Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
Trust me. I complain enough for the both of us 
Again... it's not really the series that is the problem. It's the format of the series (and the dearth of the "complete story-arc" ) that I take issue with. One long story chopped into serial (cliffhanger'ed, chapter-like) installments = teh suck (IMO). Series where each individual installment offers a full "book" experience (beginning, middle and end) are just fine with me.
The Cliffhanger at the end of a series installment is a marketing tool, not a literary one. It takes no literary talent to write a cliffhanger ending... just put the pen down somewhere in the middle of the action near the 430 page mark... and voila!
There's a few respected authors out there who have been publishing books for many years that still haven't written (ok, published) an ending yet! Just a beginning and a never ending middle. That's silly. How can I make an informed decision about whether to continue reading an author's (whose writing intrigues me) work, when I have no idea if they have the ability to end a story in a satisfying (satisfying relative to me) manner?
"Stay tuned next week|year|decade for the thrilling next cliffhanger'ed non-concluding installment"
It's like one of those hanging sneezes that just won't happen.  |
OMG! THIS. Soooo this.
Would you believe that the chick writing the Earth's Children series (Clan of the Cave Bear) JUST finished that damn series?? I read the first 3 books in high school...the movie adaptation of the first book was released in 1986. That's just sad. Especially since the first two books and the remaining 4 are nothing like each other. The 1st book was the best and the rest turned into...a multi-part romance novel.