Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
Different strokes for different folks. The unresolved story is a classic storytelling device, going back to the Illiad. Think of how many westerns use a similar device - stranger comes into town, aids the farmers/small time ranchers against the big guy, then rides off into the sunset. "But that's a story for another time" is one of the classic endings.
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Riding off into the sunset isn't the same thing at all. The western has a satisfying conclusion, there just happens to be enough loose ends for more stories. That, as you say, IS a classic storytelling device. But that's not what we're talking about here. Building subplots and then simply stopping before
anything gets resolved is not a story-telling device. It's a series-selling device. Good series writers give readers some sort of satisfying resolution in each installment (regardless if the main story might need eight installments to complete). Bad ones put the pen down and leave all the threads dangling.
The Name of the Wind was nothing more than a novel-length introduction. Parts were entertaining, but it did not comprise a stand alone "story."