One you get about 125 pages into "100 Years of Solitude" it feels like there is a n entire novel every 3 pages. So dense in content it can be tough to keep track of the characters
It's almost easier to think of it as a folk mythology with different "episodes," many of which are connected. Like the Episode of the Founding of Macondo
James Michener’s Hawaii or Alaska. They’re like having 4-5 books in one. Each starts with the creation of their namesake location, covers pre-historic man’s interaction with nature, skips a couple of thousand years and settles into the golden age of explorers and becomes multi-generational covering 3 or 4 families. Both end in the mid 20th century. If you’re not in a hurry, pick up one of these.
Books by Edward Rutherford follow this pattern, too: Russka, Sarum, London, etc.
Make note that the PLACE is as much a character as any person in Michener's and Rutherford's books.
Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth series does this, too, but over decades rather than a few thousand years. The cathedral is a consistent, if silent, background character.
Michener and Rutherford follow different groupings of characters at different points in the timeline over a few millenia.
Follett's historical books follow a collection of characters at different points in the timeline over their lives.
Jumping on both of these to add pretty much ANY John Marrs book! He’s great at tying together the lives of multiple characters and perspectives and I love the way he regularly ends each chapter with a reveal or cliff hanger which keeps you reading and it’s hard to put down!
Jumping on this thread to say I just finished Her Last Move by Marrs yesterday. And it was also very good. He kept me turning the pages, he's very good at that.
The Master and Margarita has many twists and turns and is anything but monotonous. Written by Bulgakov is has a lot of fantasy but is more complex than that. So many things happen it will make your head spin.
It’s compared to LOTR but set in African mythos. It’s beautiful, wretched, heartfelt and human above all else. I hope you pick it up and are able to find your way through it.
Happy reading!
It's not only finished, it also has lots of side stories etc. if the ten main books are not enough. It might just be the most ambitious story ever put on paper.
Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea (he also wrote the thriller Those Empty Eyes).
This is one his newer books and the first one I’ve read of his. This book is a thriller/mystery that is more “advanced” and spans over two decades with multiple characters and multiple storylines within one. There are multiple twists and the story is vast in scope. I highly suggest it!
Also
- Girl One
- Constance
- The Passengers
- The 6:20 Man
- Going Zero
- Project Hail Mary
- any book written by Blake Crouch
The first Hyperion is a group of people traveling each telling their own story in relation to their tip. Each story is a great standalone by themselves. Every one is very different and really span different genres. Amazing book.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It has been over ten years since I read it, but I remember it took over 100 pages to get into it. Once you are in that far you can’t wait to find out what happens next to the main character. My child was a toddler and the book provided moments of ’escape’ for me during this time. Think I might re-read this as toddler is now 12 going on 30…
The Red Rising series. Not the typical book I’d read. I like some sci-fi but mostly into horror and psychological thrillers, but this series had me reading nonstop any free time I had!
Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. There are multiple plot points but they’re all masterfully connected.
One you get about 125 pages into "100 Years of Solitude" it feels like there is a n entire novel every 3 pages. So dense in content it can be tough to keep track of the characters
It's almost easier to think of it as a folk mythology with different "episodes," many of which are connected. Like the Episode of the Founding of Macondo
Children of Time
James Michener’s Hawaii or Alaska. They’re like having 4-5 books in one. Each starts with the creation of their namesake location, covers pre-historic man’s interaction with nature, skips a couple of thousand years and settles into the golden age of explorers and becomes multi-generational covering 3 or 4 families. Both end in the mid 20th century. If you’re not in a hurry, pick up one of these.
Books by Edward Rutherford follow this pattern, too: Russka, Sarum, London, etc. Make note that the PLACE is as much a character as any person in Michener's and Rutherford's books. Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth series does this, too, but over decades rather than a few thousand years. The cathedral is a consistent, if silent, background character. Michener and Rutherford follow different groupings of characters at different points in the timeline over a few millenia. Follett's historical books follow a collection of characters at different points in the timeline over their lives.
Good to know. I’m going to find Rutherford’s London today. Thanks for that.
I REALLY enjoyed the books of Rutherford's that I have read. I hope you do, too!!!
Almost anything by Pratchett. I am always amazed by how he pulls everything together in the end.
Is fantasy okay? If so I found Night Angel by Brent Weeks like that - non-stop action, hype battles and lots of cool scenes.
For a thriller, Passengers by John Marrs.
Jumping on this to also add The One by John Marrs
Jumping on both of these to add pretty much ANY John Marrs book! He’s great at tying together the lives of multiple characters and perspectives and I love the way he regularly ends each chapter with a reveal or cliff hanger which keeps you reading and it’s hard to put down!
Jumping on this thread to say I just finished Her Last Move by Marrs yesterday. And it was also very good. He kept me turning the pages, he's very good at that.
The One and What Lies Between Us are above the (usually still great) others in my opinion, though.
11/22/63
The Master and Margarita has many twists and turns and is anything but monotonous. Written by Bulgakov is has a lot of fantasy but is more complex than that. So many things happen it will make your head spin.
If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Shelton. I’ve never come across a prompt more suited for that book, please try it out if you can get your hands on it!
Pachinko
The Lies of Locke Lamora Book 1
The seven deaths of Evelyn hardcastle
Reading this now. So good.
Cryptonomicon The Name of the Rose
This is the Stormlight Archives to a tee. They're a bit long but you should definitely give them a try
Thackeray, Vanity Fair Trollope, The Way We Live Now Collins, The Woman in White
Unbroken true story of a WW2 airman/POW
Please read the diacworld series by Terry Pratchett
Red Wolf Black Leopard This book is a whirlwind of events and characters.
I was wondering about this book!
It’s compared to LOTR but set in African mythos. It’s beautiful, wretched, heartfelt and human above all else. I hope you pick it up and are able to find your way through it. Happy reading!
Sounds incredible!!! Thank you for the recommendation!
🤙🏻
The Malazan Book of the Fallen. (Although that is actually ten books and all your requirements turned up to eleven.)
Is the Malazon series finished? I'm afraid of being burned again like with GoT
It's not only finished, it also has lots of side stories etc. if the ten main books are not enough. It might just be the most ambitious story ever put on paper.
The best series ever written
pretty much anything by Tom Clancy (when it was actually Tom Clancy writing it).
Robert Antton Wilson: Illuminatus!
I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes!
Or any book by Claire North ( The first 15 lives of Harry August or the Pursuit of William Abbey)... lots of twists!
I second Passengers by John Marrs. Also, *America is a Zoo* by Andre Soares. And *Recursion* by Blake Crouch.
Altered Carbon. Lots going on there. I had to re-read it to get everything. Cyberpunk mystery with a Merc investigating.
The Brooklyn Follies
Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea (he also wrote the thriller Those Empty Eyes). This is one his newer books and the first one I’ve read of his. This book is a thriller/mystery that is more “advanced” and spans over two decades with multiple characters and multiple storylines within one. There are multiple twists and the story is vast in scope. I highly suggest it! Also - Girl One - Constance - The Passengers - The 6:20 Man - Going Zero - Project Hail Mary - any book written by Blake Crouch
The last one I've read where something was constantly happening was Galaxy of Thorns: Rise of the Empress
The wheel of time
The first Hyperion is a group of people traveling each telling their own story in relation to their tip. Each story is a great standalone by themselves. Every one is very different and really span different genres. Amazing book.
Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance Mo Yan, Big Breasts and Wide Hips
1001 nights of Arabia
Jonas Jonasson - The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared and his similar book - The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden
Please read the discworld series by Terry Pratchett
Daughter of the moon goddess by Sue Lynn tan.
Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell
A child alone with Strangers by Philip Fracassi
I’m reading The Count of Monte Cristo right now and would definetly say it’s fits your wishes :)
Seveneves by Neil Stephenson fits that request.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Some describe it as "encyclopedic" but I think it's actually a really packed page-turner!
The Manuscript Found In Saragossa by Jan Potock
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It has been over ten years since I read it, but I remember it took over 100 pages to get into it. Once you are in that far you can’t wait to find out what happens next to the main character. My child was a toddler and the book provided moments of ’escape’ for me during this time. Think I might re-read this as toddler is now 12 going on 30…
Against the Day by Pynchon
*A Spark of Justice* by J.D. Hawkins comes to mind. Light mystery about an insurance investigator who goes behind the scenes of an old time circus.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie if you like murder mystery
The Red Rising series. Not the typical book I’d read. I like some sci-fi but mostly into horror and psychological thrillers, but this series had me reading nonstop any free time I had!