Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: The Starmaker Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.physics.relativity,rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Re: Fat books Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2026 16:48:03 -0700 Organization: The Starmaker Organization Lines: 85 Message-ID: <6AD55AB3.5DA8@ix.netcom.com> References: <11amvqh$15f3n$1@dont-email.me> <6AD3C2CC.475F@ix.netcom.com> <11b1960$ot1n$1@dont-email.me> <11b3bsi$1gcuk$1@dont-email.me> Reply-To: starmaker@ix.netcom.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2026 23:48:01 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; logging-data="1678201"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+raA95q+LcEMC3mR02eTIHx0UN4sl9pYM="; posting-host="26d8b803eb2dc857292e6b05ac9ad2a4" Cancel-Lock: sha1:7DqCXWx0mZ9374YPGjJ/MQM76Ds= sha256:B4lOpXEzDiIpuQ9zsjKZCqXygXLXOgBhkRLHX6nC7hM= sha1:l0JyS3iEed8q0n0iPrEZxEwCNj0= sha256:cfC8NCWo+sWI9yXuh8j4M6E3CdedvIfdib/6lwLnoTs= X-Antivirus: Avast (VPS 261018-6, 10/18/2026), Outbound message X-Antivirus-Status: Clean X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.04Gold (WinNT; U) Xref: csiph.com alt.usage.english:1152519 sci.physics.relativity:674628 rec.arts.sf.written:661062 William Hyde wrote: > > Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson wrote: > > On 10/18/2026 9:59 AM, BobbieSellers wrote: > >> On 10/17/26 11:47, The Starmaker wrote: > >>> Peter Moylan wrote: > >>>> > >>>> I've griped about this issue before, but once again I find myself > >>>> annoyed. > >>>> > >>>> I was reading "Robots and Empire", by Isaac Asimov. This is possibly > >>>> the > >>>> worst novel Asimov ever wrote. As a story it's mostly well-told, but > >>>> the > >>>> padding and waffle are enough to irritate the most patient reader. > >>>> > >>>> Let me quote from Chapter 45. "I think you must either get to the > >>>> point, > >>>> Dr Mandamus, or leave." This is not the only such case. Many of the > >>>> characters in the book are incapable of getting to the point. They take > >>>> half a dozen pages to say something that could be put in one chort > >>>> paragraph. Get to the point, Dr Asimov. It's so bad that even the > >>>> characters in the story are complaining about the padding. > >>>> > >>>> A competent editor could have made this a much better book by > >>>> cutting it > >>>> to about one third of its length. > >>>> > >>>> I wonder whether this hurt Asimov's reputation. I've certainly seen > >>>> comments that his later (thick) books are not as good as his earlier > >>>> writing. > >>>> > >>>> It's not all his fault. Many other authors are as bad. They're used to > >>>> being paid by the page, and publishers are letting them get away with > >>>> it. Maybe publishers don't employ editors any more, and have given up > >>>> any attempt at quality control. There are some authors that I refuse to > >>>> read because their books are too thick. > >>>> > >>>> But surely, I tell myself, the publishers must have noticed that books > >>>> don't sell as well as they used to. Or do they? Am I the only person to > >>>> complain about this? > >>>> > >>>> -- > >>>> Peter Moylan      peter@pmoylan.org   http://www.pmoylan.org > >>>> Newcastle, NSW > >> > >>      Actually Peter Moylan is incorrect. Authors were paid > >> usually by the word from SF magazines back in the 1940s. The > >> best author were not necessarily prolix. > >>      In the case of JRR Tolkien the published cut the > >> Lord of the Rings from one big fat book to a Trilogy due > >> to the difficulty of getting so much paper from the factory > >> to the bookshelves of the stores. > > > > Which in turn created the /fantasy trilogy/, in both readers' and pub- > > lishers' minds. It's not really worth mentioning, other than some peo- > > ple attribute this to Tolkien himself, rather than his publisher. > > According to Samuel Delaney one of Wilde's less well known quips is > something like: > > "The only thing necessary to write a trilogy is a total lack of taste". > > which implies that trilogies existed in the 1890s. But I can't seem to > find any. books were expensive in those days..so they divided it into 3 season episodes.. tripple feature, "three decker"... Season 4 canceled. > > William Hyde -- The Starmaker -- To question the unquestionable, ask the unaskable, to think the unthinkable, mention the unmentionable, say the unsayable, and challenge the unchallengeable.