10 Books Over 500 Pages Worth Your Time

Last updated on 12 April 2022

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Sometimes books over 500 pages aren’t worth your time.

But sometimes they really are. I don’t know about you but I get incredibly daunted by the prospect of books over 500 pages long.

There have been books that I’ve been given or I’ve even bought myself that have been door stops but have sounded really good, or have been by authors who I already know and love. The trouble is, despite how much I long to dive into the story, it’s always the size of the book that puts me off. So much so that there are some books on my shelves that I have had for years and still haven’t picked up.

Today is not about the books that I haven’t had the courage to open yet. It’s about all the books over 500 pages (and over half are over 600!) that I really have enjoyed immensely, and there has been a decent number. They range in genre, but only ever so slightly. If you’re brave enough to take the leap in what might be quite a long period of time getting through it, these are really fun books. The page numbers are taken from the versions of the books that I have, so many differ slightly to any you have, however, the fact of the matter is: they’re huge, friends.

10 books over 500 pages you should read

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
A Gathering of Shadows, by V.E. Schwab
Strange the Dreamer, by Laini Taylor
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J Maas
Eldest, by Christopher Paolini
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by JK Rowling
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Host, by Stephenie Meyer

The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss – paperback 662 pages

The Name of the Wind was absolutely amazing. I loved every second of it and felt drawn into the story in a way few books have done before. Sometimes I struggled with fantasy books of this size, and often find myself having to skim read whole sections because I get bored of pages and pages of tree descriptions. But with The Name of the Wind, I didn’t find myself getting bored or losing focus at all. Every word was somehow important and the way Rothfuss draws out the story is so intentional and unique.

A Gathering of Shadows, by V.E. Schwab – paperback 508 pages

This is one of my favourite series of all time. I’m going to re-read it this year and I can’t wait! The first in the series, A Darker Shade of Magic is around 400 pages, but the second, A Gathering of Shadows jumps up to just over 500. As I mentioned in the review of A Darker Shade of Magic, the world that Schwab has created is so wonderful. Four different Londons, four degrees of magic and sanity, four different cities for magic to run amuck in. The characters are now some of my favourite in fiction. If you haven’t started this series, I highly recommend it.

Strange the Dreamer, by Laini Taylor – paperback 532 pages

The first in a duology by Laini Taylor, Strange the Dreamer quickly became a favourite of mine. I love every sentence of this book. From the very beginning, I was hooked. Lazlo’s character is me but times 100. Lost in a world of books and make-believe, buried in a library most people don’t even visit, he is inquisitive, he is curious, and yet he is fiercely passionate about what he loves. The fantasy plot gets more interesting as the pages flip by and if you’re into a bit of mystery, fantasy, and a touch of romance, then this a great book to pick up. The second book is called Muse of Nightmares.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak – paperback 554 pages

I’m not a big reader of historical fiction, let alone war-centred stories, but I read The Book Thief in one sitting on a cold winter’s Saturday when I lived in England. I snuggled under my duvet, back up against the radiator and read and read and read. My copy came in at just over 550 pages, but it was worth it. It amazes me how good this book is, and how much I loved it. I would like to re-read it and see if I love it as much a second time, but I highly suspect I would.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare – paperback 567 pages

One of the smallest books on this list, but still nearly at 600 pages. Despite me overall enjoying the Shadowhunters books, I do like the Infernal Devices series more than the Mortal Instruments. The series starts with Clockwork Angel and follows Tessa Gray in Victorian England as she and Will Herondale and James ‘Jem’ Carstairs fight evil and kill demons. You know, the usual Shadowhunter stuff. The upside to this big book is that the writing is not small, which means even though it feels like a big book, it didn’t actually take too long to read.

Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J Maas – paperback 648 pages

Every single book in this series surprises me. Queen of Shadows is the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series, so make sure you head on back to the first book, Throne of Glass, and make your way to this one. This is one of those series that starts off at a sort of reasonable size (ToG paperback is only 400 pages) and they get bigger as you go on. If you haven’t picked up Throne of Glass yet then you really must! Especially if you love kick-ass female MCs, wonderful and crazy worlds, swoon-worthy romances, and a lot of what-on-earth-just-happened moments.

Eldest, by Christopher Paolini – paperback 704 pages

I highly recommend you do not read Eldest unless, of course, you’ve read Eragon (which is not over 500 pages and therefore didn’t make the list) which is the first book in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini.

I have a long history with this series. I read Eragon when I was 15 years old, and when I finished and read the back inner cover where the author bio is said to have started writing Eragon when he was just 15. “That’s the same age as I am!” I thought. “If he can do it, so can I!” Of course, while I participated in NaNoWriMo for a few years and every so often I remember there were stories I was telling, I have yet to write and finish a book.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by JK Rowling – paperback 636 pages

It would be remiss of me not to mention a Harry Potter book in this mix. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is where the page count really leaps up in this series. If you have all your HP books lined up along your shelf then you’ll know that they (mostly) get bigger as the series goes on. While Goblet of Fire isn’t a favourite of mine of course it’s worth the effort to read through because it’s Harry Potter, my friends. I know this, you know this. I don’t know why I’ve even added it to the list.

The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien – paperback combined books 1 – 3 version 1137 pages

This is cheating, I realise that. But it’s only cheating if you happen to have these three books as three separate books. Growing up, and actually still to this day, I had a combined novel containing all three, and yes that is a lot of pages.

While I do love The Hobbit more than The Lord of the Rings (but only in its book form – don’t get me started on the movies, but basically nothing beats LoTR), and getting through the LoTR series is a mission in itself, how brilliant is the story? If you can move past the endless Elven song and description of trees to the actual plot and the characters, then it’s a real winner.

The Host, by Stephenie Meyer – paperback 617 pages

This was an incredibly strange concept that Stephenie Meyer ran with, but I really enjoyed it! When The Host came out in 2008, it was a stand-alone novel.

Now I’ve discovered that Meyer has confirmed there will be two follow up books, and I don’t know how I feel about that. Sometimes a stand-alone should remain a stand-alone. That aside, if you’re after a sci-fi love-triangle/possibly love-square Young Adult novel, then this is a fun read, and worth the 600+ pages you’ll need to read to get to the end.

Bonus Shout Outs of other books that are over 500 pages

There are many good books over 500 pages of course, but not ones that I have read. Here’s a list of books that I have heard good things about that are on my TBR list and are over 500 pages: