Is 109,000 words to long for a YA/ adult fantasy novel?
The problem I'm having is that I'm thinking it's to long. But I can't edit any more out otherwise the story line is going to be way to fast paced or important plot threads are going to be missed, which is going to ruin the book and the sequel.
Thanks for any useful help :)
So the YA summery put out makes sense, but i have no idea where people get these fantasy word count averages. Seriously, below are some of the word counts of fantasy books -
FIRST LAW (Abercrombie, Joe)
The Blade Itself - 191,200
Before They Are Hanged - 198,300
Last Argument of Kings - 234,100
Best Served Cold - 227,700
The Heroes - 203,400
Red Country - 172,100
A Little Hatred - 187,200
The Trouble With Peace - 195,000
RED RISING (Brown, Pierce)
Red Rising - 140,940
Golden Son - 165,735
Morning Star - 189,950
Iron Gold - 203,435
Dark Age - 295,510
CODEX ALERA (Butcher, Jim)
Furies of Calderon - 172,000
Academ's Fury - 182,990
Cursor's Fury - 178,205
Captain's Fury - 170,085
Princeps' Fury - 153,845
First Lord's Fury - 208,655
MALAZAN (Erikson, Steven and Esselmont, Ian)
Gardens of the Moon - 226,635
Deadhouse Gates - 296,525
Memories of Ice - 382,075
House of Chains - 305,225
Midnight Tides - 270,135
The Bonehunters - 365,400
Reaper's Gale - 382,365
Toll the Hounds - 382,945
Dust of Dreams - 376,130
The Crippled God - 394,545
THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN (Gwynne, John)
Malice - 224,895
Valor - 207,060
Ruin - 246,210
Wrath - 203,290
WHEEL OF TIME (Jordan, Robert)
The Eye of the World - 310,191
The Great Hunt - 260,353
The Dragon Reborn - 243,574
The Shadow Rising - 385,413
The Fires of Heaven - 345,954
Lord of Chaos - 395,135
A Crown of Swords - 287,719
The Path of Daggers - 222,844
Winter's Heart - 238,825
Crossroads of Twilight - 264,669
Knife of Dreams - 314,106
The Gathering Storm - 296,226
Towers of Midnight - 325,998
A Memory of Light - 361,158
A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE (Martin, George R. R.)
A Game of Throne - 296,901
A Clash of Kings - 321, 676
A Storm of Swords - 414,792
A Feast for Crows - 296,989
A Dance with Dragons - 413,202
POWDER MAGE (McClellan, Brian)
Promise of Blood - 165,455
The Crimson Campaign - 174,435
The Autumn Republic - 168,635
Sins of Empire - 176,500
Wrath of Empire - 189,000
Blood of Empire - 190,000
KINGKILLER CHRONICLES (Rothfuss, Patrick)
The Name of the Wind - 259,000
The Wise Man's Fear - 395,000
MISTBORN (Sanderson, Brandon)
The Final Empire - 210,103
The Well of Ascension - 244,371
The Hero of Ages - 225,372
STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE (Sanderson, Brandon)
The Way of Kings - 386,470
Words of Radiance - 398,238
Oathbringer - 454,440
Rhythm of War - 459,629
And so many more. I don't know where the idea that 100-120k is normal. Maybe 150k, but there are LOTs and LOTs of examples of 200k+
If I were you, I wouldn't worry much.
And Anthony seems to have summed up everything! :D
Book 1 of my YA Fantasy is 99k trimmed down from 107k.
Anthony's right. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
If the text is already as tight and economical as you can make it, and every sentence counts, then the agent will notice that rather than the word count :)
Debbie x