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Wasn't built in a day: Stories that span time

Inspired by a bluesky thread requesting recs for books that span several decades, centuries, millennia, or longer. Multi-genre. Vibes!

Semiosis

#1 of 3 in Semiosis

Semiosis
BySue Burke

2018 • 250 Readers • 336 pages 3.8

Seveneves

Seveneves
ByNeal Stephenson

2015 • 1,043 Readers • 867 pages 3.9

Shōgun

#1 of 6 in Asian Saga: Chronological Order

Shōgun
ByJames Clavell

1975 • 771 Readers • 1,218 pages 4.2

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Sing, Unburied, Sing

4 Bois Sauvage

2017 • 405 Readers • 285 pages 4.1

Slade House

Slade House
ByDavid Mitchell

2015 • 240 Readers • 272 pages 3.9

Some luck

Some luck
ByJane Smiley

22 Readers 3.4

Star Maker

Star Maker
ByOlaf Stapledon

1937 • 156 Readers • 272 pages 3.8

Swann's Way - Remembrance of Things Past (À la recherche du temps perdu) - Book 1

#1 of 8 in À la recherche du temps perdu

1913 • 460 Readers • 444 pages 4.2

The Actual Star

The Actual Star
ByMonica Byrne

2021 • 103 Readers 3.9

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

2000 • 565 Readers • 706 pages 4.2

The architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks

#3 of 4 in Stay More

1975 • 2 Readers • 376 pages

The Arsonists' City

2021 • 52 Readers • 467 pages 4.4

The Big House

The Big House
ByGeorge Howe Colt

2 Readers 5

The Boat of a Million Years

1989 • 42 Readers • 530 pages 3.1

The Books of Rachel

3 Readers

The Corner That Held Them

The Corner That Held Them
BySylvia Townsend Warner

1948 • 17 Readers • 310 pages 5

The Count of Monte Cristo

6 Le Comte de Monte-Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo
ByAlexandre Dumas

1830 • 2,101 Readers • 1,276 pages 4.3

The Covenant

The Covenant
ByJames A. Michener

1980 • 25 Readers • 1,240 pages 4.2

The Covenant of Water

The Covenant of Water
ByAbraham Verghese

2023 • 408 Readers • 627 pages 4.3

The Croning

The Croning
ByLaird Barron

2012 • 88 Readers • 245 pages 3.1

The Crossing Places

#1 of 15 in Ruth Galloway

The Crossing Places
ByElly Griffiths

2009 • 142 Readers • 304 pages 3.4

The Crucible of Time

The Crucible of Time
ByJohn Brunner

9 Readers 3.3

The Eighth Life

The Eighth Life
ByNino Haratischwili,Charlotte Collins(Translator),+1 more

2014 • 63 Readers • 944 pages 4.1

The Eighth Life: for Brilka

#1 in Het achtste leven [voor Brilka]

The Eighth Life: for Brilka
ByNino Haratischwili,Charlotte Collins(Translator),+1 more

2014 • 3 Readers • 944 pages 5

The Family Moskat

The Family Moskat
ByIsaac Bashevis Singer

1950 • 6 Readers • 624 pages

The Forever War

#1 of 2 in The Forever War

The Forever War
ByJoe Haldeman

1974 • 969 Readers • 203 pages 4

The Forsyte Saga

#1-3 of 8 in The Forsyte Chronicles

The Forsyte Saga
ByJohn Galsworthy

1922 • 72 Readers • 953 pages 4.1

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The fortune of the Rougons

#1 of 20 in Les Rougon-Macquart

The fortune of the Rougons
ByÉmile Zola,Brian Nelson(Translator)

1871 • 30 Readers • 347 pages 3.8

The Golden Notebook

The Golden Notebook
ByDoris Lessing

1962 • 148 Readers • 676 pages 3.9

The Good Earth

#1 of 3 in House of Earth

The Good Earth
ByPearl S. Buck

1931 • 290 Readers • 10h 37m 3.8

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The Heart's Invisible Furies

2017 • 390 Readers • 592 pages 4.6

Cover 1

2 Readers 5

The House of the Spirits

#3 of 3 in Trilogía Involuntaria

The House of the Spirits
ByIsabel Allende

1982 • 591 Readers • 490 pages 4.1

The House on the Borderland

50 British Library Tales of the Weird

The House on the Borderland
ByWilliam Hope Hodgson

1908 • 84 Readers • 160 pages 3.8

The Iliad

The Iliad
ByHomer

-800 • 267 Readers • 404 pages 4

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina

2021 • 346 Readers • 336 pages 4

The Island of Sea Women

2019 • 225 Readers • 639 pages 4.2

The Last Story of Mina Lee

The Last Story of Mina Lee
ByNancy Jooyoun Kim

2020 • 81 Readers • 352 pages 3.3

The living

The living
ByAnnie Dillard

1992 • 12 Readers • 420 pages 3.5

Cover 4

The Lost Book of Salem
ByKatherine Howe

1 Reader 2

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
ByHonorée Fanonne Jeffers

2021 • 192 Readers • 816 pages 4.5

The Moon Maid

#1 of 3 in The Moon Trilogy

The Moon Maid
ByEdgar Rice Burroughs

1923 • 2 Readers • 227 pages 3

The Mysteries of Paris

1843 • 14 Readers • 800 pages 3.5

The Odyssey

The Odyssey
ByHomer,Robert Fagles(Translator)

-800 • 1,909 Readers • 541 pages 3.8

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The Once and Future King

#1 in The Once and Future King

1958 • 556 Readers • 650 pages 3.8

The Optimist's Daughter

1972 • 51 Readers • 182 pages 3.9

The Overstory

The Overstory
ByRichard Powers

2018 • 820 Readers • 502 pages 4.1

The Pillars of the Earth

#1 of 4 in Kingsbridge

1800 • 1,189 Readers • 1,008 pages 4.1

The Rainbow

The Rainbow
ByD.H. Lawrence

69 Readers 3.4

The Rice Mother

The Rice Mother
ByRani Manicka

2002 • 9 Readers • 432 pages 3.5

The Shadow of the Wind

#1 of 1 in The Cemetery of Forgotten Books

The Shadow of the Wind
ByCarlos Ruiz Zafón,Lucia Graves(Translator)

2001 • 1,366 Readers • 487 pages 4.1

The Silmarillion

5 Middle-earth Universe

The Silmarillion
ByJ.R.R. Tolkien

1977 • 1,180 Readers • 481 pages 3.9

The Son

The Son
ByPhilipp Meyer

2012 • 113 Readers • 689 pages 3.9

The Source

The Source
ByJames A. Michener

1965 • 58 Readers • 1,080 pages 3.9

The Terraformers

The Terraformers
ByAnnalee Newitz

2023 • 225 Readers • 352 pages 3.3

The Thorn Birds

The Thorn Birds
ByColleen McCullough

189 Readers 3.8

The Three-Body Problem

#1 of 6 in Remembrance of Earth's Past

The Three-Body Problem
ByCixin Liu,Ken Liu(Translator)

2006 • 3,627 Readers • 400 pages 3.9

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The Vanishing Half

The Vanishing Half
ByBrit Bennett

2020 • 1,256 Readers • 400 pages 4.1

The White Stone

The White Stone
ByAnatole France

1880

The Whole Town's Talking

#4 of 4 in Elmwood Springs

2016 • 15 Readers • 434 pages 4.3

The Witching Hour

#1 of 2 in Lives of the Mayfair Witches

1990 • 246 Readers 3.7

The Years of Rice and Salt

The Years of Rice and Salt
ByKim Stanley Robinson

2002 • 166 Readers 3.6

Cover 4

To Climates Unknown
ByArturo Serrano

3 Readers • 317 pages

To Say Nothing of the Dog

#2 of 4 in Oxford Time Travel

1990 • 319 Readers • 514 pages 4.2

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Ursula, Under

Ursula, Under
ByIngrid Hill

2004 • 6 Readers • 512 pages 3

Victory City

Victory City
BySalman Rushdie

2023 • 193 Readers • 338 pages 4

Villager

Villager
ByTom Cox

2022 • 10 Readers • 336 pages 5

War and Peace

War and Peace
ByLeo Tolstoy,Marcy Kahan,+1 more

190 • 1,234 Readers • 838 pages 4.1

Waterland

Waterland
ByGraham Swift,Ann Patty

1983 • 25 Readers • 324 pages 4.6

We, the Drowned

We, the Drowned
ByCarsten Jensen,Charlotte Barslund(Translator),+1 more

2006 • 99 Readers • 678 pages 4.3

When the Lion Feeds

#1 of 23 in Courtney publication order

When the Lion Feeds
ByWilbur Smith

1964 • 26 Readers • 544 pages 3.8

White Teeth

White Teeth
ByZadie Smith

2001 • 422 Readers • 448 pages 3.8

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

1991 • 191 Readers • 724 pages 4.3