People are busy. Between juggling professional pursuits, personal goals, and spending time with family and friends, time has become a precious commodity. What does that mean in practical terms? Our hobbies often fall by the wayside. And one hobby that many people wish they had more time to do? Read a book. But aspiring bibliophiles crunched for time need not worry. The continued desire to read in today’s fast-paced world has led to an interesting development: the resurgence of the serial novel.

Serial novels are nothing new. Some of literature’s most famous novels—such as A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas—were originally published as installments in newspapers and magazines. It may be hard to believe in our current digital age, but novels were not a common media format a few centuries ago. During that time, printing and binding books were prohibitively expensive. To keep costs down, longer works of fiction were run as serialized fiction instead.

Make no mistake. Despite its long history, serialized fiction is far from old-fashioned. Popular dramas such as Netflix’s Kingdom or HBO’s Game of Thrones make effective use of serial storytelling. Each episode tells a story but ultimately exists as part of a larger tale. Combine this now-familiar story structure with our time-crunched lives and it was inevitable that serial novels would regain public interest.

The growing interest has not gone unnoticed. Services like Serial Box offer a variety of titles, many of which are written by today’s brightest stars in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Even platforms like Tapas, which are better known for webtoons, now feature sections dedicated entirely to online novels.

But this raises an important question: What exactly is a serial novel?

In simple terms, a serial novel is a novel told in a serialized format. Unlike traditional novels that you can read from start to finish in one sitting, serialized novels are published in installments that you read at regular intervals. All-day reading marathons are impossible with serial fiction. You must wait for the next installment, which may be a week or even a month from now. The only exception, of course, is if you discover a serialized story midprogress or after completion.

Defining Traits of a Serial Novel

Because of how they are originally published, serial novels differ from traditional novels in how they are both written and read.

Each installment must tell a story that both satisfies readers and intrigues them enough to anticipate future releases. There is a good reason for this. Even though each episode is part of a longer work, that same episode might be a reader’s first and only exposure to the story. It must answer enough questions to prevent confusion while asking new ones to keep people hooked.

Because new readers might discover a serial work at any time, installments usually feature reminders about past events and characters. Traditional novels don’t need these summaries because they’re meant to be read over a shorter time period. In a serialized novel, however, it might be months since readers last saw a specific character and therefore need their memories jogged.

Cliff-hangers are a serialized novel’s best friend. Cliff-hangers appear in all types of stories, but serial fiction uses them far more often. After all, what better way is there to hook readers and make them desperate to find out what happens next?

What Makes A Serialized Novel Different from A Traditional Novel?

Some serialized novels end up collected and packaged like traditional novels, but don’t be fooled. While they might look like a traditional novel, they do not read like one. Every defining trait is still present. You might find more repetition than in a traditional novel. You might see more reminders about a key event that previously happened. Chapters might appear disjointed at first and not flow the same as in a traditional novel. Don’t think of these characteristics as flaws, but rather as indicators of a different storytelling style.

If you want to learn more about serial novels, why not learn firsthand and pick up one of the most popular serialized stories in South Korea? A few recommendations include the transmigration-themed Omniscient Reader, monster-hunting adventure Solo Leveling, and epic fantasy Fallen Queen, Book 1 of the best-selling Mariposa series by Y.R. Shin.