[Lalwendë]

Last night I was talking about how some lengthy serial fantasy works seem to decline in quality the longer they go on. Most of my favourites seem to be relatively restricted in length, and fairly self contained. I came to the conclusion that in many cases the writer has created an amazing world, but appears to have run out of stories, thus proving that the story is always the mainstay of any novel. I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing Tolkien had written more about Middle Earth, but I'm glad he didn't pursue this to the extent that many writers today do. Wringing every last drop out of the secondary world you have created isn't always a good move for a writer.