Favorite book series that ended badly.
- Thread starter Gaiseric
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I'll be another person to mention A song of Ice and Fire despite it not even being done yet. I got to the fourth book before I just stopped reading, unable to go any farther. Not because he's a bad writer by any stretch, but my god is it miserable. Everyone by that point is either unhappy or dead and frankly I think the author has written himself into a bit of a corner where everything has become so 'grimdark' that the only even remotely 'happy ending' possible short of stupid last second plot twist would be just to kill the whole cast and say they're content in the afterlife or somesuch.
Besides that I didn't like the ending for the Troy series by David Gemmell, though to be fair it's not the authors fault consider he, well, he died before he could finish the last book and another author had to try and finish it up using his notes with... mixed results.
Pity because that was my favourite depiction of the Troy legend yet.
Besides that I didn't like the ending for the Troy series by David Gemmell, though to be fair it's not the authors fault consider he, well, he died before he could finish the last book and another author had to try and finish it up using his notes with... mixed results.
Pity because that was my favourite depiction of the Troy legend yet.
No, I understand that he had to forget everything - that sacrifice was actually a relatively interesting part of the novel. I meant that the fact that he learns to control the powers there proves that he could learn to control his powers once he's back - after time of course, but my point was that there was no real growth to his control, merely his power level.VoidWanderer said:
I loved the series to death and I quite liked the ending, not the climax part but the very end thing with the life summary. (too lazy to spoiler tag so I kept that kinda vague) it left me with kind of a fuzzy feeling inside.aegix drakan said:
That said DJ MacHale's new series, Morpheus Road is going great so far, these first two books have been a fun read and I cannot wait for the third.
Yup, in the same universe. I think it's meant to be set before the events of the books transpired, addressing The Great Unknown, V.F.D. and the Snickets. I believe the Baudelaires are involved but are obviously not the main characters. Guessing they'll introduce a new 'mysterious family' for that! 2012 release! =DVault101 said:
I really hope the dude doesn't keel, but you're right, chances are high.Ovedius said:
I really feel like he delayed the last book while he pushed to get the series more mainstream. HBO, video games...just seemed like he was holding the book back just to release it when he finally got his show finished. Which sucks for us, but he needs his millions, right?
As for the dude that said Harry Potter is sad, you definitely haven't read these books. In these books, *SPOILER* characters you actually give a shit about die. Like main characters.
what about the target audience?Mestraal said:
I know that the series was intended for kids (hard as that is to belive at times..) I wonder if the new series might target older readers..much like harry potter became more mature as it went on
then again its not like the books arnt alreasy good and enjoyable on an adult level
This! A thousand times this!Blackmagic1515 said:
As for my on-topic input, I can't really name a series... Though the ending to Matthew Reilly's "The Five Greatest Warriors" annoyed me. Sure, the books aren't exactly on the deep or meaningful side of the divide, but that one was fairly emotional with the deaths of some big-name characters. And the ending just felt... rushed. And that epilogue section. Meh.
Loved the rest of the book and the series of Jack West Jr. And just about all of Reilly's other work.
My big one is the Tamir triad from Lynn Flewelling. First two books of that were pretty good, but the third one was chock full of "Will they, won't they, does he like me, does she like me" BS that made my gut churn, plus the real bad guy, an evil wizard, dies from being shoved off of a balcony, making the only real challenge a swordfightandthe new witch acting as the Deus Ex Machina solving every last other little issue
so as you can see I lurk more then post but this topic has caught my eye.
Peter F. Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" trilogy.
It is a si-fi series and is amazing in my opinion, he builds a complete universe and a large scale problem that effect everyone. he continues to build this universe till the last book, where he then spends something like 45 pages fixing this huge issue he just created. was an amazing let down.
however, I still recommend reading it !! also you get a classic example of "Deus ex machina"
Peter F. Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" trilogy.
It is a si-fi series and is amazing in my opinion, he builds a complete universe and a large scale problem that effect everyone. he continues to build this universe till the last book, where he then spends something like 45 pages fixing this huge issue he just created. was an amazing let down.
however, I still recommend reading it !! also you get a classic example of "Deus ex machina"
I can't speak for anyone else as to why they didn't like the way Harry Potter ended, but I can tell you the reasons I didn't like it.Vault101 said:
Reason #1:
It seemed like J.K. Rowling wrote herself into a corner, then realized what a dark place Harry had to go to in order to fulfill his destiny, and she couldn't bring herself to do it. Of the Horcruxes, the only one Harry destroyed was the diary, and he did that not knowing what it was. Dumbledore destroyed the ring, Ron the locket, Hermione the cup, Goyle the diadem, Neville the snake, and Voldemort the piece trapped in Harry himself.
Reason #2:
The Horcruxes were a bit out of left field, but the Deathly Hallows were an ass-pull. You remember the last season of Lost, where the whole thing turns out to be about magic water? Or the end of this last season of Doctor Who, where the Doctor just so happened to run across a robot he could use to take his place with no one noticing? It was that level of ass-pull. Which brings me to...
Reason #3:
If you think about the plots of books 1-6, Harry never wins against Voldemort. Insomuch as Voldemort doesn't generally get what he wants, he doesn't win either, but the fact remains Harry never won a fight against him. Book #1 it was Quirrel who died, and Harry only made it because Dumbledore showed up at the last possible moment. #2 wasn't Voldemort, but just the fragment that was the teenage Tom Riddle, and Harry only lived because for some unknown reason the Sorting Hat magically contained a sword, and Fawkes appeared out of nowhere to save him. #3, Harry was never actually the target of the "villain", and didn't face Voldemort at all. #4, the only reason he didn't die was because his wand and Voldemort's coincidentally shared a core from Fawkes, and it mysteriously turns out wands will do something completely arbitrary when that happens, giving Harry the chance to run away. #5, Dumbledore showed up with the Order of the Phoenix to save him at the last possible moment. #6, Snape saved the day, though we didn't know it at the time.
Put in an honest fight against Voldemort, Harry loses and even J.K. Rowling knew it. Hence the ass-pull.
Reason #4:
J.K. Rowling not only set Harry up to go to a very dark place, but she set him up for what could have been a fantastic ending even after that, especially since it would have meant an epiphany on Harry's part as well as Voldemort's.
Seven books J.K. Rowling spent banging on about the power of love. Love is the greatest power of all. Harry's greatest power is love. Harry loves so much. Oh, did I mention that even if all the Horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort can still be saved if he only regrets what he did... and that he has a mental connection with Harry... and that Harry's greatest power is love, so he's set up to make the choice to save Voldemort from damnation even when no one else will... and that Voldemort can experience all that and save himself by rerestoring his soul through Harry even as he dies, which would complete Harry's journey as a Christ-like redeemer figure? I did?
Well screw that, I did an ass-pull. I'm going with my deus ex machina "the wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter. It's not always clear why, but what is clear is that wands are fickle little bitches that will switch allegiance at the last possible moment based on the most contrived and improbable of grounds" ending.
Personally, I didn't have to make it to the epilogue. The whole book felt like something I accidentally stepped in.
My pick is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. By the end of the third book I had long ago lost track of what the fuck was supposed to be happening or why it was happening, hated all the characters and just felt cheated by the ending which basically goes
"Oops, the world ended. POOF"
Only book ending I really didn't enjoy, by which I mean pissed me off to no end is Revan by Drew Karpyshyn. Two characters I love got really crappy endings, and I don't approve of this.