There are two heavy hitters in the ring for the title of "Longest Books" and their names are Fantasy and Science Fiction. Trends come and go in Fantasy, but Science Fiction has a more niche, dedicated fanbase.
As fun as writing in Science Fiction may be—it’s the wild wild west, but outer space—it’s important to learn the expectations of readers for the genre before releasing your book, catering to them both in the content of your book and its execution.
What are you committing to when you choose to write in the Science Fiction genre?
How many words are in a Science Fiction book?
A Science Fiction book can be anywhere between 50,000 to 150,000 words, making the median sweet spot somewhere around 100,000 words for an average Science Fiction novel. Word count for each genre varies as time and trends pass. Word counts on the whole have seen a rise over the last decade across all genres. Readers aren’t as intimidated by thick novels anymore, and that bodes well for the perception of the Science Fiction Genre.
The Science Fiction genre is versatile and that reflects in its statistics. The word count gap for the genre is so vast because Science Fiction is host to everything from concept-driven novellas to tome-like Sci-fi series.
To put things in perspective:
Dune by Frank Herbert is 187,000 words, whereas Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick is only 79,000 words.
How many pages are in a Science Fiction book?
Despite the acceptance of shorter works in the Sci-fi genre, the general expectation of a Science Fiction novel is that it feels "dense" to read.
As writers, we conceptualize our work in word counts, but how many pages is that? The consensus among publishers is that 1000 words will roughly translate to 3-4 pages in print. Going off our number of 100,000 words for your average Sci-Fi novel, that would result in a 400 page book.
How long are chapters in a Science Fiction book?
The average Science Fiction chapter clocks in between 10 to 15 pages, making them shorter than Fantasy chapters and even those in Mystery/Thriller novels. Compared to overall book size, Science Fiction chapters aren’t expected to be all that long.
The amount of chapters you have in your book will depend on its length overall. Feel free to use these numbers of Science Fiction expectations on your manuscript to see how yours stacks up (or where you might want to tweak things)!
The Science Fiction genre can be intimidating, but it's also flexible! If you’re not quite sure whether it’s the right fit for you and your writing, check out this article, all about the length and expectations of the fantasy genre instead!