Consider the reverse? Excerpts from novels that stand alone and hold up to scrutiny and appeal are few and far between though exquisite. Ralph Ellison's "
Battle Royal" excerpted from
The Invisible Man is an example of excellence (Houston Community College hosted PDF).
How does the excerpt stand alone? The excerpt is a complete action in and of itself, mostly a past now-moment scene mode, though ample narrator recollection and contemporary-now commentary, too, plus subtext appeals. The protagonist expresses a natural and necessary want right at the start and all the cast and situation thwart the satisfaction of the want, and the outcome, the "destination," an inevitable and dramatic and natural and necessary surprise.
On the other hand, more than a few short stories launched novels and writer careers. The traditional pathway to publication success, an expanded or saga continuation of a short story, a motif, facet, or feature propelled more than a few writers toward celebrity -- more so in science fiction and fantasy than other genres. The same phenomena as excerpts, that is, the short stories portray completed actions in and of themselves and express a facet of the human condition subtext. Isaac Asimov's 1941 "Runaround," the first explicit appearance of the "Three Laws of Robotics," is an example of excellence.
