I know I've asked this before

I was reading a mystery last night that turned out to be a lot shorter than I expected because the manuscript pages were single-sided. The book turned out to be less than 280 pages long. Despite this lack of length the author managed to fit an entire plot between the two covers.

It's comparatively rare for an SF novel to be that short and nearly unheard of for a fantasy novel to be under 300 pages. I've also never seen a mystery that came close to the brick-like dimensions of many F&SF novels. There seems to be a hard limit of about 400 pages over in mystery.

Mysteries also eschew the cliff-hanger ending and the book-fragment approach, which I greatly appreciate.

Does it make sense to ask why modern [1] F&SF readers appear to prefer longer lengths than do mystery readers?

1: I have a number of older books upstairs that come in under 200 pages and like the mystery they all have complete plots.

I know I've asked this before

I was reading a mystery last night that turned out to be a lot shorter than I expected because the manuscript pages were single-sided. The book turned out to be less than 280 pages long. Despite this lack of length the author managed to fit an entire plot between the two covers.

It's comparatively rare for an SF novel to be that short and nearly unheard of for a fantasy novel to be under 300 pages. I've also never seen a mystery that came close to the brick-like dimensions of many F&SF novels. There seems to be a hard limit of about 400 pages over in mystery.

Mysteries also eschew the cliff-hanger ending and the book-fragment approach, which I greatly appreciate.

Does it make sense to ask why modern [1] F&SF readers appear to prefer longer lengths than do mystery readers?

1: I have a number of older books upstairs that come in under 200 pages and like the mystery they all have complete plots.

I know I've asked this before

I was reading a mystery last night that turned out to be a lot shorter than I expected because the manuscript pages were single-sided. The book turned out to be less than 280 pages long. Despite this lack of length the author managed to fit an entire plot between the two covers.

It's comparatively rare for an SF novel to be that short and nearly unheard of for a fantasy novel to be under 300 pages. I've also never seen a mystery that came close to the brick-like dimensions of many F&SF novels. There seems to be a hard limit of about 400 pages over in mystery.

Mysteries also eschew the cliff-hanger ending and the book-fragment approach, which I greatly appreciate.

Does it make sense to ask why modern [1] F&SF readers appear to prefer longer lengths than do mystery readers?

1: I have a number of older books upstairs that come in under 200 pages and like the mystery they all have complete plots.

And while I am at it

Consider glancing through some stellar databases if you are going to set a story in a stellar system near Sol rather making up a star and plunking it down near the solar system. I'm more forgiving if this involves a red dwarf or a brown dwarf - Yes, I know it's questionable to call brown dwarf stars but I am lumping them into the set of all large bodies warm enough for us to heat ourselves by - but the cases I am thinking of involve bright stars of the kind we are unlikely to have overlooked.

Barlowe's 1990 Expedition: Being an Account in Words and Artwork of the 2358 A.D. Voyage to Darwin IV is the worst offender that comes to mind: it is set in a non-existant system six and a half light years from the Sun. Anyone with a passing knowledge of the nearer stars knows what stars are that close to the Sun and none of the four stars in question match Darwin IV's star. It's as silly as a National Geographic-funded expedition to a previously uncharted island-continent in the Grand Banks..

And while I am at it

Consider glancing through some stellar databases if you are going to set a story in a stellar system near Sol rather making up a star and plunking it down near the solar system. I'm more forgiving if this involves a red dwarf or a brown dwarf - Yes, I know it's questionable to call brown dwarf stars but I am lumping them into the set of all large bodies warm enough for us to heat ourselves by - but the cases I am thinking of involve bright stars of the kind we are unlikely to have overlooked.

Barlowe's 1990 Expedition: Being an Account in Words and Artwork of the 2358 A.D. Voyage to Darwin IV is the worst offender that comes to mind: it is set in a non-existant system six and a half light years from the Sun. Anyone with a passing knowledge of the nearer stars knows what stars are that close to the Sun and none of the four stars in question match Darwin IV's star. It's as silly as a National Geographic-funded expedition to a previously uncharted island-continent in the Grand Banks..

And while I am at it

Consider glancing through some stellar databases if you are going to set a story in a stellar system near Sol rather making up a star and plunking it down near the solar system. I'm more forgiving if this involves a red dwarf or a brown dwarf - Yes, I know it's questionable to call brown dwarf stars but I am lumping them into the set of all large bodies warm enough for us to heat ourselves by - but the cases I am thinking of involve bright stars of the kind we are unlikely to have overlooked.

Barlowe's 1990 Expedition: Being an Account in Words and Artwork of the 2358 A.D. Voyage to Darwin IV is the worst offender that comes to mind: it is set in a non-existant system six and a half light years from the Sun. Anyone with a passing knowledge of the nearer stars knows what stars are that close to the Sun and none of the four stars in question match Darwin IV's star. It's as silly as a National Geographic-funded expedition to a previously uncharted island-continent in the Grand Banks..

Ahhhhhhh

An 18-year-old university student accused of having explosives that could be used in bombs is a chemistry buff who had no interest in blowing things up, his lawyer says.

Pointed out to me by mrteufel

Ahhhhhhh

An 18-year-old university student accused of having explosives that could be used in bombs is a chemistry buff who had no interest in blowing things up, his lawyer says.

Pointed out to me by mrteufel

Ahhhhhhh

An 18-year-old university student accused of having explosives that could be used in bombs is a chemistry buff who had no interest in blowing things up, his lawyer says.

Pointed out to me by mrteufel