I had talked about separating No Promises Large Enough, the sequel to Headless, into two books.
I am not doing this.
There will still be Part 1 and Part 2 inside, but it will be one book.
Ultimately what made the decision for me was the fact that this “episode” of the story does not end with Part 1. The journey and challenges that Akio and Masami have to overcome span both parts.
While many fantasy novels end without wrapping up the main quest, I did not want to do that with this series.
If I know I’m getting into an epic fantasy series, I’m okay with books that don’t end, as long as they hit a good stopping point. I read one recently that felt like the author only separated out the first several chapters of a book with no resolution of any kind, and that left me pretty disappointed. It doesn’t make me want to continue the series.
I actually have a more traditional fantasy series planned that will likely not end until the final book. But that is a ways off.
With The Ghost and the Mask series, I want each book to be a self-contained story, although there is an overall story that continues. Headless is, and therefore it felt like the only good decision was to keep No Promises as one volume.
Even though it is nearly three times as long as Headless.
Fantasy lovers like me often really enjoy a long, meaty story. If you’re a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire; Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn; and the like, you know what I’m talking about.
Hopefully that will ring true for fans of Japanophile urban fantasy.
No Promises is not as long as those books, FYI. It’s closer to the length of your average Stephen King novel, about 600 pages.
That said, I can certainly enjoy a short novel, too, to help knock out my Goodreads reading challenge faster.
Do you have a preference of book length? Do you like those two-hour afternoon reads or are you someone who goes for the epic 1000-pagers?
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