小说与文学2015theguardian.com
奇幻小说必须摆脱“超长篇”的暴政
Fantasy must shake off the tyranny of the mega-novel
导读
这篇书评文章批评奇幻文学被超长系列小说（mega-novel）绑架，主张作者根据想法大小选择短篇、单本或有限卷数系列。对写作者的价值在于：它把“写多长”从身份问题变成结构问题，提醒你用合适体量承载世界构建和叙事。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
先判断故事体量：小点子写短篇或中篇，中等想法写单本，史诗级构想才动用长篇系列。
- 02
可以用“相互关联的独立小说”或“三部曲”来承载共享世界观，避免让读者为追更反复重读。
- 03
不要默认长篇才严肃；短篇和短中篇能锤炼密度、完成度和叙事效率。
- 04
若系列跨越多年出版，尽量在每个单本或每三部曲内收束核心情节，降低读者的遗忘成本。
HN 评论精选
篇幅应匹配想法体量：小点子写中篇，中等写单本，史诗才写长篇系列。
我认为回应文章更准确：宏大的想法和史诗级世界观需要大量篇幅。布兰登·桑德森是很好的例子（也反驳原文）：小想法写成中篇（Legion、Emperor's Soul），中等想法写成单本（Elantris、Rithmatist、Warbreaker），史诗想法才写成大长篇系列（Mistborn、Way of Kings）。这些都很好。
kbutler查看英文原文
I think the response is more accurate - that big ideas and epic world-building require a lot of space. http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/may/20/fantasy-imaginary-worlds-george-r-r-martin-robin-hobb And I would cite Brandon Sanderson as a good example (and good counter-example to the original article) - smaller ideas get novellas (Legion, Emperor's Soul), medium-sized ideas get novels (Elantris, Rithmatist, Warbreaker), epic ideas get large novels in series(Mistborn, Way of Kings). All excellent, by the way...
短篇往往密度更高、质量更稳，也更适合忙碌读者，值得写作者重视。
我从小在本地图书馆随手抓书读；十几岁后期发现科幻奇幻短篇圈，是巨大惊喜。不知为何，也许是确认偏误，但我的经验是短篇的写作质量往往比长篇小说或系列高得多。短篇现在是我最喜欢的作品类型之一，我也倾向先读短篇，因为更容易挤出时间。如果你之前只接触已出版长篇，真的值得去看看。Tor.com 免费且收藏很好；Clarkesworld 和 Asimov's 收费订阅但完全值。
mklim查看英文原文
I grew up just reading whatever I could pull off the shelf from my local library—finding the SFF short story scene in my late teens was a huge and welcome discovery. Not sure why, and it could just be confirmation bias, but in my experience the quality of writing in short stories tends to be a lot higher than the writing in a novel, or series. Short form has some of my favorite works now, and I tend to read that first since it's much easier to make time for. It's really worth looking into it if you've only been exposed to published novels before. Tor.com is free and has a great collection. Clarkesworld and Asimov's both charge subscription fees but are completely worth the price.
超长系列会增加读者的重读和记忆负担；有限三部曲或关联独立小说更可持续。
我已完全放弃读多卷史诗。要么坚持明确的三四本系列（即一开始就叫三部曲），要么像 Iain M. Banks 的 Culture 系列那样写相互关联但独立的小说。主要问题是我懒得重读前作；但奇幻人物密集，我必然会忘掉很多人物和情节，不重读就会完全迷失。三部曲通常没这问题，最后一本往往不用重读，或重读也快。可一旦你写五六本以上的巨型系列，我就很恼火。以 George RR Martin 为例，我还没读最新一本，就因为上一两本出版间隔五年、六年；这期间我几乎忘光。第一次间隔后我重读过，但绝不再来一次。有些成功作者能写大世界、大故事而不掉进巨型小说系列的泥潭，比如 Iain M. Banks 的独立 Culture 小说，或 Terry Pratchett 的 Discworld。
adwf查看英文原文
I've completely given up on reading multi-volume epics. Either stick to a defined 3 or 4 novel series (ie. call it a trilogy from the start), or go with a series of interconnected, but standalone, novels like Iain M Banks Culture books. The major problem I find is that I just can't be bothered to re-read the previous books. Yet inevitably, I will have forgotten a lot of characters and plot (particularly with character dense fantasy), and must re-read or be completely lost when reading the new book. This isn't really a problem with trilogies, usually I don't need to re-read at all for the final book, or even if I do it's relatively quick. But the moment you start writing huge, 5-6+ novel series I get very annoyed with authors. Take George RR Martin for example. I still haven't read the latest book, simply because there was a 5 year gap, then a 6 year gap between publications of the last two. During that time, I've nearly completely forgotten what went on in the books. I re-read after the first gap, but I'll be damned if I'm doing it again... There are successful authors who manage to write large, interesting worlds/stories without needing to descend down into the muck that is the mega-novel series. Like Iain M Banks with his standalone Culture novels that form a coherent world over time. Or Terry Pratchett, with the Discworld.
共享世界观可以延续，但单个故事应在有限单元内收束。
就形式而言，我欣赏 Raymond E. Feist 的 Riftwar Cycle 那种一系列相互关联的三部曲：保留宇宙和一些人物，但每个三部曲结束时故事收束。或者 Fritz Leiber 的 Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser 短篇，就是两个角色的单独冒险。一个不断延续的宇宙（如果你非要叫它“franchise”或“IP”）显然有吸引力，但这不意味着要花几十年讲同一个故事。
TillE查看英文原文
In terms of format, I appreciate something like Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Cycle, where you have a series of connected trilogies. You carry over the universe and some of the characters, but the story is tied up at the end of each trilogy. Or Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser short stories, which were the individual adventures of those two characters. There's something obviously appealing about a universe (a "franchise" or "IP", if you must) which goes on and on, but that doesn't mean spending decades on a single story.
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