The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

Some sci fi authors are known to usually write long books, including Neal Stephenson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Dan Simmons, Peter F Hamilton, and Alastair Reynolds. Have you read any of these authors' works? Do you think reading longer works is worth it?

I haven't read any of these authors, but sometimes I do enjoy a really long read.

I have no trouble at all with long books, as long as they don't bore me. A short book can just as easy be boring as a long one.

I’ve read longish books by four of those authors (not Hamilton) and enjoyed them. I think reading longer works is often worth it, but I’m more careful about undertaking a long read than a shorter one, for the obvious reason that you need to invest more reading time and attention.

Natalie wrote: "Neal Stephenson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Dan Simmons, Peter F Hamilton, and Alastair Reynolds."

I read and enjoyed them all, even if I cannot say that any long book by them is a good one - but there is a similar diversity in smaller books as well

Leo wrote: "I have no trouble at all with long books, as long as they don't bore me. A short book can just as easy be boring as a long one."

So true!

Before I started on my quest to catch up with SF classics & H/N nominees, I was reading a ton of long books - the entirety of WoT, GoT, Hamilton's Night's Dawn & Greg Mandel trilogies, Simmons's horror books, Feist's endless Riftwar series (books of normal length but a long string of them), the first two books of the Mars trilogy. Afterwards, most of the long books I've read have been the longest books on the list of Hugo & Nebula nominees.

I generally enjoy a long book, where the many plot threads coalesce into one at the end. The stories inevitably flag at some point, but I don't have much problem working through that. Maybe I've chosen titles that have good reputations? I haven't ventured deeply into the epic fantasy worlds of authors such as Brandon Sanderson, Robin Hobb, Tad Williams & the like, though I have sampled Joe Abercrombie & like his work.

I agree, length depends on the author and story. But, I think those of us who read often, have more patience, as Allan refers to, and can handle a longer book that may have some slow sections.