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Chapter Length


Coren82

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I am reading again, maybe it's the third time, the first book of the series, AGOT.

I noticed that the chapters are very short compared to ADWD, so I calculated the average chapter length for each volume, here the results:

Volume | Pages | Chapters | Avg Chapter Length

AGOT | 704 | 73 | 9.6

ACOK | 768 | 70 | 11

ASOS | 992 | 82 | 12.1

AFFC | 753 | 46 | 16.4

ADWD | 1056 | 73 | 14.5

What I think that short chapters are better, in my opinion the length of AFFC and ADWD chapters are not due to a more mature way of writing, but simply they are filled with nothing.

In the chapter I have just read (Sansa I) an entire arc of a minor character, Mycah, is developed, and this chapter is relatevely short compared to the never ending Brienne chapters of AFFC.

I hope that the last two volumes will be similar to AGOT way of writing.

What do you think?

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Yes I agree, shorter chapters are much easier to digest and allow the pace to build, I like to dip in and out of books in short bursts and obviously short chapters are better for that... Although let's face it none of us are going to be "dipping in and out" of winds of winter!

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Good point, I also noticed that in the early books, you alternate between long and short chapters.

For example Arya's chapter at the Red Wedding is only 5 pages long while Tyrion's Purple Wedding chapter has 23 pages. In Feast and Dance, all chapters seem to be equally long, even those who have little to tell us.

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To be honest, I don't really mind. He'll finish the story arcs in whatever way he chooses, and given the amazing quality of his work, I don't think we can really complain. But thank you for doing the math OP, its appreciated :)

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That is simply a matter of the grouping of the characters. In a GoT he is describing the same events through multiple POV's while in the latter books the characters break apart and practically each POV has its own story arc. As they come togethter again they'll probably get shorter.

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