Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
And therein lies the problem. Clunkers are just accepted as the norm in large multi-volume series. I'm not buying into it. I chuck a series when it becomes apparent that the author has more book than story. Which unfortunately seems to be the norm in epic fantasy.
And I love epic fantasy. I prefer stand-alone novels, but I'm still OK if they can wrap it up in two or three books and move on to something new. A Song of Ice and Fire was originally planned as a trilogy—and that was still the expectation when I was reading the first book in 1996.
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I can't disagree with that. Jordan had the same problem. I believe WoT was also originally set to be much shorter; maybe not a trilogy, but I think it was 7 books. And of course, that will double when the final installment comes out next year.
In that regard, I think Brandon Sanderson does a good job. He always seems to work from a certain outline, and knows exactly how his books will proceed. And, of course, his output is remarkable.
Out of interest, who are some of your favourite Fantasy authors right now? Any recommendations? What about stand-alones? I haven't read a lot of those.
For me, my favourite is currently Joe Abercrombie.