Favorite book series that ended badly.

[Gaiseric]

So, what is it and how did it meet its end?

I have two. The first being Classic Battletech. I didn't care for ending mainly because there were too many loose ends and plot lines that didn't get resolved. The second, is the Twenty Palaces series by Harry Connolly. It was dropped by the publisher after the third book due to poor sales(only found this out a couple days ago). Since it didn't have a real ending it was extremely unsatisfying especially since it ended on a cliff hanger.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

The Pendragon series.

The first nine books were AWESOME. Some of the best books I've read.

And then the final one was so anticlimactic and weird that it sucked.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great series. But the last book really fails in comparison to the rest of the series.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.

let's just say that I fucking hate Greek Tragedies.

 

[VeneratedWulfen93]

The Saga of Darren Shan got realy stupid towards the end. I can deal with vampaneze and shit like that but then the final trilogy is all: go to future, fight dragons....its as if someone swapped out the pages with something else while I wasn't looking It didn't mesh well at all

 

[Atsumi_Warrior]

Also the Movie did the books justice.
I dont like how at the end he just.. DIES! i was sad that it ended. not because it was a sad ending. YES! it was kinda sad. but not as sad as it could have been. should have had him live on IMO. but he needed to fix that "THIS WHOLE BOOK IS REAL" at the very start lol.

 

[Ian Chachana]

Just about everything Darren Shan writes has a horrible ending, despite a promising start to his series. The Demonata honestly grossed me out a bit, but by the tenth it was just the same crap over and over again.

 

[MadPetOwner]

The Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks.

Not that the series is in any way my favorite, far from so actually. But the ending was so bad, I was embarrassed on the authors behalf.

 

[Mosstromo]

Not yet ended but where it is now does not bode well: A Song of Ice and Fire.
This one broke my heart. I was enthralled by this writer, then in a matter of one book, he found himself unable to say "no" to his characters.

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

All three of my favorite book series.

1. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. The first book is incredible, but the quality drops sharply with each of the next two books. Seems like he didn't give himself enough time to work on them or something. He also seemed to have forgotten what he'd written along the way and ended up re-resolving issues that had already been resolved (better) in the first book.

2. The trilogy consisting of Wise Child, Juniper, and Coleman by Monica Furlong. Again, the first book is amazing, but the quality drops. Not as badly as with His Dark Materials, but they become more about adventure and excitement than the first book was, and the thing I liked most about the first book was how calm it was. I've read Wise Child at least a dozen times, Juniper about five, and Coleman once.

3. The Harper Hall trilogy by Anne McCaffrey. The first two were a nice, solid, contained story about a young girl who wanted to become a bard, and the third one was about her goofy friend for some reason. It was like the Pirates of the Caribbean series; that character was funny as a supporting character, but really lame as a main character.

And actually, on that note, the entire Dragonriders of Pern series. I didn't like them as much as the Harper Hall books (which were set in the same world), but still liked them well enough. But after the first two books, the series is total shit.

The only author I like whose work is consistently high-quality is Ursula LeGuin. The entire Earthsea series is fantastic.

 

[Blackmagic1515]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Harry Potter yet. I love the book series and then the last one happened. The epilogue SUCKED. Big time.

 

[Mr Thin]

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.

let's just say that I fucking hate Greek Tragedies.

I was gonna say that I felt it was the only way the series could've ended, but then I looked up what a Greek Tragedy was, and realised that you pretty much said that yourself.

I, however, rather liked the ending. It was the bit just before the ending that I felt unsatisfied with. With the artist and the King.

I know it was meant to be a Deus ex machina, but I wanted some gunplay!

 

[brunothepig]

The Inheritance Cycle. Pains me to say it, because I loved those books, but I'm really bitter about the end.

Spoiler

So, Eragon leaves. I know, not really a spoiler cause Angela predicted it in the first book blah blah. But the prophecy also says he'll never return. First off it's been said the future can be changed. More importantly, there is not a single good reason Eragon wouldn't return. For those of you that haven't read the books, Eragon leaves to establish a new Dragon Rider order. Which means wherever he ends up, it must be close enough to Alagaesia that new Dragon Riders can travel there after they are picked. Otherwise either Eragon will be sitting there alone while all the Dragon Riders stay in Alagaesia, or there will be no new Dragon Riders. Why the hell will Eragon never again return? In ten years he isn't going to put someone else in charge and pop back to see how the land he helped free is doing? To meet his nephew?

The only reason Paolini did it is as homage to LOTR. The final scene is Eragon sailing down a river on an elven boat, saying goodbye to friends he's met in his travels, such as the dwarf king etc. The worst part is, this ending would be fine if it weren't for the prophecy. But saying he'll never return, and then everyone treating it that way, just had me sitting there the whole time waiting for someone to explain why. It just sucks that the author would twist his characters and narrative around to do that, especially when he still could have had that scene, it just wouldn't have been as similar, or sad if Eragon was planning to return.

I've already re-written it in my mind that the prophecy was speaking of his eventual death. He will leave, never to return. He may return a few times, but some day he'll go back to the Riders new place, and die there.

I'm sure there are others, but that is all I can think of right now.

 

[GrandmaFunk]

So, what is it and how did it meet its end?

I have two. The first being Classic Battletech. I didn't care for ending mainly because there were too many loose ends and plot lines that didn't get resolved.

By ending, do you mean when they moved the whole time line 200 years into the future, because that's when I lost interest.

on the other hand, the franchise reboot did free up Michael Stackpole's time and he gave us 2 awesome fantasy series =)

 

[JesterRaiin]

Glen Cook's "The Black Company" series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Company

First trilogy - absolute mega awesome dark fantasy history taking place in original and interesting setting. Everything afterwards - meh. :|

 

[Hero in a half shell]

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy of Five.

The first four books are the greatest pieces of comedic literature I have ever had the pleasure to read. The last book (Mostly Harmless) can go burn itself. So dissappointing even the author hated it.

I'm content with only recognising the Trilogy of four. It was a great ending: bittersweet on the mountainside, with Arthur, Fenchurch and *sniffle* Marvin.

 

[Nachos911]

Anything Harry Turtledove writes is absolutely fantastic, but "Homeward Bound" at the end of the WorldWar/Colonization series was so unfulfilling. The other books had action, punch, drama, and emotional weight, while the last one was just so bland

 

[AlAaraaf74]

The Pendragon series.

The first nine books were AWESOME. Some of the best books I've read.

And then the final one was so anticlimactic and weird that it sucked.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great series. But the last book really fails in comparison to the rest of the series.

I agree, I wasn't too fond of that ending either... And the epilogue confused me.

I would like to add A Series of Unfortunate Events. In The End, no mysteries are explained, maybe two or three, but there are many quesions that go unanswered.

 

[lacktheknack]

A Series Of Unfortunate Events.

It tries to end on a note of hope (and fails, really), and then the whole damn ending is undone in The Beatrice Letters.

Actually, the whole last book wasn't very good. It's a good thing that Snicket stuck to thirteen books.