The Coming Wave

At a glance

Novel by Oliver Optic.

Author

Oliver Optic1822–1897

Genre

Adventure

Readers

Middle grade

Length

Standard40,000 to 80,000 words

How long it takes to read

About 4 h 23 min at 250 words a minute, or 7 h 4 min as an audiobook.

More by Oliver Optic

• Dikes and DitchesOliver Optic86,205 words

All books by Oliver Optic

Compared with other books

The books closest in length, and a few well-known ones for scale.

1. 1War and PeaceLeo Tolstoy587,287Compare
2. 2The Fellowship of the RingJ. R. R. Tolkien177,227Compare
3. 3Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen121,970Compare
4. 4Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneJ. K. Rowling76,944Compare
5. 5The Fault in Our StarsJohn Green65,752Compare
6. 6The Seven Dials MysteryAgatha Christie65,723Compare
7. 7The Coming WaveOliver Optic65,697
8. 8The Confessions of Arsène LupinMaurice Leblanc65,649Compare
9. 9Equal RitesTerry Pratchett65,447Compare
10. 10The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald47,094Compare

Counted from the text

Automated estimates from the selected Project Gutenberg text; it may include a preface or notes.

Words in the text

65,697

Chapters

18about 3,650 words each

Dialogue

33%of the words are inside quotation marks

Average sentence

16.4 words

Vocabulary

389 different words in every 1,000Distinct words in the sampled text; this does not measure writing quality.

Where the numbers come from

The word count comes from the sources below.

• gutenberg.orgword count
• openlibrary.orgbook record
• wikidata.orgdescription and author
• hardcover.appreaders' rating

The word count is Musael’s own count of the Project Gutenberg text, which can include a preface or notes.

Checked on 2026-10-27. Page counts change from edition to edition.

Questions