By long I mean a story that takes a couple of days(even for a speed reader). I would like it if the characters weren't all doom and gloom super emo's. I mean I understand that a story can't be all good or it'd be boring but I don't want the depressive stuff to be 90% of the story. ya know? I would like it if the mc was male and the most likable of the entire cast.
Well, I do have one that is very long, as in around 1.4 million words (over 6 megs file size). And it takes place over more than a decade.
Essentially it is a "love story", about the life of a young man as he becomes an adult, and the path his life takes him. And his life is not a picnic. More than a few bad things happen to him, but in the end he comes out a better and stronger person.
I even had some try to accuse me of "abusing" him as I was writing it, but it was really just a reflection of things in real life. And even the bad things he was able to look back on later and see that many of them were ultimately for the better.
https://storiesonline.net/series/1519/country-boy-city-girl
However, there are at least a couple of characters that are introduced very sympathetically, that most readers come to hate later on in the series. Once again, just like real life.
Don Lockwood's Dance of a Lifetime might fit the bill for you. A "geek gets the hottie" coming of age story…
https://storiesonline.net/s/40258/dance-of-a-lifetime
https://storiesonline.net/a/Don_Lockwood
Stupid Boy by G Younger should take a couple of days. The series covers his entire high school career and is the lead in to his college years, A Better Man. Oh and do not over look the side stories about his friend, Tony.
No gloom and doom, exciting action sequences of a varity of types and a collection of great characters.
https://storiesonline.net/series/1080/stupid-boy
A story INSPIRED by, but not part of, the Swarm Universe. The Confederacy is found culpable in the deaths of his parents because of an AI withholding information, resulting in a whole new world opening up for our MC, DeDeus Sanderson. Read of his encounters with the Confederacy and others as he gathers colonists.
NOTE - Not a lot of sex in the story :)
https://scifistories.com/s/1285/arkadia or on sol at
https://storiesonline.net/s/23328/arkadia
https://storiesonline.net/s/25289/the-richard-jackson-saga
No sex. A very fun and fantastical coming of age series. 14 year old Rick gets permission to hitchhike across 1950s America. Fate seems attracted to him, with adventures rolling in like ocean swells.
I'm currently reading Jay Cantrell's Runaway Train, it's rather long and very loosely ties into his Brock Miller stories which are also long.
https://storiesonline.net/s/13709/runaway-train
I'm fairly new to the site and tried Dance of a Lifetime but felt the MC is too perfect and (spoiler) I didn't care for how easily and without any forethought the characters swapped partners. However, as it is rated really highly by a lot of people it might just be me.
I just finished Runaway Train a couple hours ago. I'm a fan of Jay Contrell but got burned on a couple of his long stories that just sort of petered out without a conclusion. Thankfully this was different and I give it high marks.
Florida Friends series by Dual Writer has some sequences of 2-3 novels featuring the same main character. They get a bit slice-of-life which may be tedious at times, but little angst.
Lazlong's Wagons Ho! and its sequel are pretty long.
A Fresh Start by rlfj. Has its ups and downs, but most of the time the MC is successful.
A New Past by Charlie Foxtrot is similar -- it's a do-over, with its share of painful experiences, but the main character is (very) successful, in the end. More SF elements than A Fresh Start.
"A Golfer's Dream" series by The Caddy. Coming of age/sports.
"Playing the Game" series by Rev. Cotton Mather is another coming of age/sports series, but it had quite a bit of (annoying to me) angst at the end; despite happy ending.
Oyster50 has several sequences within his "Smart Girls" universe that feature the same (male) protagonist. However, the most likable characters are usually the (young, brilliant) eponymous girls, who become love interests of each respective MC.
Aroslav has a couple of very long sagas, of generally likable and successful heroes, but they do go through a lot of angst (I would consider them emo, but they do overcome emotional challenges in the end).
Daze in the Valley by Jay Cantrell. Much of the novel is about the porn industry which may be off-putting, but the main character is likable and successful. Very loosely tied to a couple of his other novels.
The Defenceman by Cold Creek. A coming of age/sports novel; which is fun in the beginning, but get tedious and angsty towards the end, so perhaps not the best choice. The MC has a lot of unlikely encounters -- much like the Richard Jackson saga; except I think Banadin/Ed Nelson had a better approach using humor.
"A Golfer's Dream" series by The Caddy. Coming of age/sports.
You didn't comment much on this one, how does it rate on the angst-meter?
I've considered reading it multiple times, but having read both Playing the Game and The Defenceman as well as a few other sports related stories really put me off reading this because of the annoying angst that's common in them.
Since you pointed it out in Playing the Game and The Defenceman but not A Golfer's Dream, I'm hopeful that it's not as bad in that regard?
Since you pointed it out in Playing the Game and The Defenceman but not A Golfer's Dream, I'm hopeful that it's not as bad in that regard?
Yes, it's better. There are some periods of angst, but they are overcome; and it ends well.
Kris me has a universe that is pretty much all interconnected and I really like the characters for the most part.
Try PennLady 'Rhythym & The Blue Line' is a great hockey & music story. https://storiesonline.net/s/69740/rhythm-and-the-blue-line
Try Al Steiner: Greenies, A Perfect World, Aftermath & his best (my humble opinion) the Intemperance series.
https://storiesonline.net/s/46291/greenies
https://storiesonline.net/s/43998/a-perfect-world
https://storiesonline.net/s/34601/aftermath
https://storiesonline.net/s/45236/intemperance
https://storiesonline.net/s/49753/intemperance-volume-2-standing-on-top
Any of Argon's stories would be a good choice, but In The Navy and the sequel Ellen (in his Anthony Carter universe) are particularly good. You might find his Clearwater universe to be enjoyable as well.
https://storiesonline.net/s/44826/in-the-navy
https://storiesonline.net/s/44826/in-the-navy
https://storiesonline.net/universe/773/clearwater
You've already been pointed towards Jay Cantrell, but I'll recommend his Finding Shelter, as it's a favorite of mine.
https://storiesonline.net/s/62343/finding-shelter
You might also look at Nick Scipio's Jazz Club series. Together they won't take you a day to read, but they tell a great story.
https://storiesonline.net/series/8/jazz-club
TedBiker tells some great sailing stories in his Jenni and Serendipity sagas. And his Oscar series is much the same for motorcyclists.
https://storiesonline.net/series/823/jenni
https://storiesonline.net/series/978/serendipity-chronicles
https://storiesonline.net/series/1221/oscar
Enjoy!
I'll plug my own Variation On A Theme (right now about 580,000 words published). There's drama (how much is debatable, but there's drama), but it's mostly likable people (in my opinion, anyway). Male MC. I'd really have to scratch my head as to whether he's the most likable, but I'm biased, because who's the most fun to write factors into it, and that can vary as the story moves along.
Obligatory warning: Book 2 is posting serialized and will take until roughly late October/early November to finish. As of now, no pay-for-it-early option, as the whole thing's not edited yet and I don't yet have a "get the not-fully-edited chapters early" plan. Nor have I even put the 'finished' - there are planned revisions, which will not change characters or significant plot - Book 1 up on Bookapy. The whole thing will run until at LEAST Book 5 - I know of major plot elements that far out - so odds are you'll hit the end and wait. I tend to dislike that as a reader; as an author, serialized publication has a lot of benefits, though.
I tend to dislike that as a reader; as an author, serialized publication has a lot of benefits, though.
I'll agree with this and add my caveat; after being burned in the past, I refuse to vote on unfinished stories unless I know the author is dead. (yes, this includes you)
Hey, no pressure from me. I seldom even read unfinished stories, as I said. And VoaT has books to go, which means that while Book 1 is done (or at least, almost done, like I said), the story is nowhere near done.
Certainly there are plenty of examples of stories where the author torpedoed the whole thing in a last book or even a last chapter. 'Terrible finale for a long-running TV series' is a cliche by this point, in a similar vein. But the longer something remains strong the easier it is to just pretend the bad ending didn't happen.
Four of my five editors came about through publishing. That's been an enormous benefit (both to me and, I think, to readers).
Allow me to thump my own tub here.
My "Smart Girls" universe is full of likable characters.