Posted on February 8, 2013 - by Kav
Endings That Don’t
Something that bothers me (a lot) as a reader is a book without an ending. I like my story all wrapped up with a neat little bow. I need
resolution and I think most readers do. That’s why I detest books that end in the middle. I have come across a few over the years and I always feel like the author and publisher are holding me hostage. Toying with my reader’s sensibilities and, in some cases, taking advantage of my sensitive reader’s heart. These are always part of a series and I guess the cliffhanger is supposed to keep readers salivating for more. It has the exact opposite effect on me.
Don’t get me wrong — I love series. Thrill at the opportunity to return to a beloved setting and characters, but I still expect to find some resolution for the main characters even if a few story threads are left dangling.
Using Setting As A Common Thread in a Series:
Our own Lorna Seilstad’s Lake Manawa series is a perfect example. Each of her three books. takes place at the same resort and while there are some character crossovers, each story revolves fully around a particular hero and heroine. When a reader comes to the end of one of these books she’s destined to heave a satisfied sigh of sheer pleasure because the story is complete, the hero and heroine are right where she wants them to be. But the reader is also left wondering who will play a role in the next book and eagerly anticipates its release. That’s series perfection.
Using a Single Character as a Common Thread in a Series:
It takes a special talent to weave one character’s story through several books and leave readers satisfied at the end of each story. Cindy Woodsmall immediately leaps to mind as an author who possesses such a talent. She tells Hannah Lapp’s story in her Sisters of the Quilt series. It takes all three books to reach a satisfactory final conclusion but each individual story has a sense of complication even though loose threads dangle enticingly out of reach.
Using Plot As A Common Thread in a Series:
This is a tricky one and it isn’t often done to my finicky reader’s standards. I read one a few years ago that ended on such a ridiculous cliffhanger that I felt insulted. (Yes, I take my reading seriously.) The Secrets of Crittenden County by Shelley Shepard Gray is a perfect example of a series with a continuous plot that works. The series explores a murder mystery and while each book brings us closer to the real killer, we don’t find out whodunnit until the end of the last book. But Missing, The Search and Found are complete stories in and of themselves told from the perspective of distinct hero and heroine. And one of the neatest techniques Gray used as an anchor in each book was replaying the same scene but from different character’s perspectives. Each time we read it, we gained more of an overall understanding of the dynamics at work in this compelling read. And the books were published within three months of each other. Now that’s the way to show your readers a little respect.
So that’s my two cents worth on series writing. What’s your opinion?
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February 8, 2013
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Rose Ross Zediker said:
I like the story to have an ending to whether it’s a stand alone or series.
However, I don’t mind when the author starts building a thread, or leaves a question in your mind, that will start and be resolved in the next book. But I want all the plot conflict for the hero/heroine resolved by the end of the book.
Hope that makes sense…it’s early and it’s Friday!
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February 8, 2013
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Brenda Anderson said:
While I don’t need everything wrapped up in a tidy bow, a book still needs to resolve with a satisfying ending–I don’t need happily-ever-after either. It has to be the right ending for the story. As Rose said, the author can develop threads that carry through, but the story arc must be complete.
While cliff-hangers work on TV, I think they fail in books because by the time the next in the series comes out you’ve read many other books in between and have forgotten the details from the first. That makes the cliff-hanger an annoyance rather than intrigue.
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February 8, 2013
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Dawn Ford said:
Kav,
I’m with you! I have found that in the past few years YA books (mainly CBA ones) that are otherwise good–good characters, good plot, fresh voice–get to the end and the author then strings you along for he next book. There might be something small resolved, or not, but there is never any satisfaction. SO frustrating! A few series goes on with books nearing 10 in the series. One of the books in between inevitably is from a secondary character’s POV, then that character becomes a bigger part of the overall plot that NEVER ENDS. It’s like the Energizer Bunny. It keeps going….and going….and going…..
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February 8, 2013
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Dawn Ford said:
Sorry folks. Pet Peeve of mine, if you couldn’t tell.
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February 8, 2013
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Nicole said:
I’m with you, Ladies. Like Brenda, I don’t need a tidy bow, but, like Kav, don’t insult me with an ending that forces me to buy the next book because if it’s just a setup for the next in the series, I’m out. And not happy.
Great series work:
Sibella Giorello’s novels with her Special Agent Raleigh Harmon character
J. Mark Bertrand’s with his Roland March detective series
Steven James: the Patrick Bowers Series which also connects different villains throughout the stories
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February 8, 2013
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Kav said:
Rose you make total sense. Sometimes I feel like the author reached his/her word count and just stopped!
That’s a really good point, Brenda — about how cliffhangers work on tv, but not in books. It’s true — I read 3-4 books a week and if I finish a cliffhanger part one and the next book isn’t coming out for eight more months, well forget it! That’s why I thought Gray’s series was so well received. The release dates were tight. Kudos to the publisher for doing that.
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February 8, 2013
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Kav said:
Dawn, I hear you and totally agree. A few years back a very popular Canadian author released a new book for middle readers. I snapped it up for both my libraries because she is brilliant! Never written a dud and this one was a mystery with a ghost twist. What 11 year old would be able to resist that? The first book was a page turner — mostly because of a mysterious secondary character that you didn’t know if he was good or bad. Kind of Snape character. I swear the whole book was foreshadowing for the big reveal about this character. Only it stopped, abruptly. And the author had the audacity to add …to be continued. Gah!!! Who does that to young readers? And don’t they realize that young readers grow older at an alarming rate and so do their tastes in things like fiction? Needless to say the series was doomed and fizzled.
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February 8, 2013
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Kav said:
Nicole, great point about long-standing series that follow one main character. Stories complete in themselves but readers know the hero/heroine will be back to foil another dastardly plot someday. Mysteries and suspense are great for that. Thanks for adding to my list.
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February 8, 2013
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Dawn Ford said:
Kav,
Such a shame.
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February 8, 2013
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Lorna Seilstad said:
Kav, I’m honored to make your series list. I like my books tied up at the end so that’s probably why I write them that way. Even if the series is an ongoing one, I want this “episode” to come to a satisfactory conclusion.
What a lot of readers don’t know is how many threads there can be to tie! There’s the A storyline, the spiritual arc, the B storyline, and so forth. I’m always afraid I’m going to miss one of them or not bring it to fruition.
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February 8, 2013
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Kav said:
You haven’t missed any yet, Lorna. I just love how you wrap up a story! And hey — I saw your new bookcover on your website. WOW!!!!!!! It’s gorgeous! Love the book blurb too. Can’t wait until spring.
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February 8, 2013
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Stacy said:
I’m so with you on this, Kav. The Hunger Games comes to mind – there was an end to each book while the thread kept going. I was totally hooked to continue the series, but I was satisfied at the end of each book.
I really hate being left hanging and don’t usually want to go on with the series because I don’t want to be left hanging at the end of the second!
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February 8, 2013
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Marianne said:
There is one author that does the non-satisfactory ending so well, i won’t pick up the first one until all are available, if i even pick it up at all. Like the rest of you, i don’t mind series, but need a finish line at the end of the book. There is one series out, i think the author is putting a new one out every month or so, but i was so bummed the way the first one ended, i am not sure i will ever look at any of her books the same way again.
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February 8, 2013
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Kav said:
Oh, Stacy — The Hunger Games is a perfect example of a continuous series that works.
Marianne — glad to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t like those cliff-hanging endings. Lucky for us there’s lots of authors who get their endings right.
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February 11, 2013
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Kim said:
I’m right there with you, Kav. That’s why I’m a back to front reader. If it isn’t going to end in a satisfying manner (and in case you are wondering, for me, that’s with a happily ever after), then why bother?