Worst (& Best) book series finales

[mjh215]

Carrying forward with my "Worst (& Best)" theme.

We have all been there. Anxiously reading thru a series.... 5 to go... 4 to go... 3 to go... 2 to go, and why is the author having this charactor start doing this?... 1 to go and, NO!!!! Why did s/he do that!?

-MJ

[ChipnDale]

The Twilight Series, from what I've heard those who loved/liked book 1 ended up dissapointed or hating book 4.

Personally, I hated book 1 and stopped reading from there.

[ficbot]

I started hating Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series when she started going all 'literary' and writing in the present tense. Oh, and when she brought back a dead person.

Still enjoying Nora Robert's J.D. Robb series and Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series, even umpteen volumes in...

[montsnmags]

I never liked the very ending of The Dark Tower, by Stephen King. You could see it coming a mile off, picking such a near-clichéd idea for finale, and, for me, it felt like he caved to the openness of his created universe (that is, that he consciously left room to always create a synecdoche of the series in new books).

(It should be noted in my criticisms, that I say "felt like" with the implicit notation of misjudgement on my part - I liked this series very much, and happily recommend it to people. I respect the abilities of this author such that what I "feel" about his motivations and decisions has as much relevance or applicability to his brilliant storytelling as a grain of dust to a hurricane. I'm always conscious of the vast distance between his writing ability and my own. The man can write!).

Cheers,
Marc

[mores]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

I never liked the very ending of The Dark Tower, by Stephen King. You could see it coming a mile off, picking such a near-clichéd idea for finale, and, for me, it felt like he caved to the openness of his created universe (that is, that he consciously left room to always create a synecdoche of the series in new books).

synecdoche |siˈnekdəkē|
noun
a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in Cleveland won by six runs (meaning “
that still does not make sense to me ... I think I should get me a "one-complicated-word-a-day" calendar too

I haven't really ditched a series because of a "finale", a lot of them just lost their appeal. I either got tired of reading the inner monolgues of a female protagonist (written by a man, forgot the name of the author, as well as the series), or the books were just boring "remakes" of the previous ones with some minor changes.
I did not like the way the Alex Cross series from James Patterson turned out, I also got bored by the descriptions of his love for his family and how superior his kids were in everything they did.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by mores

synecdoche |siˈnekdəkē|
noun
a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in Cleveland won by six runs (meaning “
that still does not make sense to me ... I think I should get me a "one-complicated-word-a-day" calendar too

Think of it as "part representing the whole", and think of new, non-Dark Tower stories/novels by Stephen King "re-presenting" the big story happening in the series. If it helps (and it does me), think of Charlie Kaufman, (writer: Being John Malkovich) writing and directing a movie in which "a theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play". Okay, this doesn't help at all, but I'm really looking forward to that movie.

I haven't really ditched a series because of a "finale", a lot of them just lost their appeal.
...

I'll note that, as mentioned, "I liked this series very much, and happily recommend it to people". Similar to the duology, The Sparrow and Children of God, my somewhat dissatisfaction with aspects of them do not preclude me from recommending them or enjoying them. The finale isn't the only pleasure to be drawn from a book or series, and, assuming that, for instance, everyone who read Stephen King's Dark Tower series was as disappointed as me in the finale (a very bad assumption to make - I have never had a single fellow reader agree with me), I don't think that it would or should make anyone give up on them. There's way too much pleasure to be had on the journey (Hell, I'd reread them just for the bits containing Oy. ).

Cheers,
Marc

[ravenne]

Originally Posted by ficbot

Still enjoying Nora Robert's J.D. Robb series ...

You´re talking about the "In death"-Series, right?
I´ve just finished the second one and will certainly go for number three, four, five .... I think they´re nice, suspenseful und quite easy reads - perfect entertainment even for someone whose mother tongue isn´t English

I also like Japanese anime-series such as Death Note or X by Clamp. Unfortunately you cannot get them as ebooks.

[mjh215]

Originally Posted by mores

synecdoche |siˈnekdəkē|
noun
a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in Cleveland won by six runs (meaning “
that still does not make sense to me ... I think I should get me a "one-complicated-word-a-day" calendar too

I looked up synecdoche as well. Even bookmarked it as an intriguing word. I'm guessing Monty stumped a few of us with that one.

-MJ

[bbusybookworm]

For worst Endings, I'll like to nominate the Last book in David Eddings Latest Series.

The Dreamers Series Comprising off

1) The Elder Gods
2) The Treasured One
3) Crystal Gorge
4) The Younger Gods


While the quality of the Series itself was not that great, and a disappointment to fans, The Ending itself was probably the most disappointing.

Spoiler:

He basicly used the Du ex Machina of going back in Time and fixing everything, so that whole bloody thing never happened !!!

What was the Point of the whole story then?

[AlexC]

Peter Hamilton's The Night's Dawn trilogy. Worst. Ending. Ever.

[mazzeltjes]

Originally Posted by AlexC

Peter Hamilton's The Night's Dawn trilogy. Worst. Ending. Ever.

Very bad indeed.

Also on my list of bad endings :
Patrick Tilley - Amtrak Wars 6 - Earth Thunder
I loved the series but the last book really took all the fun away.

[AprilHare]

The best was the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Ever.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Worst: HHGTG 5 (whatever it was called).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ravenne

You´re talking about the "In death"-Series, right?
I´ve just finished the second one and will certainly go for number three, four, five .... I think they´re nice, suspenseful und quite easy reads - perfect entertainment even for someone whose mother tongue isn´t English

I've read 3 or 4 of the In Death series. Pretty good overall.

[mjh215]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

Worst: HHGTG 5 (whatever it was called).

Mostly Harmless... It was the weakest out of the series but I wouldn't consider it horrible. I think the problem was DNA stopped wanting to write the series after book one. Each book afterwards he was coerced into.

One of my favorite quotes from DNA, "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

-MJ