I have been saying for some time now that publishers are publishing what they know has sold well in the past and therefore likely to sell well in the future. Damien Walter has taken this analysis a step further. See here. Basically what he is saying that in the fantasy sector the multi-volume series has dominated the market place to the detriment of single standalone novels. He’s calling them mega novels, a good description me thinks. The consequence? Well we get the same universe and main characters. We always hear about people writing trilogies, some of which extend into a longer series. There are less new ideas coming to market. It’s worse than the reader having less choice. The reader will not see the fantasy genre progress in interesting ways. There is a spillover into science fiction. Ann Leckie’s novels, for instance, are part of a trilogy. Alastair Reynolds…