Epic Fantasy Word Count

I think many epic fantasy buyers (of which I am one) are secretly building their Fortress of Ultimate Darkness. Mighty tomes reeking of magic and persistence form good keystones.

As a consumer and knowing other consumers, I feel that the readers of epic fantasy like and want gigantic books. If you're going to have a secondary world might as well make it big enough to get lost in.

It can be too much at times, but if handled correctly it feels like value for money.

As far as I can remember nearly all the recent successful epic fantasy series come in at doorstop level, with 200,000 words almost a base line.

This link to a Fantasy Faction thread gives word counts for epic fantasy novels.

http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/fantasy-book-discussion/word-counts-of-epic-fantasy-novels/

As someone before had said, we may be able to cite the numerous, debut openers that clock in at word counts in the hundreds of thousands, but we don't know how many people are out there submitting books just as long that never get past the agent's desk, because they are full of fluff and drivel. And, let's be honest, even on the bookshelves, there are definitely a few books that could have been tightened. But I don't generally 'go for' the tomes. I like short stories. I first picked up 'The Wizard of Earthsea', one of my favourites now, simply because the edition was about as thick as my pointer finger.

But then, I suppose it depends on what you are looking for. I love epic fantasy, but I also love small casts with a lot of character. I'll take unanswered subtleties over a dramatic monologue any day. No reason you can't travel between three kingdoms, collect six gems, and defeat a dark lord in less than 90k. It just depends on what you focus on, or perhaps, what you don't.