How Long Do You Think a Sci-fi Novel Should Be?

[JSWolf]

This is as silly a question as how long is a line?

[Apache]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Long enough to reach the ground was one reply to that question.

I think it would be the only one.
Apache

[John F]

Originally Posted by Apache

I think it would be the only one.
Apache

Long enough to reach the top shelf in the grocery store.

[bluepeter]

Originally Posted by Apache

Asking how long a book should be is like asking how long your legs should be.
Apache

Well, that's an easy one to answer: about six inches (or fifteen centimentres, if you prefer) longer than they are.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by bluepeter

Well, that's an easy one to answer: about six inches (or fifteen centimentres, if you prefer) longer than they are.

Well, certainly longer than the (false) 12" Subway!

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This is as silly a question as how long is a line?

A more interesting question is: How long is a line that is easy for a reader to digest?

A single line can be too long. Some authors can write a very long line and it remains readable, but it is quite hard to do, and some authors are particularly good at it. Like Banks, for example. But most authors are generally good at writing medium length sentences.

So I argue the same is true of SF books. There is a generally optimum length for a book with a tight narrative. In this context, "tight narrative" parallels a sentence that is easy to digest. Long books, like long sentences, are harder to pull off, without becoming a meandering sprawl.

Of course, some readers enjoy a meandering sprawl, myself included at times. But I am speaking _generally_.

[arjaybe]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Well, certainly longer than the (false) 12" Subway!

I saw foot-longs advertised at 25% off, making them 9 inches.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Well, certainly longer than the (false) 12" Subway!

Subway rolls (subs) don't qualify as bread in Ireland as the sugar content is too high. You get far better "made while you wait" filled bread rolls in many convenience / mini-supermarkets in Ireland.

[JSWolf]

In the US, we have a competitor to subway call D'Angelo's. You get nicer bread, and the subs are made for you a lot more fresh then sitting in a tray getting stale.

[Sirtel]

"Bread" is black or dark brown, made from rye. White bread is not bread where I live, it has a separate word for it.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

I saw foot-longs advertised at 25% off, making them 9 inches.

[Courant]

I think the question is more dependent on the subgenre. Sci Fi is really broad and often just refers to the setting and not the type of plot. If Sci Fi has a lot of world building it might be longer. Romance tends to be shorter. A sci fi thriller could also be shorter. What is important is that it is well written and doesn't have fluff. A 200 page book can feel longer than a 400 page one if poorly written.

[DuskyRose]

I'm always wary of this kind of question, because I saw it a lot on fanfic lists. Too many times they'd come back with questions on how to 'pad' the word count, so that they can brag about how large their stories are.

I hate padding in what could be a good story.

For me, a good story is as long as it needs to be. A great story is exactly as long as it should be.

[JSWolf]

There is one story that has zero words and just the title.

There's also a horror story that has 2 sentences and 25 words.

[bcholfin]

Originally Posted by bluepeter

I'm not bothered. It should be as long as the subject requires, and no longer. I'll read as long as it keeps me engaged.

I remember reading Stranger in a Strange Land in 1975. That was the version as originally published, with about 400 pages. When the unedited version (about 650 pages) was published (late '80s? early '90s?), of course I read it. In my view, the extra length added nothing but more words. Sadly, my copy of the original, shorter, version was lent to a friend and destroyed in a house fire. And it is, as far as I know, no longer available and is therefore irreplaceable.

Given how popular that book was, there's probably a lot of older copies floating around. I read it in the early 1970s too. It was one of the books that convinced genre publishers that there was a market for longer novels. When James Michener's Shogun was published, the publisher didn't even know if it could be bound in a single volume. It was, and was a *huge* bestseller.

When I was working at Tor in the 90s, there was no mandate about length, but there was an expectation that for certain types of 'commercial' fantasy (i.e., Tolkein-derivative) that bigger was better, sales-wise. For myself, I liked leaner fiction, and recall that trying to get writers to make substantial cuts could be painful. I work in academia now, it is less painful.