Longest science fiction story

[TomMazanec]

My nomination is the Kirov Saga, especially when it finally finishes:

https://www.amazon.com/Kirov-Series/dp/B088H1PS5L

 

[williamjm]

I've never read any of it but I've heard of the German Perry Rhodan series which consists of over 3000 (admittedly short) novels.

 

[BAYLOR]

Battlefield Earth by L Ron Hubbard 1050 pages.

 

[Bick]

Battlefield Earth by L Ron Hubbard 1050 pages.

Certainly not the longest Baylor. If you're thinking single volumes as opposed to series, then many books Peter Hamilton has written are longer.

 

[BAYLOR]

Certainly not the longest Baylor. If you're thinking single volumes as opposed to series, then many books Peter Hamilton has written are longer.

I read one book by Hamilton

But I did a little checking and yes , Im incorrect.

 

[hitmouse]

I've never read any of it but I've heard of the German Perry Rhodan series which consists of over 3000 (admittedly short) novels.

I read about 30 of these in the 1980s ( very cheap secondhand) and I would really not get too excited about them as a useful diversion. Equivalent to episodes of Star Trek rather than a coherent saga. Go for EC Tubb if you want an interminable story spread over multiple novels. For length and sheer weirdness Gor tales some beating ( so to speak.)

 

[tobl]

look your question is not complete. how do you avaliate? by number of volumes? pages?
honor harrington - 13 volumes + 7 or 8 inthe universe
gor - 35 volumes
kingkiller - 2 volumes of more than 2000 pages each
so what's the criteria?

 

[Bick]

kingkiller - 2 volumes of more than 2000 pages each

Or, in fact 675 and 1000 pages.
You raise a fair point though tobl - without criteria its hard to say. And does a self-pub interminable series (Kirov, suggested by OP) even count?

Gor and Kingkiller are fantasy, incidentally - OP asked for SF.

 

[hitmouse]

I think Gor is, debatably, SF dressed up as heroic fantasy.

 

[Danny McG]

I think Gor is, debatably, SF dressed up as heroic fantasy.

I would agree.

Humans abducted from Earth by flying saucers and taken to a hidden planet.
Kept at a low tech swordfighting status by big insect critters who continually monitor the planet, by satellites, and zap anybody who tries the most basic advancement.

 

[TomMazanec]

I know it's hard to get stats on this.
Kirov is 55 volumes going on 60.

 

[tobl]

I know it's hard to get stats on this.
Kirov is 55 volumes going on 60.

the stats are not the issue. it's your criteria

 

[TomMazanec]

Well, you can look at the page numbers on Amazon to get an idea of how long it is.
Or alternately is there some way of me getting the word count?
BTW, the author stated his is the longest WWII story, for what it's worth.

 

[tobl]

Well, you can look at the page numbers on Amazon to get an idea of how long it is.
Or alternately is there some way of me getting the word count?
BTW, the author stated his is the longest WWII story, for what it's worth.

ok, so you didn't get it.. i'm not saying that it's not the biggest. i'm just saying that to establish that you have to follow some criteria, either nº of volumes or number of pages. aldo neither of those are 100% certain (different editions might have different number of pages) , it's better than nothing.

 

[TomMazanec]

Well then I guess you are saying it’s unanswerable.

 

[tobl]

Well then I guess you are saying it’s unanswerable.

nope just you pick a criteria that's all

 

[Piman25]

Does Marienbad My Love by Mark Leach count? 17.8 million words.

"Exiled on a deserted island, a Christ-haunted journalist-turned-filmmaker attempts to persuade a married women from his past to help him produce a science fiction-themed pastiche to the 1960s French New Wave classic, Last Year at Marienbad. Through this act of artistic creation, he expects to carry out the will of God by prophesizing the death of time and the birth of a new religion. If only he can make the woman remember him."

 

[tobl]

Does Marienbad My Love by Mark Leach count? 17.8 million words.

"Exiled on a deserted island, a Christ-haunted journalist-turned-filmmaker attempts to persuade a married women from his past to help him produce a science fiction-themed pastiche to the 1960s French New Wave classic, Last Year at Marienbad. Through this act of artistic creation, he expects to carry out the will of God by prophesizing the death of time and the birth of a new religion. If only he can make the woman remember him."

what is that? this century idea of in search of the lost time?

 

[TomMazanec]

I suppose the number of words?
But how do I get the stats?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

The number of words would be a good criteria, except that I think it would be just about impossible to get that information in most cases. Page count, though not consistent in terms of actual length, might be a better way to go. Since this the kind of question that is just for curiosity, rather than anything important hanging on the answer, getting a rough idea of whose series is longest should be good enough, right? And if there is a significant difference between the series that are under discussion, then it wouldn't really matter that page count is not the most reliable criteria. If there is a small difference, then it would, but maybe we should see how the numbers stack up before we worry about small differences.