Are novels a thing of the past?

[Brooks127]

Are novels a thing of the past? I ask this because so many people are reading trilogies.

[stahrwe]

By what definition are trilogies, or any book series for that matter, not novels?
I suppose that you mean that trilogies do not conform to a pattern of initiating and completing a story in one volume. That being said I suggest that does not have anything to do with the fate of the novel. In fact, one of the most iconic stories in history took two volumes to complete, yet either of them also is a novel in and of itself. I refer of course to The Iliadand The Odessy.

[Brooks127]

You are correct. A novel, to me, starts and ends, and the writer moves on to something new.

[Cattleman]

To me, a trilogy (or a duology or a quadrology) is one stoy spread over three (or so) volumes. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" comes to mind. A novel should stand or fall within its own covers.

Series novels to me are a hybrid, each seeming to stand alone, but carrying over characters and situations. Let's take a hypothetical series based on a policeman (or policewoman). In book one Hero meets Heroine while investigating a crime, which is solved. In Book Two, they fall in love, while solving a second crime. In Books Three and Four, they marry and have their first child, while solving yet more independent crimes. Are these 'novels'? I don't know.

[bionov]

I think that most readers like me prefer novels of 300 to 450 pages. Also, most publishers won’t accept novels over 100K to 120K words. I know there are exceptions, like James Michener whose novels average 900 pages. Therefore, it forces writers to create trilogies or a series to cover all the places and events that interesting characters will encounter.
Also, if a novel rambles on about too many events occurring all over the world, the main story line can be lost. This recently happen to me with my newest novel, “The True Virus”, which takes place in the Israel and Palestine. A publisher who was interested in my book, ask me to take advantage of everything that was happening in the Middle East and expand my novel. However, I felt this would distract from my main plot. I decided to take advantage of a possible series by using my Epilogue to have one of my CIA agents assigned to chase down a germ warfare scientist who had escaped to Iran. I resubmitted my revised manuscript, but haven’t heard back from that publisher.

[Brooks127]

I started my own epublishing business because I write novels and short fiction of varying lengths. It makes me wonder if a novel with a word count of 120k or larger would work better in an ebook format simply because the reader would not perceive they are reading a book that large.

[GaryG48]

I think that most readers like me prefer novels of 300 to 450 pages. Also, most publishers won’t accept novels over 100K to 120K words. I know there are exceptions, like James Michener whose novels average 900 pages. Therefore, it forces writers to create trilogies or a series to cover all the places and events that interesting characters will encounter.

I don't read many novels but the ones I have most enjoyed have been very long ramblers that I never want to end.

[FritzNordengren]

This is an interesting thread. I see a number of first authors who describe their first novel as "First in the ____ ____ series". Something or some workshop may be suggesting a series approach to self publishing success. Or perhaps the influence of some contemporary trilogies or series works is swaying the tastes of new authors? I think I tend to think like Cattleman, but its great to read other's thoughts too. As a reader I am sometimes drawn to a series as if I were being taken to a party by a friend, someone to help me navigate the new personalities. Henning Mankell's Wallander, for example.

[shuart24]

Actually, the trilogy is an older concept than you think. It arises out of the dramas of the Elizabethan Age which are usually presented in 3 part structures. When plays were banned these playwrights moved on to novels. Many of the earliest novels consist of three part structures. For example, Jane Eyre has three distinct parts, her experiences at the school, her experiences at the manor, and her trials after running away.

And series are nothing new. Most of the novels of the Victorian age are serials. It's just that back then a chapter sufficed as the next entry and today an entire book is required.