How long do you give a book?

[ThisAdamGuy]

I've never believed in reading books you don't enjoy, and it always bugs me when people say things like "Just push through to book X, that's when it starts getting good!" Am I crazy in saying that a book should be good from the very start? Yeah, I get that it can take a little while for the plot to hit its stride, and a new series will inevitably have to go through its "teething stage" before it reaches its full potential, but those are different from a book just straight up not being good.

Take The Wandering Inn for example. Next to Dungeon Crawler Carl, it's easily the most popular litrpg of all time (maybe even more popular than DCC) but when you ask people about it, they almost always say the same thing: "it doesn't get good until book 4."

The first three books put together are 146 hours long on Audible. That's nearly 4000 pages.

Seriously, am I the crazy one for saying I'm absolutely not going to read 4000 pages of something I'm not enjoying based on the vague promise that it'll start getting good after that?

 

[zephyrtrillian]

No I don't think you're crazy.

It took me ages to learn that I only have so much time in a day or a lifetime, to actually understand that enough to put down books I didn't understand or enjoy. I used to be a completionist about them. Sometimes I'd be rewarded for that about halfway through the book, but most of the time? It was just a slog. And I don't remember any of the stories I read that fit into that category anymore. They didn't leave an impact on me, didn't "wow" me enough.

You probably have the right of it, really. You could, though, start on book 4 like the rebel you are.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

You could, though, start on book 4 like the rebel you are.

Excuse you, I'm a rebel, not a barbarian.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

There has to be a reason people make it TO the fourth book in general. Give the first one a shot - if there IS something, maybe a character you like or a concept that seems new and fresh, stick with it for one book and decide whether to keep going or not...

Or, just do what I wound up doing a few times at used book stores - "accidentally" (a few times it really was an accident, as the book gave no indication it was part of a series; a few other times it was just series I really wanted to read and I found all but the first book at rock bottom prices so bought them... a few times I never did get the first book, a few other times I paid full price for it because the rest was so good...

And then there was Circle of Light which I didn't realize was two series of four books each, so bought 1-1, 2-2, 1-3 and 2-4 thinking I had the full series, instead of half of each.

Oh, but to answer your question... seems to be seven chapters for me. In three tries, that was as far as I made it in The Worm Ouroboros, in only one try, The Blind Clockmaker, and also one of Isaac Asimov's books on lasers. Sometimes even the coolest concept is hard to read about, and sometimes the style just makes it a chore to wade through.

 

[SirContro]

Comics - 10 chapters to get me attached to the concept. Not picky, just give me one reason to think it has potential or will be entertaining at the very least in that period.

Books - Until I get bored. Novels have more detailed summaries, and if I'm even picking the book up, the summary has already made the concept sound interesting. I skim until I feel like doing something else, and if it left an impression on me, I'll make sure to go back to read it properly once I feel like reading again. If not, out of sight, out of mind.

 

[Arkus86]

If I make it past the synopsis, then usually 1-5 chapters, depending on chapter length, format and medium, as well if there is at least something interesting in the chapters.
This of course does not account for cases when I hit on, or the story shifts too far into something that turns me away in later chapters.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

I rarely drop books, even when I get to parts where it is "meh". And yes, I make time to read.

 

[Wenlock]

On top of the plot dragging on, if the writing is shit, I immediately give up on it. But if the writing looks promising I will give it five to ten chapters depending on word length. In shows and anime, I give it 3 episodes and that's a rule which has worked out magnificently for me.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Depends on the genre, depends on wether it is a published book or web\light novel, lastly when it was written. Though it is never 4000 pages. A high chance I won't even read 300 pages.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

On top of the plot dragging on, if the writing is shit, I immediately give up on it. But if the writing looks promising I will give it five to ten chapters depending on word length. In shows and anime, I give it 3 episodes and that's a rule which has worked out magnificently for me.

Three to five seems to be the rule for TV shows.
Which usually works well, except for aberrations like The Last Ship: pick any sequence of five episodes from the first three seasons ... they have to be in sequence ... you'll find two absolutely brilliant episodes, one "Good but not great" one, one "meh" episode and one "why do I bother watching this crap?" one ... if you start from the beginning it's "Great/Good/Meh/Yuck/So That's Why I put up with Yuck" repeated consistently through the show's first three seasons.

 

[SirContro]

On top of the plot dragging on, if the writing is shit, I immediately give up on it. But if the writing looks promising I will give it five to ten chapters depending on word length. In shows and anime, I give it 3 episodes and that's a rule which has worked out magnificently for me.

I'm always a lot more lenient with shows because I can just put them on in the background while I draw.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

I'm ashamed to admit I finished "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" in about three hours. I literally couldn't put it down, start to finish.
Some books just do that to you; you waste hours of your life on that one thing and the time flies by.

The gems are the books that get your undivided attention from the get-go and don't let you go. You don't have time to catch a breath before you turn another page and wonder what's going to happen next. I'd give a book maybe 20-30 pages to grab me though; some start out slow and build up and I have to be patient if I want the payoff.

Harlin Ellison once taught some of us at a writer's retreat that you have to be in the mood, too. If you're having a really great day and you don't have much on your mind, that's a good time to open a romance or drama or young adult novel. If you're having a bad day, try a dose of dark fantasy or sci-fi. The time of day to read seems important too. if you read just before bedtime, like I often do, you tend to have more lucid dreams later. If you read during a study break at college, you'll find you have more retention for homework or tests, because you can often use association.

I remember when reading was fundamental and required for us kids who wanted to grow up into mature, intelligent adults.

Those days are obviously gone for so many.

Read a book, people.

 

[Corty]

10% of total chapters.

 

[Piisfun]

For web novels... I'll give them up to ten chapters at most to "get going," and only if the premise from the description was particularly promising.
Most get 3 chapters or less. A lot of the ones that I actually stick with catch me in just one chapter.

Oh the other hand, the shortest I have ever given a book was two sentences. That particular web novel failed so badly at basic grammar/syntax/coherent sentence structure that I had no choice but to declare it unreadable.

 

[SwordSong]

On top of the plot dragging on, if the writing is shit, I immediately give up on it. But if the writing looks promising I will give it five to ten chapters depending on word length. In shows and anime, I give it 3 episodes and that's a rule which has worked out magnificently for me.

Same. Writing technique is really important to me, so if the style (description, flow, tone, voice) doesn't seem appealing, I tend not to even finish the first chapter.

 

[kosamsel]

Setting aside grammatical issues and overall poor writing, I can usually tell whether or not I’m going to like a novel in the first chapter.

 

[ZaraVale]

I try at least 2 chapters. If I dont get on with the writing style I will stop there.
If the writing style is competent then I will read a few more chapters but if the story doesnt grab me by chapter 6 I will leave it.

 

[Eldoria]

I usually judge the quality of a book based on preferences: the moral premise, does the synopsis truly match the story or is it just a gimmick? The protagonist is human, not a god, not a holy figure, just a human who can do right or wrong. So I don't rush to judge a story based solely on the prologue (the context is to enjoy reading, not reviewing the story). But if dozens of chapters of the story don't meet expectations (for example, the moral premise in the synopsis is not consistent with the story) then I will reluctantly drop it. Time is too precious to waste on a work that doesn't answer the story's premise.

 

[Navillus]

I’ll usually read a book for about an hour before I decide if I’ll continue or not… though sometimes I decide within 30 minutes but that’s when stories are stressful to read as I hate those-nya~

 

[JayMark]

You guys still have time to read?