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Suzerain of Sheol Suzerain of Sheol is offline
Desolation Denizen
Default Longest book you've ever read?   #1  
How long did it take you to read it, and as a corollary, did it need to be that long in your opinion?

I'm not positive, but I think Steven Erikson's The Bonehunters is the longest book I've ever read. Weighing in at 1,201 pages of fine print in paperback, it's pretty damned long. For comparison, I just sat it next to Martin's A Storm of Swords (another monstrosity) and it's half again as thick with the same dimensions. The book has to weigh close to two pounds.

Anyway, it took me probably a week and a half to read that the first time (I've read it three times). I tend to go really slow with Erikson, because his prose is so rich and rewarding and replete with foreshadowing.

And, in my opinion, it did need to be that long. The number of plotlines Erikson was juggling in that novel is incredible, and the way he weaves them in and out of each other is nothing short of marvelous. I think you could make a case for the book being split in half, as there's a massive climax in the middle, but the way it's structured, it works better, I think, as a cohesive whole.

What's kind of crazy about it is that the book actually feels fast-paced.

Anyway, let's hear about some other monstrous tomes, for good or ill.
Cold silence has a tendency
to atrophy any sense of compassion
between supposed lovers.
Between supposed brothers.
Old Posted 05-17-2011, 02:36 PM Reply With Quote