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What Is the Longest Fantasy Series?

The Answer Might Surprise You

Fantasy fans love delving into lengthy series. Which one is the longest series? Many fans believe The Wandering Inn is the true winner of this crown.

What? Who? It took a bit of traveling before I stumbled upon The Wandering Inn.

(Source: Photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash.)

Fantasy Fans Love Long and Enduring Series

There are many lengthy fantasy series: The Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, the Malazan series by Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont, the Riftwar Cycle by Raymond E. Feist, the Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey, and the Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb.

Yet which one is the longest? That’s been a bone of contention. And there is a new contender!

In 2014, in The Longest Fantasy Series, Bookwraiths charted the page counts of popular fantasy series. However, this article is out of date, and page counts aren’t as accurate as word counts.

In Longest Fantasy Series by Word Count, Wottaread lists Malazan as the top contender. In 2021, the Wertzone blog posted The Longest SFF Novels & Series of All Time (2021 update). This might be the first time we see web serials added to the question.

Then, in 2023, along came a new post and an astonishing graphic…

How a Graphic Lured Me to The Wandering Inn

One day, I saw a post on Reddit about the longest SFF series by word count. The clear winner by a huge margin was something I had never heard of before — The Wandering Inn.

You can read more about this on The Longest SFF Series by Word Count at The Fantasy Inn. Travis brought new data to the table. Travis included both science fiction and fantasy for a bigger picture — and included web serials. You can also see the word count data in a publicly available Google Sheet shared by Travis.

As you can see from this graphic on Reddit, The Wandering Inn beats them all.

But what is The Wandering Inn?

At first, I thought it must be an indie series I hadn’t heard of before. So I Googled the name, and that’s how I learned The Wandering Inn was a long-running web series — with lots of fans. And with eBook and audiobook editions.

At first, I was cautious before entering this inn. What would the writing style be like? Yet like stew cooking over a fire at a fantasy inn, The Wandering Inn simmered in my mind.

Discussions about The Wandering Inn intrigued me. Was it a progression fantasy? Was it a LitRPG? (And what are those things?!) One fan convinced me to try it out by referring to it as “epic fantasy disguised as slice-of-life.”

OK, that one got me!

So like so many others, I stepped into The Wandering Inn. And while I’ve only just started my journey, I found myself enjoying what I read.

What Is The Wandering Inn?

The Wandering Inn is a web serial that was started by pirateaba in the summer of 2016. Since then, the tale has grown to nine volumes. The word count is up to 12.4 million words — so far. Yet the story is still being told.

In a nutshell, The Wandering Inn starts when Erin, a modern-day American chess player, ends up in a new fantasy world — and comes upon an abandoned inn. All because she was trying to go to the bathroom. (I can already relate to her!) Outside, there are monsters trying to kill her. So she enters the inn. Before long, she starts exploring it. Cleaning it up. Looking for food. Progressing in the story, much like a character in a role-playing game (RPG). This is why many classify the story as a LitRPG — a genre that combines SFF novels with the conventions of RPGs. According to many fans, there is far more to the story because it’s so immersive.

This review by Adam Weller for Fantasy Book Review gives a better idea of the story. Adam Weller started out curious — and became addicted to the series. There is also a detailed review by Aaron Hayman. And a recent review on Medium by Tony P.

You can read the story for free on The Wandering Inn website. Start at the hyperlinked Table of Contents and click the 1.00 link to begin at the beginning. You can also see (and post!) comments on each chapter.

Having trouble with the font size? Don’t worry. You can change the Reader Settings by clicking the cute critter on the top right of the page. That brings up a dialogue box that lets you change the font size, etc.

The Reader Settings Dialogue Box. (Source: Screenshot by the Author.)

There is also an official store. From there, you can find links to the eBooks and audiobooks — but you can also buy merch: T-shirts, hats, mugs, and all the usual cool stuff. Even Erin’s frying pan!

Do you want access to even more stuff? Or do you just want to support the creator? pirateaba has a Patreon — and 6,424 other people have already joined!

Other Ways to Read This Story

If you prefer, you can catch up on The Wandering Inn by reading the eBooks. Volumes one through nine are listed on Goodreads. They are also available through Amazon.

They’re also available as audiobooks through Audible. If you own the eBooks, the audiobooks are a bargain. Just $7.49. That’s an incredible price for an audiobook that runs for more than 43 hours.

Postscript

The Wandering Inn is free to read. So what have you got to lose but a few minutes of your time? Go to the website and check out the beginning. Maybe it’s not your style. But maybe, just maybe, you’ll find a new favorite. An immersive story that fits like your favorite comfy sweater.

Additional Sources

The Wandering Inn Wiki (Note: Spoiler alerts!)

The Our Community section of The Wandering Inn

The Wandering Inn subreddit (10,000 fans can’t be wrong!)

Fan Works

The official The Wandering Inn Group on Facebook

The Wandering Inn PirateAba Group on Facebook

If you like my stories, or if you want to read more stories by authors like me, please click here to upgrade to full membership. This is an affiliate link, meaning I receive a financial incentive for new referrals.

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