Endings

[Maze353]

I don't know why this seems to have gotten so popular with authors, but lately it seems like every book I read ends with a nasty cliffhanger. Leaving me going "What happens next!?" because the last paragraph is the main character falling off a cliff, getting stabbed, etc does not endear the author or their stories to me. stare

Anyone else noticing this new trend?  

[NightIntent]

I suspect all publishers want authors to create series. Long series. That will garner many long-term fans who will buy the hardcovers when they come out and therefore make the publisher a lot of money. Terrible cliffhangers are excellent ways to make readers want to buy the hardcover.

I've also noticed that even when there's a satisfying ending to something, authors will still continue the series and beat it to death (Green Rider, the October Daye series (although this one is still pretty good as of now), etc.). TV shows do this, too. As long as there's money in it for them, they want to get it so they continue the series.  

[Clover_IceQueen]

Cliffhangers are cool. I like them.
What I don't like is when I've gotten invested in a series and the last book has a really stupid ending. Even worse is when a trilogy is supposed to end on book three, then the author writes another book to continue it, making it not a trilogy anymore, and the ending of that book is worse than the ending of the third one.  

[Clover_IceQueen]

NightIntent

I suspect all publishers want authors to create series. Long series. That will garner many long-term fans who will buy the hardcovers when they come out and therefore make the publisher a lot of money. Terrible cliffhangers are excellent ways to make readers want to buy the hardcover.

I've also noticed that even when there's a satisfying ending to something, authors will still continue the series and beat it to death (Green Rider, the October Daye series (although this one is still pretty good as of now), etc.). TV shows do this, too. As long as there's money in it for them, they want to get it so they continue the series.

I sort of mentioned what you did in your second paragraph. I'm glad that I am not the only person who gets annoyed at series that should have ended long ago.  

[NightIntent]

Clover_IceQueen

I sort of mentioned what you did in your second paragraph. I'm glad that I am not the only person who gets annoyed at series that should have ended long ago.

It makes me pretty annoyed. I know part of it is because the publishers probably pushing the writers to add more because it'll sell and they'll make more money, but it doesn't help any to know that.  

[Clover_IceQueen]

NightIntent

Clover_IceQueen

I sort of mentioned what you did in your second paragraph. I'm glad that I am not the only person who gets annoyed at series that should have ended long ago.

It makes me pretty annoyed. I know part of it is because the publishers probably pushing the writers to add more because it'll sell and they'll make more money, but it doesn't help any to know that.

As a writer, I'd probably find a way around that. For instance, using the same world but focusing on different characters.  

[Maze353]

NightIntent

I suspect all publishers want authors to create series. Long series. That will garner many long-term fans who will buy the hardcovers when they come out and therefore make the publisher a lot of money. Terrible cliffhangers are excellent ways to make readers want to buy the hardcover.

I've also noticed that even when there's a satisfying ending to something, authors will still continue the series and beat it to death (Green Rider, the October Daye series (although this one is still pretty good as of now), etc.). TV shows do this, too. As long as there's money in it for them, they want to get it so they continue the series.

I believe you hit the nail on the head: it all comes down to $$. That's probably why they came up with the 14$ trade paperbacks since most people buy mass market paperbacks instead of hardback.  

[NightIntent]

Maze353

NightIntent

I suspect all publishers want authors to create series. Long series. That will garner many long-term fans who will buy the hardcovers when they come out and therefore make the publisher a lot of money. Terrible cliffhangers are excellent ways to make readers want to buy the hardcover.

I've also noticed that even when there's a satisfying ending to something, authors will still continue the series and beat it to death (Green Rider, the October Daye series (although this one is still pretty good as of now), etc.). TV shows do this, too. As long as there's money in it for them, they want to get it so they continue the series.

I believe you hit the nail on the head: it all comes down to $$. That's probably why they came up with the 14$ trade paperbacks since most people buy mass market paperbacks instead of hardback.

Ugh. I hate trade paperbacks. So unwieldy. And really, what exactly am I paying like $6 more for?  

[Maze353]

You get an extra $6 of paper I guess....

How about good endings? Come across any books where the ending was "perfect"? I finished the Last book in the Sirantha Jax series by Ann Aguire and the ending was really good: it tied up everything and fit the characters without having that "Happily Ever After, The End" feeling.  

[NightIntent]

I keep meaning to make a thread about this series and forgetting, but the Stormlord series by Glenda Larke (first name may be incorrect) was pretty amazing. I picked the first one up on a whim because I had a coupon for 30% off a book and no specific book that I wanted and it sounded good. It was so good. I read the entire thing in a week--which is saying something considering how little time I devote to reading lately (partially due to time constraints and partially due to lack of interest in most books on my shelf at the moment). I read the entire trilogy in less than three weeks, and they are not short books. It's far from the "pefect" ending, with everything tied up in a nice package, but Larke does a really good job of wrapping up the majority of the main plot points and she settles most of the characters nicely. A couple things seem forced, but not too terribly so. I'm probably going to look into her other boooks at some point, too, just to see how consistent she is.  

[Maze353]

I like the endings of Meredith Ann Pierce's books. The endings feel like even though the story is over the characters are still going about their lives, and in some cases, still dealing with the repercussions of what they did in the book.

I'll have to look up Stormlord. The title & author sound familiar....  

[Maze353]

Terry Goodkind with the Sword of Truth series needs to be added to the list of authors beating a series to death. He is on book 14 now and each book is roughly 600 pages long. I though book 9 was the end of it; everything was roughly wrapped up and seemed as though the series had finally come to a natural, logical conclusion. Boy was I ever wrong....