This week’s theme from Top Ten Tuesday is all about the big chonky books. I don’t have stats on all my books, since I left Goodreads in a huff some years ago and then only settled into StoryGraph a year or two later… but let’s see what I can do.

I’ll skip the most obvious (The Lord of the Rings) and the technical (Control of Communicable Diseases Manual), I think! I also realised that the illustrated Earthsea I have is probably chonkier than any of these, but I didn’t think of it. So here we go.

1. The Hands of the Emperor, by Victoria Goddard (899 pages). Some editions even run to ~1100 pages, but mine’s “only” 899, and apparently one of my chonkiest books. I’ve read this one, and really love it — I want to reread it soon. It’s wish fulfillment, about dismantling an empire and turning it into something fairer and kinder, but the relationship between the former Emperor and the main character, Cliopher, is really lovely. There’s also At the Feet of the Sun, the sequel (at 790 pages). It looks just as chonky on the shelf, though! I have to get round to it soon, but I’ve waited long enough thanks to a poor attention span that I really do want to reread the previous book first.
2. Kushiel’s Dart, by Jacqueline Carey (901 pages). I’m surprised this is so long, actually, because I know I’ve completely inhaled it in the past, and these days I seem to find 400 page books quite intimidating. It’s the start of a fantasy trilogy that I really love, though sometimes the violence (consensual and otherwise) is a lot to read, even with the conceit of Phèdre’s abilities.
3. The First Binding, by R.R. Virdi (929 pages). I don’t remember anything about this one! I haven’t read it yet, and I think I had it as an e-ARC. Oops.
4. Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe, by Norman Davies (830 pages). This one’s still on my TBR, and I’m still looking forward to it, but… it’s just waiting for me to get round to it.
5. The Ember Blade, by Chris Wooding (824 pages). This is another one where I don’t really remember anything about it, it’s just been on my TBR a while. It sounds like pretty traditional fantasy, like it makes a point of being so even, so… maybe it’ll be fun?
6. Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities, by Bettany Hughes (900 pages). I’ve liked some of Hughes’ work before, which I read because she got an honorary degree from Cardiff University at my first graduation ceremony. So I’m curious about this one, but it’s quite a commitment, so it’s been waiting on my TBR for the right mood.
7. The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn, by Tyler Whitesides (784 pages). Again, this sounds like pretty traditional fantasy, could be fun, but I haven’t got round to it yet.
8. Making History: The Storytellers who Shaped the Past, by Richard Cohen (708 pages). Understanding who is writing the history books is a very important thing, so this sounds very interesting. Though slightly daunting!
9. European Travel for the Mysterious Gentlewoman, by Theodora Goss (708 pages). I haven’t read the first book yet, so this one’s waiting behind that one. I didn’t realise this was so chonky — I have the ebook edition!
10. Plagues Upon the Earth: Diseases and the Course of Human History, by Kyle Harper (704 pages). As ever, can’t resist something about infectious diseases! I think it’s been on my TBR since last year? Ish? But I thought I’d probably enjoy it more when my MSc is all done and dusted.

So there we go, those’re my chonkers — mostly still waiting to be read!