Supersize is the new default
Feb. 11th, 2009 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pbrayBack when vending machines dispensed eight ounce cups of soda or twelve ounce cans, and the adjective quarter-pounder was used to describe an extra large hamburger, it was common to see F&SF and mystery titles around 300 pages long, or about 75K. Think of Patricia McKillip's Riddle-Master of Hed series (originally three separate books), Sharyn McCrumb's early mysteries, or the even shorter books from the sixties and early seventies-- Marion Zimmer Bradley's first Darkover novels, Roger Zelazny's first Amber series, Gordon Dickson's original Dorsai novels, Dorothy Gilman's bestselling Mrs. Pollifax mysteries, etc.
But just as food portions (and waistlines) have expanded in recent decades, so too has the average size of a genre novel. 100K seems to be the new minimum standard, and fatter fantasy books are common.
Some of my favorite books are shorter novels from the past, yet when I recently purchased a 300 page hardcover, I'll admit to feeling cheated--as if I'd accidentally been given a lite beer. As I read the book, I agreed that the length was just right, but there's still that initial impression to get past.
Which makes me wonder, is there still a place for the 75K F&SF novel? Or have we grown so accustomed to doorstoppers that anything less feels a novella?
But just as food portions (and waistlines) have expanded in recent decades, so too has the average size of a genre novel. 100K seems to be the new minimum standard, and fatter fantasy books are common.
Some of my favorite books are shorter novels from the past, yet when I recently purchased a 300 page hardcover, I'll admit to feeling cheated--as if I'd accidentally been given a lite beer. As I read the book, I agreed that the length was just right, but there's still that initial impression to get past.
Which makes me wonder, is there still a place for the 75K F&SF novel? Or have we grown so accustomed to doorstoppers that anything less feels a novella?
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-12 05:38 am (UTC)The print was pretty small...
The version I have is the ACE paperback and it is ... *checks*...271 pages.
Gah.. why then did it feel so long? I'd guesstimate that it was around 110 k
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-12 01:08 pm (UTC)One of the things that is missing these days is the ability to tell dense stories-- I remember reading Zelazny's first Princes of Ambers series where every single word was important. Skip a sentence and you started to lose the story. Whereas there are many of today's fantasies where you can skip entire paragraphs, pages, even scenes, knowing that very little happened and whatever did will be rehashed later.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-12 01:30 pm (UTC)Speaking of the move away from densely-written books - doesn't that tie in directly with the trend of prolix novels, padded with extraneous detail?
Because I dislike flabby novels, I tend to write lean. Of course, I always end up writing too lean. :D
I'm baffled and slightly jealous when people complain about how they have no idea how they're going to cut their 200k first drafts.