The Longest Book Series by Page Count (and How Long They Take to Read)

"How long is it?" is one of the first questions people ask about a long series, and the honest answer is usually a shrug. So we did the math. Using the page counts of the specific editions listed on BookList4u, we totaled every series in our catalog and estimated reading time at roughly 50 pages an hour, the same rule behind the estimate on each series page.

One caveat before the numbers: page counts depend on the edition. Mass-market paperbacks print more pages than hardcovers of the same book, so treat these as close estimates rather than exact word counts.

The 12 Longest Series in Our Catalog

Two Kinds of Long

The list splits into two kinds of long. Crime and romance series like In Death, Alex Cross and Jack Reacher get there by sheer number of books: entries average roughly 400 to 470 pages, read quickly, and mostly stand on their own. Epic fantasy gets there through size. The Wheel of Time averages over 800 pages a book, Outlander over 1,000 in the editions we list, and every main Stormlight Archive novel tops 1,000 pages.

The Longest Single Books

Measured by the editions we list, the biggest individual volumes are Diana Gabaldon's A Breath of Snow and Ashes (about 1,450 pages), Brandon Sanderson's Wind and Truth (about 1,340), Steven Erikson's Dust of Dreams (about 1,280), and Towers of Midnight from The Wheel of Time (about 1,260).

How to Actually Finish One

The difference between someone who finishes a fifteen-book series and someone who stalls at book four is rarely reading speed. It's pacing. Reading 30 minutes a day adds up to about 180 hours a year, enough for The Stormlight Archive with room to spare, or most of The Wheel of Time in about sixteen months.

For long-running mystery series, read the first few books in order and then dip in as the mood strikes. For epic fantasy, keep the gaps between books short, because those plots don't forgive a six-month break. Our guide to tackling a 20-book series covers pacing in more detail, and every series page shows our estimate alongside real reading times submitted by the community.