seems less daunting.
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@georgemto said in Longer series:
@jon-mitchell said in Longer series:
As of now Bookworm has 27 volumes (plus 2 fan books)
Just for reference, it's actually at 5 fanbooks (5th came out in November 2020), and at least 2 side story volumes that I'm aware of. Not counting other media like drama CDs which I know at least 2 exist.
And if you want to get technical, there is also an additional chapter at the end of each MANGA volume. Right now I'm just thankful that I have a job to support my Bookworm addiction...
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@jon-mitchell yes, Soap had a nice run that didn’t overstay it’s welcome. I’ve actually bought the first bookworm now to try it out I like the anime so I know I’ll like the novel.
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@cooper-cummings-gk5u8qq tbf the author for index is a monster who juggles index and a few other series. I think he also holds the record for most published books in a year or something
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@catstorm said in Longer series:
For instance I’m thinking of starting irregular at magic high school but am reticent because I know it’s like 30 volumes long and already has 18 or so released in English.
I've enjoyed Irregular. The anime did a good job without cutting out much, but there is some additional depth in the covered volumes. The story is in arcs of 1-3 volumes, so you can finish one arc and then wait as long as you want to read more.
The characters develop and there is progression of the story so as of volume 17 it doesn't seem repetitive to me.
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@harmlessdave I read Irregular through v18 in fan translations, and it seemed to continue developing without repeating there. I'm glad they've FINALLY got to V18 this year; I've been waiting 4 years now.
As for the anime not skipping much, I'm a bit disappointed that v8 was covered only as a few scenes in the opening of episode 1... :(
Like Invaders, I order each volume as soon as it's listed.
Personally, long series are something I never considered prior to getting in to manga and light novels. Even following a particular author through their variety of books didn't appeal to me.
But a decent anime makes you want to find out what's next. Invaders is that way, especially with wondering why Harumi and Kotorou fit so well into their roles for the play.
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@someoldguy well at least Vol 8 is getting it's own movie...
I love Mahouka but some of the characters dont act like themselves in the 20+ volumes (mainly 23 onwards) which is a bit disappointing
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I bit the bullet yesterday and went and bought the first 10 volumes, so let’s see how it goes.
