Updated: 17 Mar 2012 – Added Janny Wurts latest, added Dorothy Dunnett
If you are curious, here some samples. The numbers are approximate and should omit indexes, appendices and stuff not directly belonging to the text itself.
Discrepancies are often due to the fact that Microsoft Word consider “it’s” like one word, instead my data is measured considering it as “it is”, so two words. This can usually add a +5-10k compared to “official” wordcounts.
Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien (revised to be in line with the rest)
The Fellowship of the Ring: 187k
The Two Towers: 155k
The Return of the King: 131k
Total: 473k
Wheel of Time – Robert Jordan
The Eye of the World: 305k
The Great Hunt: 267k
The Dragon Reborn: 251k
The Shadow Rising: 393k
The Fires of Heaven: 354k
Lord of Chaos: 389k
A Crown of Swords: 295k
The Path of Daggers: 226k
Winter’s Heart: 238k
Crossroads of Twilight: 271k
Knife of Dreams: 315k
Total: 3M 304k (official count)
New Spring: 121k
Brandon Sanderson takeover
The Gathering Storm: 303k
Towers of Midnight: 325k
A Memory of Light: 350k (tentative)
Total global: 4M 403k (official)
Stormlight Archives – Brandon Sanderson
The Way of Kings: 387k (official count)
A Song of Ice And Fire – George R. R. Martin
A Game of Thrones: 298k
A Clash of kings: 326k
A Storm of Swords: 424k
A Feast for Crows: 300k
A Dance with Dragons: 422k
Total: 1M 770k
Malazan Cycle – Steven Erikson & Ian C. Esslemont
Malazan Book of the Fallen – Steven Erikson
Gardens of the Moon: 209k
Deadhouse Gates: 272k
Memories of Ice: 358k
House of Chains: 306k
Midnight Tides: 271k
The Bonehunters: 365k
Reaper’s Gale: 386k
Toll the Hounds: 392k
Dust of Dreams: 382k
The Crippled God: 385k
Total: 3M 326k
Kharkanas Trilogy – Steven Erikson
The Forge of Darkness: 292k (very tentative)
Bauchelain & Korbal Broach novellas – Steven Erikson
Blood Follows: 22k
The Lees of Laughter’s End: 24k
The Healthy Dead: 23k
Crack’d Pot Trail: 51k
The Wurms of Blearmouth: 42k
Total novellas: 162k
Ian C. Esslemont:
Night of Knives: 88k
Return of the Crimson Guard: 278k
Stonewielder: 237k
Orb Sceptre Throne: 222k
Total: 825k
Total global: 4M 625k
The Second Apocalypse – R. Scott Bakker
Prince of Nothing Trilogy
The Darkness that Comes Before: 175k
The Warrior-Prophet: 205k
The Thousandfold Thought: 139k
Total: 519k
The Aspect-Emperor Trilogy(?)
The Judging Eye: 151k
The White-Luck Warrior: 202k
Solar Cycle – Gene Wolfe
The Book of the New Sun
Shadow and Claw: 197k
Sword and Citadel: 197k
The Urth of the New Sun: 117k
Total: 511k
The Book of the Long Sun
Litany of the Long Sun: 210k
Epiphany of the Long Sun: 270k
Total: 480k
The Book of the Short Sun
On Blue’s Waters: 130k
In Green’s Jungles: 127k
Return to the Whorl: 153k
Total: 410k
Total cycle: 1M 401k
The First Law – Joe Abercrombie
The Blade Itself: 194k
Before They Are Hanged: 200k
Last Argument of Kings: 236k
Total: 630k
Best Served Cold: 230k
The Heroes: 207k
A Land Fit for Heroes(?) – Richard Morgan
The Steel Remains: 146k
The Cool Commands: 171k
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever – Stephen R. Donaldson
The First Chronicles
Lord Foul’s Bane: 165k
The Illearth War: 180k
The Power That Preserves: 168k
Total: 513k
The Second Chronicles
The Wounded Land: 188k
The One Tree: 185k
White Gold Wielder: 186k
Total: 559k
The Last Chronicles
The Runes of the Earth: 236k
Fatal Revenant: 284k
Against All Things Ending: 270k
The Last Dark: 260k (not out yet, but first draft is similar to previous)
Total: 1050k
Total Cycle: 2M 122k
The Wars of Light and Shadow – Janny Wurts
Curse of the Mistwraith: 233k
Ships of Merior: 206k
Warhost of Vastmark: 156k
Fugitive Prince: 220k
Grand Conspiracy: 235k
Peril’s Gate: 300k
Traitor’s Knot: 220k
Stormed Fortress: 248k
Initiate’s Trial: 250k
(last two books yet to come out)
Total: 2M 68k
The Night’s Dawn Trilogy – Peter F. Hamilton
The Reality Dysfunction: 385k
The Neutronium Alchemist: 393k
The Naked God: 469k (!)
Total: 1M 247k
Baroque+Crypto – Neal Stephenson
Cryptonomicon: 415k
Quicksilver: 390k
The Confusion: 348k
The System of the World: 387k
Total: 1M 540k
The Dark Tower – Stephen King
The Gunslinger: 55k
The Drawing of the Three: 128k
The Waste Lands: 178k
Wizard and Glass: 264k
Wolves of the Calla: 251k
Song of Susannah: 131k
The Dark Tower: 288k
Total: 1M 295k
Lymond + Niccolò – Dorothy Dunnett
The Game of Kings: 205k
Queens’ Play: 195k
The Disorderly Knights: 230k
Pawn in Frankincense: 232k
The Ringed Castle: 235k
Checkmate: 273k
Total Lymond: 1M 370k
Niccolò Rising: 224k
Spring of the Ram: 220k
Race of Scorpions: 244k
Scales of Gold: 223k
The Unicorn Hunt: 269k
To Lie with Lions: 264k
Caprice and Rondo: 242k
Gemini: 307k
Total Niccolò: 1M 993k
Total Lymond + Niccolò: 3M 363k
Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace
- 575k
Chinese Classics
Dream of the Red Chamber/The Story of the Stone: 850k (rather approx.)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms: 700k (rather approx.)
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[...] But what’s that figure like for one user? I made you this graph, using figures from this website: [...]
[...] The longest so far is "The Shadow Rising" (394,000). In fact if you look here: http://loopingworld.com/2009/03/06/wordcount/ Most of the first volumes of these series' are around 200,000 words or [...]