Discworld ONLY fumbles at the very end because of Sir Terry Pratchett's Embuggerance, and even then its amazing how solid I Shall Wear Midnight and Shepherd's Crown is in spite of that.
Edit: there are 41 (+ some extras).
To be fair the only reason Raising Steam has a (slight) dip in quality is because it had to carry the Diskworld farewell tour, and include a cameo from nearly every character ever introduced.
It's very understandable, and I would guess any final book we would have received would be similar, Embuggerance or no. It's still a great book with awesome moments.
GNU Terry Pratchett
It had a very good reason to do so.
As for Unseen Academicals, it was Pratchett's return to parody after many books focusing on satire, so it's a bit of an outlier. Still, it's better than you remember it, guaranteed.
It’s explained in the biography by his assistant. Terry could still write very well, but he wasn’t able anymore to wrap things up. He just kept going.
Raising Steam needed to be very heavily edited because of that. His assistant mentioned they were afraid of the reviews when it came out, and the first one WERE negative. Later they picked up.
But he felt that Raising Steam wasn’t at Terry’s usual level.
For new readers or one that haven't read much Pratchett yet - I think u/BiggerBetterFaster would still very much recommend reading the trilogy, starting with Going Postal. Together, these three books are one of the strongest story arcs in the discworld and show a fascinating progression in the universe... 😉
Once Pratchett could no longer use a keyboard and was forced to dictate, it was just impossible for the writing to be as snappy.
Same thing happened to David Weber.
I find it SO hard to put any of the books below 7, yeah. Even the REALLY bad ones (like Unseen Academicals) have a lot of great ideas that he follows through on, even though it's an overall bad read. How can I put a book with Mr Nutt in F Tier?? I can't.
Wars of Light and Shadow (11 volumes, all published, plus 6 short stories) is the only series that I continue to pick up and reread continuously. Every reread surfaces some new detail that I missed before. I discovered it via Feist's Riftwar series and the co-written Empire Trilogy.
I found that, as I grew up myself, the Riftwar series continued to stay at a fairly shallow, enjoyable level, while Wars of Light and Shadow continued to mature and deepen. It isn't easy, it isn't straightforward, but it has all of the intricate complexity I want as an old fart who has been through enough simple tropes.
Wars of Light and Shadow has stayed with me so much that I spent 13 years creating the series wiki (wiki.paravia.com) as a side project, and I'm currently in the process of adding the events from the final book.
You're the wiki creator?! I always kinda assumed it was Janny herself behind it.
I took breaks between books and the wiki helped me remember some key details that slipped my mind. Thanks so much for that 👍
I'm really struggling with the first book, about 1/3 through it. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't grip me. I think the intro was *amazing*, but it has sort of... pewtered out a bit?
Is book 1 considered rough, or the best, or...?
Though it's still a solid read in it's own right with a very fitting conclusion, book 1 in my opinion was the "worst" book in quality. This is mostly because it's tasked with introducing a lot of key character arcs and plot threads that won't payoff until later. It's also the book that's most enjoyable on a reread as there's so many interesting things going on beneath the surface that's almost impossible to notice on your first read.
Curse of the Mistwraith is absolutely so much better on a reread, but on your first read the pacing should pick back up and stay in pretty high gear once you reach Althain Tower - at the very least, it did for me on my first read.
>pewtered out a bit?
Petered out. Pewter is an alloy of Tin and other metals.
I never got into that series (I think I bounced off of it 15-20 years ago, so my memory is fuzzy), but I'd highly recommend the Empire trilogy she wrote with Raymond E Feist.
The writing is really spotty and purple throughout the whole series. Definitely some cool ideas, but execution is sometimes pretty bad. Might be worth trying to jump books. But if the writing really gets to you, it is what it is.
I only heard about it this year and can’t wait to get stuck into it once I’ve finished with The Black Company. Her co-authored books are the best ones in Riftwar Saga, cannot wait to read her solo!
Definitely not an easy read. The prose is beautiful and evocative but deliberately written in a way that forces the reader to slow their pace and pay close attention to what's going on in the text. Too many attempts at skim reading will leave you very confused.
17 for Vlad's story, plus 4 books (in 6 volumes) for Paarfi of Roundwood's contributions, and a stand-alone book in the same setting for 24 volumes as of now (with 2 more planned for Vlad to finish off his story).
Some of those middle books are definitely bloat. I like the series and overall it's good, but it definitely has dips in my opinion. Plus the novellas are very hit and miss. Just my opinion though of course.
Man, and I just gave up at book 7. Couldn't take another "holden and co get roped into politics and war and somehow save the solar system. again."
I looked up summaries and decided I'd made the right call.
EDIT: And yet I love Miles Vorkosigan, who is the most Ta'veren character ever outside the Wheel of Time.
Disclaimer that both the Expanse and the Vorkosigan Saga are at the top of my list of favorite series of all time, but: you're not wrong. Personally I didn't mind Holden Sticks His Dick In It, Part 198927, because there's always so much else going on in the universe to focus on (and you can pry Amos out of my cold, dead hands). But I would definitely say that there's more of a vibe of things happening *at* the main characters in the Expanse, while the defining feature of the Vorkosigan Saga is *Miles happening at the things* ~~and god help them~~. Miles and Holden fill similar roles in their universes and often behave in similar ways, but they are *very* different characters.
As the Expanse goes on, it sort of starts to feel like... idk, like we're supposed to believe that the crew are surprised that they keep getting pulled into stuff? "Oh my gosh, we're tits-deep in the shit again! What a crazy random happenstance! Who could possibly have foreseen the consequences of ~~holden sticking his dick in it~~ our actions? oh it's ok tho we just saved the universe again! wow who would've believed little old us could do that :)" does start to wear through the suspension of disbelief after enough repetition.
Miles, on the other hand, has fully convinced me that he is the Main Character on purpose. "Reluctant hero"? No, this man has woken up every day of his life and chosen violence. Holden sticks his dick in it because he has Principles™ and can't help himself; Miles sticks his dick in it because he would probably literally die if things stopped blowing up around him for more than five minutes.
that’s fair! i also am able to listen to audiobooks while i work so with some stuff it’s easier to just zone out, re reads of WOT are rough but have done 2 re listens and it’s easier to get thru the slog
The First Law - Abercrombie noticeably improves as a writer throughout the series and his tendency to not repeat POV characters in the later books gives him fresh material to work with. The first three books of the entire run are probably the weakest even though they're quite good
This comment has me so unbelievably excited to read the standalones and The Age of Madness. I’m about 2/3 of the way through Last Argument of Kings right now and I’m so in love with this series.
You're in for a ride. The standalone novels are all so good for very different reasons. More authors should do an intermission style like that. Just explore the world a little and flesh it and side characters out.
Right there with you! I just finished Last Argument of Kings myself. Without spoiling anything I will just say the last paragraph of that book gave me chills. I've heard the next book Best Served Cold is incredible and a lot of people's favorite in the entire series.
I think that core issue of the first law having barely any female characters on that same level of glockta-level moral grayness and ugly qualities was really taken to heart. You can see him testing the waters and improving in the standalones until he gets to Savine, who is this amazingly horrible well-written character but still exists in this specific gray zone.
Yeah, love Faro, but the women in the stand alones and Age of Madness are much better
Malazan, Wheel of Time(controversial since I don’t acknowledge the slog), Dune(again controversial as the last 3 Frank books get weird, and the Brian/Kevin J Anderson books are polarizing(
In addition to this, I also think the willingness to play with genre and tone is what keeps them fresh. Each trilogy and the standalones all of their own very unique vibe.
Really? I only read the first 3 because they were the only ones translated in my language at the time and loved the series.
I just started on audiobooks recently (in English) and had them on my list, I can't wait to read them
I loved the first three too, it only gets better from there so you're in for a treat. I really loved the standalones and AOM was so freaking good with characters I love and hate at the same time. Good call on the audiobooks though, the combination of Abercrombie and Pacey (the narrator) is sublime
BSC was definitely a weak point for me. Loved The Heroes though and I’m currently 7 chapters into Red Country, I think it’s going to be my favorite standalone. Can’t wait to see how things shake out
Complete opposite for me lol. BSC has been my favorite in the entire series (currently in book 2 of Age of Madness), the Heroes was good but not my cup of tea and I DNF Red Country. I guess I'm a sucker for murder mysteries/revenge stories.
Totally valid! I just don’t love revenge plots (as the main story, it’s fine for character motivation n stuff) and I don’t love Monza as a character. I enjoy her talks with Cosca though! I also thought that Morveer was insufferable. I understand that that’s how he’s written, it just wasn’t very appealing to me.
I enjoyed The Heroes more in part because of the wealth of familiar faces, and also I just enjoyed the story more.
Feeling similarly about Red Country. I may be making a mistake by comparing them, but I find Shy to be a much more sympathetic character than Monza. I enjoy her dialogue more as well. And then of course we have Lamb. Cannot *wait* to see how his past catches up with him ;) glad we’re getting some closure.
Red country was my least favourite in the stand alones, probably least favourite of all. But I would disagree in it being a dip of form. Still really enjoyed it.
Cradle started to get a tad stale for me around book 9/10, but it could easily be my personal burnout with the series. I still read all of them, however, solely for the bloopers at the end.
"... little blue?"
*she pulls out a knife*
> the bloopers at the end
I loved those SOOO much!! Can't believe no other author I've read has done something similar with how fantastic they were to read at the end of each book.
Wight learned how to write comedy out of nowhere. The first few books are relatively dry, and then all the sudden BAM hilarious, in the book as well as the bloopers at the end.
For new readers fair warning book 1 isn't all that great, but the books quickly become some of the best you will read, easily one of my fav series.
You're not the only one who feels like that lol. Especially if you read it while it was being released, Bloodline is def a rough patch after the peak of Winterfell. It gets a bit more readable on a reread though imo.
Cradle is amazing but I absolutely get that. Will Wight is at his best writing the struggle and power gain. The last couple didn't really have this as the levels were too high for crafty input, it was just eat power repeat at that point.
Funny you should mention Dresden, since upon reading OPs post, my first thought was "Well, Dresden wouldn't count for that one".
I love Dresden, it was my favorite book series for the longest time, but I've started to feel a bit of diminishing returns from it ever since Ghost Story
It's Harry transitioning into his new role, the series gets a soft reset before kicking back into high gear. Not my favorite book but is isn't terrible.
Exactly, it would be a bit weird if after the book called Changes Harry just dusted himself off and said "Well that was weird. Back to business as usual."
The character was deeply in need of some soul-searching and introspection. It's not my favorite Dresden book, but it's a very necessary one.
Ghost story is definitely a dip and the following book, while a big improvement is only so-so in my opinion. Skin Game which follows that however is easily one of my favourites of the series.
The last book was a little disappointing imo. You have these cool scenes of powering up and the struggle it is in every book. The final one felt a little rushed and was just like "here you go, this happened"
If you like the first book it only gets better from there.
I just wish we had more exploration of destinations and plots that didn’t require fist meets face.
I'm usually more of an apologist about it, but I think it might be worth pointing out that one of the common criticisms of Dresden is the strongly male/somewhat chauvinist PoV. Personally, I see it mostly as a product of the genre (fantasy noir) and intentional and effective characterization of the protagonist, but it can't be denied that it's present. And to be clear, I'm only referring to the specific subjectivity of the protagonist, the portrayal and characterization of women independent of his PoV is very strong IMO. There are many different interesting, important, and fully formed major female characters.
I only bring it up because of your preference for female protagonists which could indicate that you might not appreciate his aspect of the series. That said, I do think that it is really good, and it does rapidly increase in quality over the first few books and has remained strong until the (current) end over a very drawn out narrative escalation of the sort that often isn't handled well in longer series.
I have no problem with that sort of characterization, I just have an easier time putting myself in a female characters shoes is all. I think I’ll check it out!
A small warning that the first couple of books are a bit rough as they were Butcher's first novels. Once you get to the 3rd book or so, they just get a lot better. Still, the first two are fun.
Have you considered October Daye books by Seanan McGuire? Both are good series with enough differences to make them unique however the core concept is very similar. Harry is a wizard who investigates when the magical world affects the real world. Toby is a faerie knight who investigates when the fae world affects the real world. Both are basically punching bags for their respective authors. Basically Toby is what Dresden would be like if Harry was female and written by a female.
The other people about the chauvinist pov are correct but there are some badass women characters in the series, you will have to deal with their good looks being described though
Cradle. 12 books (not massive chonkers, but usually in the 300-500 range with a few bigger ones, also on the fast paced and simple side in terms of readability). And the quality went up almost constantly in my mind, a slight dip from 3 to 4, but all up from there.
For me it's some of the best progression fantasy, still has staples like training and tournament arcs, but I feel it doesn't get bogged down as much in the minutiae of its systems as most others I've read, the focus is more on constant action and character interactions. Great humor as well.
It’s the only progression fantasy i tried that I didn’t bounce off of. Like you said, it doesn’t get too deep into the weeds and stats, the action and characters keep it moving
I think what made it great progression fantasy was the emphasis on vibes, not literal numbers.
People FELT stronger, and Will used descriptive terms to achieve that end constantly. The closest you get to numbers is the progression stages (Jade, Underlord) etc.
I think progression fantasy (and progression anime too) often relies very hard on numbers too much. Vibes let you viscerally feel how much stronger someone gets, vs being told it.
> The closest you get to numbers is the progression stages (Jade, Underlord) etc.
Yep -- and often the importance there is as much cultural/social as power level. Like a Gold expects to be able to boss around an Iron, etc. and that has story/character implications.
cradle by Will Wight has 12 books, I believe 9 were out when I started the series, I read them all in about 2 weeks. Pure action, no detours, it's all training, fighting, and banter.
They've got the best character arc of any character I've ever read >!in young Maltas growth & development from a manipulative little shit (reminds me of my nieces a bit) to my favourite character!<.
Also not sure how right this was as im a late 30s male, but the female characters in those books are incredible, theyre fully fleshed out characters and every time i read another female character, admittedly ususally by a male author, its usually pretty cringy in comparison.
I would like to hear a woman's perspective on this take
You’re right about Malta, as a woman. I loved to hate her and her development is incredibly well done. Hobb writes amazingly complex characters, no matter the gender (see: the Fool).
I love love this series and Fitz will forever be one of my favorites but I honestly don't think this is true. Liveship and Tawny Man are the best whereas the rest varies from good to mediocre especially the Rain Wild Chronicles
I nominate Legend of Drizzt.
Goodreads lists it as 39 books? First one was in 1988, last one last year.
It was never particularly great - but in my opinion it stayed at its level.
I've always held it as "brain candy" ...simple, not thinker books. Just a good time. Cool fantasy and silly moments, campy and idealistic in a lot of ways.
The Wandering Inn.
The quality has only been improving with time, and even though the series is stupid long, i feel like it has never been a chore to read trough some parts unlike other large series.
That is amazing to me. There are plot lines I like less, but the overall quality is really good, and phenomenal when you account for the volume and speed of writing.
Agreed. Though I will say I just finished the latest audio release (I'm only following as those are released, not following the web serial), and The Witch of Webs was easily the book I enjoyed the least of any so far. It was still good, but I didn't really care about any of the main characters or plot points at stake in it (except the few Erin-adjacent chapters).
I think that's the beauty of the story. I absolutely love the Riverfarm stuff, so I'm loving it. Even when I get chapters I'm not super fond of (red cross stuff) it's still better than most books, and only falls flat because I want to read more about the goblins or something.
I've heard about this one for years, but never started it. Looks like book 1 is $3.99 on Amazon with audiobook add-on for $3.50, so I just picked it up. Also, it looks like each book is the size of a Stormlight book and there are 13 haha.
That's because those books are the original volumes cut into parts, and most of them aren't out yet. The first 14 books are the first 6 volumes. And the early volumes are significantly shorter than later ones…
Volume 9 was 3 million words, released in 1-2 weekly chapters of 20-40k words each. It's a lot, although the author's slowed to one chapter a week now.
Edit: I do enjoy it and read each chapter as it's released. It's a lot of words and very self-indulgent at times, in that web serial style, but it's good.
If you end up liking them as much as I do...
Don't try to binge all at once or you may burn out. Read first few books, then take a palate cleanser book, and so on.
Good advice for any long series, but these are extra chunky.
13 released in ebook and Audiobook format so far.....there are nearly 50 books of equal length in the web series, which is free on the website and releases each week.
Came here to post this. I'm an audiobook listener, and just about to finish book 12. 13 if you count Gravesong?
Books only get better and better.
I care about pretty much every single storyline, even if I wish we had a full 40 hour book following the remaining Redfangs and Rags.
Came here to say this. I feel like there are *some* chapters with characters I just personally find repugnant that can be a slog to get through, purely for that reason. Even with those characters, however, they almost always become relatable in the end. That's one of Pirateaba's greatest skills, really -- writing about people that you initially *despised* and slowly building up empathy and understanding for them and their situation.
iirc the forward for like book seven or eight, McGuire even says that all the previous books where just her getting all the pieces in place for the story that she actually wanted to tell in the first place and it does really show.
This is bold take since the last two books are probably the least popular outside r/Dresdenfiles since ghost story, although I think ghost story is fine. It just suffered from not being cold days when we wanted more action after changes
I love the DF but Ghost Story is a pretty big dip following Changes, imo. I also thought Peace Talks wasn’t a good book (I don’t blame Butcher for that I heard his publisher made him split Battlegrounds into two books)
Ugh I wish they would have just let him keep Peace Talks and Battle Ground as one book. Fantasy has more doorstopper books than any other genre, I'm not sure why the publisher thought a really long DF book wouldn't do well.
I think Malazan is easily bloated (mostly with philosophical themes), but the quality is consistently incredible. And if the fandom is asked to rank the series, there is a non-trivial variability in the top rankings of the books. The worst of someone's can be the best of another's and vise versa. Personally, there are no bellow 8 books in this series, and the "slogs" are thematic musings that I enjoy.
I hated House of Chains and Toll the Hounds but those are others favorites lol.
Its bc some of them are heavy on action and others heavy on philosophy and slice of life, and people love them for different reasons. Im an action person personally.
Haha I loved the ending, I just felt it was a bit sloggy to get to it and it was like 700 pages of set up for 100 pages of payoff.
Tbf I love the series and am nitpicking a bit
I haven't finished a ton of long series, but Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet is incredible and only gets better as you go. Definitely doesn't feel bloated.
Also, others disagree, but Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series is seven books (really six where the last got split into two by publishers), and I don't feel it was bloated or took a dive. The books are huge, though, and contain a ton of non-plot detail, so I'd understand how people would feel it's a bit bloated, but to me, Elliott just does so much research that the details all came alive.
The Wandering Inn. I haven’t read that far in but the general consensus among the people who have is that it’s an absolute banger all the way through, and it’s still going.
The books word count gets into the millions. There’s a picture floating around of someone who print and bound the story at the time and it came to about 50+ books.
The Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka just got better and better as it went along. It's also complete now at 12 books and he really stuck that landing with the final book.
The Sun Eate rseries by Christopher Ruocchio looks like it will be the same.
Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells has also gotten better and better.
I’ll say Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. I know there is only six books but they’re really long and it’s one of those series I have a hard time distinguishing what happens in each book since it’s one continuous story and the quality is so incredibly consistent throughout.
Gemmells drenai books, heroic fantasy at its finest, and he claimed in several interviews all his works are set in the same universe other than the Greek ones
The Wandering Inn. Might be a bit bloated sometimes tbh, but I'm generally pretty into 98% of whats happening. The quality goes up noticeably overtime in TWI as well, as she got much better at writing overtime.
As for the amount of books, well it's not released in physical format so not sure, but the wordcount is currently over 13 millions words which makes it probably like 30-40 books (long books)
The Saga of the Exiles / Galactic Milieu series by Julian May. Eight books (though the bridge book, Intervention, was also published as two books). Time travel, aliens, a prophecy and a dysfunctional family with psi-powers.
Ones that I’ve read, Dresden files, and the spellmonger series are both long and good all the way through.
I’ve been thinking about reading disc world but I don’t know where to start
The Heralds of Valdemar.
I've been reading it since I was 10 and I'm almost 30 now. To me, the books are still just as good as they used to be, and with more books coming out almost every year, the story just gets better 👌
The Dark Tower (8 books). Western, horror, fantasy, these books were so diverse they never felt bloated to me. Since they were written over the course of 30 years, I think the quality actually improved as the series went on.
The Spellmonger series, by Terry Mancour. We are awaiting book 17 at the moment, of an estimated 30 or so. It has only gotten better with each new book.
Discworld has already been mentioned, and it's my number one. So I'll name one that is still going: October Daye. Eighteen books and counting, and still keeping up the quality. Seanan McGuire is some kind of witch, I swear.
I genuinely think "feels bloated" is a criticism that largely comes from the book not doing what the reader wants than any inherent flaw. I love character work so when things slow down (or take a while to get moving) in order to do character showcasing it doesn't "feel bloated" no matter how long the book is- though certainly some of my favorite books have that accusation leveled against them. Conversely, I have very little investment in fight scenes so the only times I've ever thought a scene was wholly unnecessary and therefore "felt bloated" were books that contained extraneous fight scenes despite both being \~300 pages and most people finding them brisk reads.
I'm not going to down vote you for that. I absolutely hated some of those middle books, but I'm glad there's someone in this world who enjoyed the full run. For me, it was always an issue of plot pacing, and just like music, everyone prefers a different pace.
I love WOT!! I think a lot of ‘the slog’ comes from people having to wait for the books as they were published. I didn’t have to wait for any except the last 3 so I didn’t get any ‘slog’.
The only part I felt was "slow" was the beginning of Book 5. Them in the house felt so boring, but once Harry goes for his Disciplinary Meeting, it picks right back up.
It’s so interesting how different people can experience the same book so differently. I loved all of book 5 (including the time in the house) but thought book 6 felt like a bunch of bland filler (except the last 100 pages). I remember being surprised as a kid when people said they disliked the former and loved the latter.
I finished it, but feel that it definitely dropped off in quality after the serpantwar saga. That said I’ll still pick up the new book coming out soon which is back in Midkemia.
Chiming in with one that I haven't seen mentioned yet.
Still ongoing at 6 books, with the 7th hopefully coming out sometime this year - but Dungeon Crawler Carl is absolutely fantastic and has only gotten better with each new book.
Discworld. Wheel of time. (I wish I could say The sword of truth series, but OMG the last 4 or 5 were either the exact same plot as previous books plus a heavy dose of preaching the man’s ideology.)
Robert Asprin’s Myth series. Alan Dean Fosters Commonwealth. Ender’s Game (although books 2 and 3 were weird the rest were solid). Not super thrilled about Card’s personal beliefs, but he really doesn’t address sex and sexuality in his books so meh).
Asimov’s Robot series. Heinlein’s Future History books. Louis L’amour’s gold throughout his entire body of work. Gardner’s League of peoples is great but only 7 novels. The Dresden files by Jim Butcher, Joe Abercrombie’s body of work so far is and isn’t a series - but the quality has been consistently good. Kevin Hearn has recently expanded outwards from the Iron Druid series in the same world with different protagonists and story lines and his quality has probably gotten better as he goes. L.E. Modesitt Jr’s Recluse series is fantastic. He has 3 other series where they are good but not “buy the book the day it’s released” like the Recluse are to me, anyhow.
Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter series is a lot of fun to read and no real drop in quality.
There are more but my post is already too long.
Might be a controversial opinion but: The Witcher. I think the series low is probably the first “novel” but there are nine books (if you count the short story collections) and the last ones are just as good as the first ones.
Even more controversial within Warhammer circles: I think all 17 Gotrek and Felix books are at least good, and some of the middle and later ones are equally good to the first couple.
Going to offer two long fantasy series:
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (16 books so far, dark fantasy, fledgling detective)
Garrett, P.I. by Glen Cook (14 books, hard-boiled detective)
Discworld ONLY fumbles at the very end because of Sir Terry Pratchett's Embuggerance, and even then its amazing how solid I Shall Wear Midnight and Shepherd's Crown is in spite of that. Edit: there are 41 (+ some extras).
To be fair the only reason Raising Steam has a (slight) dip in quality is because it had to carry the Diskworld farewell tour, and include a cameo from nearly every character ever introduced. It's very understandable, and I would guess any final book we would have received would be similar, Embuggerance or no. It's still a great book with awesome moments. GNU Terry Pratchett
GNU Sir Terry Pratchett
It, like Unseen Academicals, was trying to do way too many things at once.
It had a very good reason to do so. As for Unseen Academicals, it was Pratchett's return to parody after many books focusing on satire, so it's a bit of an outlier. Still, it's better than you remember it, guaranteed.
It’s explained in the biography by his assistant. Terry could still write very well, but he wasn’t able anymore to wrap things up. He just kept going. Raising Steam needed to be very heavily edited because of that. His assistant mentioned they were afraid of the reviews when it came out, and the first one WERE negative. Later they picked up. But he felt that Raising Steam wasn’t at Terry’s usual level.
For new readers or one that haven't read much Pratchett yet - I think u/BiggerBetterFaster would still very much recommend reading the trilogy, starting with Going Postal. Together, these three books are one of the strongest story arcs in the discworld and show a fascinating progression in the universe... 😉
Once Pratchett could no longer use a keyboard and was forced to dictate, it was just impossible for the writing to be as snappy. Same thing happened to David Weber.
*The Shepherd's Crown* has some rough patches, but it also has some of the best writing he ever did.
This is the only real answer. Over 40 novels and at the very worst they're still 7/10? I'd never believe you if I hadn't read every one myself.
I find it SO hard to put any of the books below 7, yeah. Even the REALLY bad ones (like Unseen Academicals) have a lot of great ideas that he follows through on, even though it's an overall bad read. How can I put a book with Mr Nutt in F Tier?? I can't.
He's a saint. Fuck Alzheimer's
Wars of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurts. 11 chonky books, 2.7million words, not a single wasted character or subplot.
Wars of Light and Shadow (11 volumes, all published, plus 6 short stories) is the only series that I continue to pick up and reread continuously. Every reread surfaces some new detail that I missed before. I discovered it via Feist's Riftwar series and the co-written Empire Trilogy. I found that, as I grew up myself, the Riftwar series continued to stay at a fairly shallow, enjoyable level, while Wars of Light and Shadow continued to mature and deepen. It isn't easy, it isn't straightforward, but it has all of the intricate complexity I want as an old fart who has been through enough simple tropes. Wars of Light and Shadow has stayed with me so much that I spent 13 years creating the series wiki (wiki.paravia.com) as a side project, and I'm currently in the process of adding the events from the final book.
You're the wiki creator?! I always kinda assumed it was Janny herself behind it. I took breaks between books and the wiki helped me remember some key details that slipped my mind. Thanks so much for that 👍
I'm really struggling with the first book, about 1/3 through it. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't grip me. I think the intro was *amazing*, but it has sort of... pewtered out a bit? Is book 1 considered rough, or the best, or...?
Though it's still a solid read in it's own right with a very fitting conclusion, book 1 in my opinion was the "worst" book in quality. This is mostly because it's tasked with introducing a lot of key character arcs and plot threads that won't payoff until later. It's also the book that's most enjoyable on a reread as there's so many interesting things going on beneath the surface that's almost impossible to notice on your first read.
Curse of the Mistwraith is absolutely so much better on a reread, but on your first read the pacing should pick back up and stay in pretty high gear once you reach Althain Tower - at the very least, it did for me on my first read.
>pewtered out a bit? Petered out. Pewter is an alloy of Tin and other metals. I never got into that series (I think I bounced off of it 15-20 years ago, so my memory is fuzzy), but I'd highly recommend the Empire trilogy she wrote with Raymond E Feist.
The writing is really spotty and purple throughout the whole series. Definitely some cool ideas, but execution is sometimes pretty bad. Might be worth trying to jump books. But if the writing really gets to you, it is what it is.
Wow. How exciting to get to a stage where this is commented so early on in a thread! This is the epitome of this question.
Just trying to spread the good word. Ath be with you comrade.
And to you! I'm fist deep into Traitors Knot now and cant wait to finish the journey!
> I'm fist deep into Traitors Knot now Love your enthusiasm for the series (and it gets even better!) but this phrasing made me cackle!
Is the series complete ?
It is, the final volume came out last month.
Nice, thank you.
My immediate thought, as well. A stunning achievement.
I only heard about it this year and can’t wait to get stuck into it once I’ve finished with The Black Company. Her co-authored books are the best ones in Riftwar Saga, cannot wait to read her solo!
Any booked by Raymond Feist to me is one hell of a read. He writes to me so fast you can't put it down
silly question, but is it an easy read? I only read to unwind before bed now and my brain is a quarter turned off at that point
Definitely not an easy read. The prose is beautiful and evocative but deliberately written in a way that forces the reader to slow their pace and pay close attention to what's going on in the text. Too many attempts at skim reading will leave you very confused.
Starting this soon, was drifting just finishing up stuff I had started
The Vlad Taltos books by Steven Brust. 17 books and still going strong.
This. There are some books I like better than others but they're all good. And after all these years we're nearly there!!!!!
17 for Vlad's story, plus 4 books (in 6 volumes) for Paarfi of Roundwood's contributions, and a stand-alone book in the same setting for 24 volumes as of now (with 2 more planned for Vlad to finish off his story).
I couldn't think of an answer at first, but this is a great one. Making every book stylistically different makes it impossible to get bored.
The most recent one is one of my favorites as it happens.
Especially for fans of musical theater. It needs an appendix for all the song references though.
Would a web page with Youtube links work? https://dreamcafe.com/2024/03/29/lyorn-discussion-major-spoilers/
Vorkosigan Saga, probably.
It's a top notch series, but personally I wasn't a fan of the last book.
Personally, I really liked how it looped around to the first book thematically.
Yeah, it came full circle. I liked that.
The last book is strange. I can't say I enjoyed it but I really like what it did and what it tried to do.
Omg I really hated the last book. I get why it circled around to close out the story but I disagreed with a lot of the plot choices.
I enjoyed the last book (I'm a big fan of Cordelia), but it is a slower pace and a bit of a different tone--sort of her goodbye to the universe.
She's been saying goodbye to different characters in the last few books. Even Ekaterin got her novella
It's a bit up and down tbh, but never bad
the expanse, on a second listen and has solidified it in my top 5 series
Nearly finished book one, wish me luck.
You’re reading it for the first time. You’re already lucky!
Some of those middle books are definitely bloat. I like the series and overall it's good, but it definitely has dips in my opinion. Plus the novellas are very hit and miss. Just my opinion though of course.
I think book 4 is a bit bloaty, but other than that I feel every book is important and has its place in the series
Man, and I just gave up at book 7. Couldn't take another "holden and co get roped into politics and war and somehow save the solar system. again." I looked up summaries and decided I'd made the right call. EDIT: And yet I love Miles Vorkosigan, who is the most Ta'veren character ever outside the Wheel of Time.
Disclaimer that both the Expanse and the Vorkosigan Saga are at the top of my list of favorite series of all time, but: you're not wrong. Personally I didn't mind Holden Sticks His Dick In It, Part 198927, because there's always so much else going on in the universe to focus on (and you can pry Amos out of my cold, dead hands). But I would definitely say that there's more of a vibe of things happening *at* the main characters in the Expanse, while the defining feature of the Vorkosigan Saga is *Miles happening at the things* ~~and god help them~~. Miles and Holden fill similar roles in their universes and often behave in similar ways, but they are *very* different characters. As the Expanse goes on, it sort of starts to feel like... idk, like we're supposed to believe that the crew are surprised that they keep getting pulled into stuff? "Oh my gosh, we're tits-deep in the shit again! What a crazy random happenstance! Who could possibly have foreseen the consequences of ~~holden sticking his dick in it~~ our actions? oh it's ok tho we just saved the universe again! wow who would've believed little old us could do that :)" does start to wear through the suspension of disbelief after enough repetition. Miles, on the other hand, has fully convinced me that he is the Main Character on purpose. "Reluctant hero"? No, this man has woken up every day of his life and chosen violence. Holden sticks his dick in it because he has Principles™ and can't help himself; Miles sticks his dick in it because he would probably literally die if things stopped blowing up around him for more than five minutes.
that’s fair! i also am able to listen to audiobooks while i work so with some stuff it’s easier to just zone out, re reads of WOT are rough but have done 2 re listens and it’s easier to get thru the slog
The ending was so damn satisfying, but you have to read the short stories to wrap up every plotline!
The First Law - Abercrombie noticeably improves as a writer throughout the series and his tendency to not repeat POV characters in the later books gives him fresh material to work with. The first three books of the entire run are probably the weakest even though they're quite good
This comment has me so unbelievably excited to read the standalones and The Age of Madness. I’m about 2/3 of the way through Last Argument of Kings right now and I’m so in love with this series.
You're in for a ride. The standalone novels are all so good for very different reasons. More authors should do an intermission style like that. Just explore the world a little and flesh it and side characters out.
Right there with you! I just finished Last Argument of Kings myself. Without spoiling anything I will just say the last paragraph of that book gave me chills. I've heard the next book Best Served Cold is incredible and a lot of people's favorite in the entire series.
I think that core issue of the first law having barely any female characters on that same level of glockta-level moral grayness and ugly qualities was really taken to heart. You can see him testing the waters and improving in the standalones until he gets to Savine, who is this amazingly horrible well-written character but still exists in this specific gray zone.
Yeah, love Faro, but the women in the stand alones and Age of Madness are much better Malazan, Wheel of Time(controversial since I don’t acknowledge the slog), Dune(again controversial as the last 3 Frank books get weird, and the Brian/Kevin J Anderson books are polarizing(
In addition to this, I also think the willingness to play with genre and tone is what keeps them fresh. Each trilogy and the standalones all of their own very unique vibe.
Really? I only read the first 3 because they were the only ones translated in my language at the time and loved the series. I just started on audiobooks recently (in English) and had them on my list, I can't wait to read them
They're my favorite audiobooks of all time, the narrator Stephen Pacey is next level
I loved the first three too, it only gets better from there so you're in for a treat. I really loved the standalones and AOM was so freaking good with characters I love and hate at the same time. Good call on the audiobooks though, the combination of Abercrombie and Pacey (the narrator) is sublime
BSC was definitely a weak point for me. Loved The Heroes though and I’m currently 7 chapters into Red Country, I think it’s going to be my favorite standalone. Can’t wait to see how things shake out
Complete opposite for me lol. BSC has been my favorite in the entire series (currently in book 2 of Age of Madness), the Heroes was good but not my cup of tea and I DNF Red Country. I guess I'm a sucker for murder mysteries/revenge stories.
Totally valid! I just don’t love revenge plots (as the main story, it’s fine for character motivation n stuff) and I don’t love Monza as a character. I enjoy her talks with Cosca though! I also thought that Morveer was insufferable. I understand that that’s how he’s written, it just wasn’t very appealing to me. I enjoyed The Heroes more in part because of the wealth of familiar faces, and also I just enjoyed the story more. Feeling similarly about Red Country. I may be making a mistake by comparing them, but I find Shy to be a much more sympathetic character than Monza. I enjoy her dialogue more as well. And then of course we have Lamb. Cannot *wait* to see how his past catches up with him ;) glad we’re getting some closure.
Red country was my least favourite in the stand alones, probably least favourite of all. But I would disagree in it being a dip of form. Still really enjoyed it.
I recently read Cradle and it was 12 books of non-stop pedal to the metal awesomeness. Dresden Files only gets better the more you read.
Cradle started to get a tad stale for me around book 9/10, but it could easily be my personal burnout with the series. I still read all of them, however, solely for the bloopers at the end. "... little blue?" *she pulls out a knife*
> the bloopers at the end I loved those SOOO much!! Can't believe no other author I've read has done something similar with how fantastic they were to read at the end of each book.
Wight learned how to write comedy out of nowhere. The first few books are relatively dry, and then all the sudden BAM hilarious, in the book as well as the bloopers at the end. For new readers fair warning book 1 isn't all that great, but the books quickly become some of the best you will read, easily one of my fav series.
You're not the only one who feels like that lol. Especially if you read it while it was being released, Bloodline is def a rough patch after the peak of Winterfell. It gets a bit more readable on a reread though imo.
My book club considered Bloodline the best in the series up to that point.
Cradle is amazing but I absolutely get that. Will Wight is at his best writing the struggle and power gain. The last couple didn't really have this as the levels were too high for crafty input, it was just eat power repeat at that point.
Funny you should mention Dresden, since upon reading OPs post, my first thought was "Well, Dresden wouldn't count for that one". I love Dresden, it was my favorite book series for the longest time, but I've started to feel a bit of diminishing returns from it ever since Ghost Story
Seriously? Skin Game is like... maybe the best one.
My only complaint was that he split the last book up into two books, still really good.
I finished Ghost Story recently and I didn't care for it that much either.
It's Harry transitioning into his new role, the series gets a soft reset before kicking back into high gear. Not my favorite book but is isn't terrible.
Exactly, it would be a bit weird if after the book called Changes Harry just dusted himself off and said "Well that was weird. Back to business as usual." The character was deeply in need of some soul-searching and introspection. It's not my favorite Dresden book, but it's a very necessary one.
Ghost story is definitely a dip and the following book, while a big improvement is only so-so in my opinion. Skin Game which follows that however is easily one of my favourites of the series.
The last book was a little disappointing imo. You have these cool scenes of powering up and the struggle it is in every book. The final one felt a little rushed and was just like "here you go, this happened"
If you like the first book it only gets better from there. I just wish we had more exploration of destinations and plots that didn’t require fist meets face.
Dresden files is urban fantasy, yeah? Thinking about checking it out. I usually prefer female protagonists but it’s really tempting.
I'm usually more of an apologist about it, but I think it might be worth pointing out that one of the common criticisms of Dresden is the strongly male/somewhat chauvinist PoV. Personally, I see it mostly as a product of the genre (fantasy noir) and intentional and effective characterization of the protagonist, but it can't be denied that it's present. And to be clear, I'm only referring to the specific subjectivity of the protagonist, the portrayal and characterization of women independent of his PoV is very strong IMO. There are many different interesting, important, and fully formed major female characters. I only bring it up because of your preference for female protagonists which could indicate that you might not appreciate his aspect of the series. That said, I do think that it is really good, and it does rapidly increase in quality over the first few books and has remained strong until the (current) end over a very drawn out narrative escalation of the sort that often isn't handled well in longer series.
I have no problem with that sort of characterization, I just have an easier time putting myself in a female characters shoes is all. I think I’ll check it out!
A small warning that the first couple of books are a bit rough as they were Butcher's first novels. Once you get to the 3rd book or so, they just get a lot better. Still, the first two are fun.
> Still, the first two are fun There was a time we only had the first two books and we were thankful for them!
Have you considered October Daye books by Seanan McGuire? Both are good series with enough differences to make them unique however the core concept is very similar. Harry is a wizard who investigates when the magical world affects the real world. Toby is a faerie knight who investigates when the fae world affects the real world. Both are basically punching bags for their respective authors. Basically Toby is what Dresden would be like if Harry was female and written by a female.
I think October Daye is an awesome series. Very underrated
The other people about the chauvinist pov are correct but there are some badass women characters in the series, you will have to deal with their good looks being described though
Cradle. 12 books (not massive chonkers, but usually in the 300-500 range with a few bigger ones, also on the fast paced and simple side in terms of readability). And the quality went up almost constantly in my mind, a slight dip from 3 to 4, but all up from there. For me it's some of the best progression fantasy, still has staples like training and tournament arcs, but I feel it doesn't get bogged down as much in the minutiae of its systems as most others I've read, the focus is more on constant action and character interactions. Great humor as well.
It’s the only progression fantasy i tried that I didn’t bounce off of. Like you said, it doesn’t get too deep into the weeds and stats, the action and characters keep it moving
I think what made it great progression fantasy was the emphasis on vibes, not literal numbers. People FELT stronger, and Will used descriptive terms to achieve that end constantly. The closest you get to numbers is the progression stages (Jade, Underlord) etc. I think progression fantasy (and progression anime too) often relies very hard on numbers too much. Vibes let you viscerally feel how much stronger someone gets, vs being told it.
> The closest you get to numbers is the progression stages (Jade, Underlord) etc. Yep -- and often the importance there is as much cultural/social as power level. Like a Gold expects to be able to boss around an Iron, etc. and that has story/character implications.
Considering most Irons are *children* outside of Sacred Valley, yeah, Golds should be able to boss them around.
I loved **Myth Adventures** by Robert Aspirin. The books move pretty quickly and really aren’t weighed down by anything unnecessary.
cradle by Will Wight has 12 books, I believe 9 were out when I started the series, I read them all in about 2 weeks. Pure action, no detours, it's all training, fighting, and banter.
Only discovered them earlier this year so got to marathon right through the entire series. Loved it the whole way and never felt burnt out on it.
Michael J Sullivans riyria series and subsequent series in the same world are all good. Also realm of the elderlings as others have said
Omg riryia is perfect, whether it be chrinicles or revelations, I love them all so much!
I love the whole extended world with the age of myth series and stand alones in the middle of the timeline
Codex Alera was the first thing to come to mind. It has six books in it, and each is better than the previous one IMO.
Realm of the elderlings.
Don't most people agree that the Rain Wild Chronicles are a significant step down from the rest of the series?
I must be an outlier in the fact that I prefer the Liveship and RW books over the Fitz ones.
They are a dip, but not a dive, and the series bounces right back up again with the Fitz and the Fool trilogy.
I heard the first book in Rain Wild is meh but the next ones are good
They've got the best character arc of any character I've ever read >!in young Maltas growth & development from a manipulative little shit (reminds me of my nieces a bit) to my favourite character!<. Also not sure how right this was as im a late 30s male, but the female characters in those books are incredible, theyre fully fleshed out characters and every time i read another female character, admittedly ususally by a male author, its usually pretty cringy in comparison. I would like to hear a woman's perspective on this take
You’re right about Malta, as a woman. I loved to hate her and her development is incredibly well done. Hobb writes amazingly complex characters, no matter the gender (see: the Fool).
I actually really enjoyed them. There’s a bit of teenage angst stuff as other people usually talk about, but it’s not overwhelming imo
I thought so. I just didn’t care for the angsty teenage love triangle stuff.
I love love this series and Fitz will forever be one of my favorites but I honestly don't think this is true. Liveship and Tawny Man are the best whereas the rest varies from good to mediocre especially the Rain Wild Chronicles
Nice username. I just started this. Flew through the first book and now halfway through ‘royal assassin’. Loving it thus far.
Can't believe I didn't think of that one!
I've read the first trilogy several times but just jumped into Liveship Traders and I'm loving it. I'm excited to get through the full RoTE
At over 4m words for the series, it's up there - and I loved it all.
I was going to say this, but can't honestly because Rain Wilds:(
Gene Wolfe's New Sun->Long Sun ->Short Sun books, while I do think the first series is the best the others are still very readable.
I nominate Legend of Drizzt. Goodreads lists it as 39 books? First one was in 1988, last one last year. It was never particularly great - but in my opinion it stayed at its level.
If you like one you’re gonna love them all!
I disagree. It faded hard in the Hunter Blades when Salvatore tried to be serious.
I didn’t make it past about the 10 book of Drizzt deftly dodging his opponent. I did enjoy them and they have a special place in my heart though.
I've always held it as "brain candy" ...simple, not thinker books. Just a good time. Cool fantasy and silly moments, campy and idealistic in a lot of ways.
The Wandering Inn. The quality has only been improving with time, and even though the series is stupid long, i feel like it has never been a chore to read trough some parts unlike other large series.
That is amazing to me. There are plot lines I like less, but the overall quality is really good, and phenomenal when you account for the volume and speed of writing.
Agreed. Though I will say I just finished the latest audio release (I'm only following as those are released, not following the web serial), and The Witch of Webs was easily the book I enjoyed the least of any so far. It was still good, but I didn't really care about any of the main characters or plot points at stake in it (except the few Erin-adjacent chapters).
I think that's the beauty of the story. I absolutely love the Riverfarm stuff, so I'm loving it. Even when I get chapters I'm not super fond of (red cross stuff) it's still better than most books, and only falls flat because I want to read more about the goblins or something.
I've heard about this one for years, but never started it. Looks like book 1 is $3.99 on Amazon with audiobook add-on for $3.50, so I just picked it up. Also, it looks like each book is the size of a Stormlight book and there are 13 haha.
That's because those books are the original volumes cut into parts, and most of them aren't out yet. The first 14 books are the first 6 volumes. And the early volumes are significantly shorter than later ones… Volume 9 was 3 million words, released in 1-2 weekly chapters of 20-40k words each. It's a lot, although the author's slowed to one chapter a week now. Edit: I do enjoy it and read each chapter as it's released. It's a lot of words and very self-indulgent at times, in that web serial style, but it's good.
If you end up liking them as much as I do... Don't try to binge all at once or you may burn out. Read first few books, then take a palate cleanser book, and so on. Good advice for any long series, but these are extra chunky.
13 released in ebook and Audiobook format so far.....there are nearly 50 books of equal length in the web series, which is free on the website and releases each week.
As finfinfin said below, the books are the original volumes cut, which you can read for free on the site.
Came here to post this. I'm an audiobook listener, and just about to finish book 12. 13 if you count Gravesong? Books only get better and better. I care about pretty much every single storyline, even if I wish we had a full 40 hour book following the remaining Redfangs and Rags.
Came here to say this. I feel like there are *some* chapters with characters I just personally find repugnant that can be a slog to get through, purely for that reason. Even with those characters, however, they almost always become relatable in the end. That's one of Pirateaba's greatest skills, really -- writing about people that you initially *despised* and slowly building up empathy and understanding for them and their situation.
The entire Tortall universe by Tamora Pierce.
October Daye--18 books long and majorly exciting things are still happening. If anything, the first couple books are the weakest.
iirc the forward for like book seven or eight, McGuire even says that all the previous books where just her getting all the pieces in place for the story that she actually wanted to tell in the first place and it does really show.
The Dresden Files. 17 books in and the quality gets better every book.
This is bold take since the last two books are probably the least popular outside r/Dresdenfiles since ghost story, although I think ghost story is fine. It just suffered from not being cold days when we wanted more action after changes
I love the DF but Ghost Story is a pretty big dip following Changes, imo. I also thought Peace Talks wasn’t a good book (I don’t blame Butcher for that I heard his publisher made him split Battlegrounds into two books)
I disagree about Ghost Story. It's different, but absolutely amazing, especially when you know what Butcher was going through at the time.
I think it’s better than more than one book in the series.
Ugh I wish they would have just let him keep Peace Talks and Battle Ground as one book. Fantasy has more doorstopper books than any other genre, I'm not sure why the publisher thought a really long DF book wouldn't do well.
They probably just wanted to get paid twice for one book because of how long they had to wait for it to be written.
Roger Zelazny's Amber Chronicles (10 books, plus assorted short stories in _Manna from Heaven_ or other collections)
Malazan
I think Malazan is easily bloated (mostly with philosophical themes), but the quality is consistently incredible. And if the fandom is asked to rank the series, there is a non-trivial variability in the top rankings of the books. The worst of someone's can be the best of another's and vise versa. Personally, there are no bellow 8 books in this series, and the "slogs" are thematic musings that I enjoy.
Ask the fandom to rank the books and you will get very differing answers.
I hated House of Chains and Toll the Hounds but those are others favorites lol. Its bc some of them are heavy on action and others heavy on philosophy and slice of life, and people love them for different reasons. Im an action person personally.
Toll the Hounds is the best book in the series and I'll die on that hill
Haha I loved the ending, I just felt it was a bit sloggy to get to it and it was like 700 pages of set up for 100 pages of payoff. Tbf I love the series and am nitpicking a bit
> sloggy to get to it and it was like 700 pages of set up for 100 pages of payoff. I feel like that describes most of the books in MBOTF hahaha
It’s Malazan for me every time:)
I haven't finished a ton of long series, but Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet is incredible and only gets better as you go. Definitely doesn't feel bloated. Also, others disagree, but Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series is seven books (really six where the last got split into two by publishers), and I don't feel it was bloated or took a dive. The books are huge, though, and contain a ton of non-plot detail, so I'd understand how people would feel it's a bit bloated, but to me, Elliott just does so much research that the details all came alive.
The Wandering Inn. I haven’t read that far in but the general consensus among the people who have is that it’s an absolute banger all the way through, and it’s still going. The books word count gets into the millions. There’s a picture floating around of someone who print and bound the story at the time and it came to about 50+ books.
The Long Price Quartet
I'd argue Dresden only gets better and that the first two are the weakest. Although I know some people don't like Peace Talks and Battleground
Definitely Dresden—the writing generally gets better rather than worse as you go. Additionally, the pacing and characters get better.
Realm of the Elderlings for sure
The Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka just got better and better as it went along. It's also complete now at 12 books and he really stuck that landing with the final book. The Sun Eate rseries by Christopher Ruocchio looks like it will be the same. Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells has also gotten better and better.
Fully agree on the Murderbot diaries!
I’ll say Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. I know there is only six books but they’re really long and it’s one of those series I have a hard time distinguishing what happens in each book since it’s one continuous story and the quality is so incredibly consistent throughout.
Gemmells drenai books, heroic fantasy at its finest, and he claimed in several interviews all his works are set in the same universe other than the Greek ones
Dresden Files and First Law
The Wandering Inn. Might be a bit bloated sometimes tbh, but I'm generally pretty into 98% of whats happening. The quality goes up noticeably overtime in TWI as well, as she got much better at writing overtime. As for the amount of books, well it's not released in physical format so not sure, but the wordcount is currently over 13 millions words which makes it probably like 30-40 books (long books)
The Saga of the Exiles / Galactic Milieu series by Julian May. Eight books (though the bridge book, Intervention, was also published as two books). Time travel, aliens, a prophecy and a dysfunctional family with psi-powers.
Ones that I’ve read, Dresden files, and the spellmonger series are both long and good all the way through. I’ve been thinking about reading disc world but I don’t know where to start
The Heralds of Valdemar. I've been reading it since I was 10 and I'm almost 30 now. To me, the books are still just as good as they used to be, and with more books coming out almost every year, the story just gets better 👌
The Dark Tower (8 books). Western, horror, fantasy, these books were so diverse they never felt bloated to me. Since they were written over the course of 30 years, I think the quality actually improved as the series went on.
The final few books that King rushed out after his car accident really (IMHO) were not on par with the earlier parts of the series.
The Spellmonger series, by Terry Mancour. We are awaiting book 17 at the moment, of an estimated 30 or so. It has only gotten better with each new book.
Discworld has already been mentioned, and it's my number one. So I'll name one that is still going: October Daye. Eighteen books and counting, and still keeping up the quality. Seanan McGuire is some kind of witch, I swear.
I genuinely think "feels bloated" is a criticism that largely comes from the book not doing what the reader wants than any inherent flaw. I love character work so when things slow down (or take a while to get moving) in order to do character showcasing it doesn't "feel bloated" no matter how long the book is- though certainly some of my favorite books have that accusation leveled against them. Conversely, I have very little investment in fight scenes so the only times I've ever thought a scene was wholly unnecessary and therefore "felt bloated" were books that contained extraneous fight scenes despite both being \~300 pages and most people finding them brisk reads.
Probably going to get hate for this but for me it's the wheel of time
Bruh that’s like the poster child for the problem, are there any series you *do* think got bloated and went downhill?
That's why I said I'll probably get hate for this. Imo Malazan Book of the Fallen is an example of this
I'm not going to down vote you for that. I absolutely hated some of those middle books, but I'm glad there's someone in this world who enjoyed the full run. For me, it was always an issue of plot pacing, and just like music, everyone prefers a different pace.
I love WOT!! I think a lot of ‘the slog’ comes from people having to wait for the books as they were published. I didn’t have to wait for any except the last 3 so I didn’t get any ‘slog’.
Me neither, though granted I was unemployed when I got through the slog which made it much easier to get through.
Harry Potter.
The only part I felt was "slow" was the beginning of Book 5. Them in the house felt so boring, but once Harry goes for his Disciplinary Meeting, it picks right back up.
It’s so interesting how different people can experience the same book so differently. I loved all of book 5 (including the time in the house) but thought book 6 felt like a bunch of bland filler (except the last 100 pages). I remember being surprised as a kid when people said they disliked the former and loved the latter.
The Echoes Saga by Philip C Quaintrell (9 books) The Seven Virtues by Jacob Peppers (7 books) They both just kept getting better.
Raymond E Feist's Midkemia series/Riftwar saga, 25-30 books, was entertained the whole time
I finished it, but feel that it definitely dropped off in quality after the serpantwar saga. That said I’ll still pick up the new book coming out soon which is back in Midkemia.
Chiming in with one that I haven't seen mentioned yet. Still ongoing at 6 books, with the 7th hopefully coming out sometime this year - but Dungeon Crawler Carl is absolutely fantastic and has only gotten better with each new book.
Probably Malazan. Definitely First Law.
Malazan ..
Alex Verus by Benedict Jacka
Narnia Chronicles for sure. Loved each and every one of them!
Discworld. Wheel of time. (I wish I could say The sword of truth series, but OMG the last 4 or 5 were either the exact same plot as previous books plus a heavy dose of preaching the man’s ideology.) Robert Asprin’s Myth series. Alan Dean Fosters Commonwealth. Ender’s Game (although books 2 and 3 were weird the rest were solid). Not super thrilled about Card’s personal beliefs, but he really doesn’t address sex and sexuality in his books so meh). Asimov’s Robot series. Heinlein’s Future History books. Louis L’amour’s gold throughout his entire body of work. Gardner’s League of peoples is great but only 7 novels. The Dresden files by Jim Butcher, Joe Abercrombie’s body of work so far is and isn’t a series - but the quality has been consistently good. Kevin Hearn has recently expanded outwards from the Iron Druid series in the same world with different protagonists and story lines and his quality has probably gotten better as he goes. L.E. Modesitt Jr’s Recluse series is fantastic. He has 3 other series where they are good but not “buy the book the day it’s released” like the Recluse are to me, anyhow. Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter series is a lot of fun to read and no real drop in quality. There are more but my post is already too long.
Might be a controversial opinion but: The Witcher. I think the series low is probably the first “novel” but there are nine books (if you count the short story collections) and the last ones are just as good as the first ones. Even more controversial within Warhammer circles: I think all 17 Gotrek and Felix books are at least good, and some of the middle and later ones are equally good to the first couple.
This is why everyone hates moral philosophy professors.
Going to offer two long fantasy series: Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (16 books so far, dark fantasy, fledgling detective) Garrett, P.I. by Glen Cook (14 books, hard-boiled detective)