I read a lot of series books. I like the continuing storylines and getting to spend so much time with the characters. I enjoy seeing characters grow and change as they face different situations and learn from past mistakes. Series books are similar to my favorite television shows in that way but instead of getting to watch week after week I often get to check in only once a year as a new book is released. Unfortunately, I’m finding that series books are developing another factor in common with television – the cliffhanger ending.
Now I expect a cliffhanger ending each season on television. After all, we only have to wait through the summer months and then we anticipate the start of the fall television season knowing we will get a resolution. With books it is a different story however. Unless an author has multiple books in the pipeline, I generally see one new book a year in each of the series that I read. Then there are the authors who take longer to produce books (Hello George R. R. Martin!) so there is even more of a gap. I get very frustrated when these books have a cliffhanger ending. I’m not talking about the ending in which most of the book is resolved but something is left open ended to facilitate another storyline or even introducing a new factor near the end of the story that will continue the storyline into the next book. I’m talking about books that simply don’t resolve anything.
English: Books from the Disher trilogy of detective novels by Will Scott, published in the 1920s. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m not going to name names here but one of my favorite authors for adult books also has some young adult series going. I read the first trilogy and enjoyed it so when the first book in the next trilogy came out I got it from the library. I’m reading along and the characters get into a very intense situation and I’m turning the pages wondering how it is all going to turn out… What? That is the last page?! But, but, but… what happens to them? Swoosh – Thud! The book goes flying across the room and hits the wall (okay, not really but I was tempted). The book ended without the main characters finding out much about their situation and what they did discover they didn’t really understand. The only reason that I understood some of what they found was because I had read the first trilogy.
Essentially this author is writing a trilogy in the truest sense because the entire story is being split into three parts. The first book in the trilogy is similar to the first act in a play. It sets up the characters and the story with an introduction but doesn’t actually resolve anything. This is a valid stylistic and literary choice for the author but as a reader I have issues with it. If these books were going to come out quickly (say all three within the period of a year) then I would only have to wait a bit between installments and would be more easily able to transition between books. However, when there is a year between the books I have read a lot of other books in the meantime. I have forgotten the little details of the story and only retain the bigger picture. It is most likely that I have forgotten exactly how the story ended so when the next book picks up exactly where it left off I am confused. I have too many books waiting for me to go back and reread each book in a series before picking up the newest one.
I’m at the point that if I know an author is writing a series this way, I won’t even start reading it until the last book is out. I will wait until the end then get the books from the library and read them straight through. Well, maybe not one right after another if it is a longer series but that is easily done for a trilogy. This may mean leaving some of my favorite authors by the wayside for a while until they complete their latest series but the bright side is that I get to explore more new to me authors in the meantime.
What is your take on series books? Love them, hate them? Are you seeing more cliffhanger endings than you used to?
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Latest posts by Angela Donner (see all)
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Gah. Yes, I/m reading several series (Fictfact.com is good for keeping up with your series, btw), and I really prefer each book to have an actual conclusion. Karen Marie Moning's Fever series drove me crazy because it's one story spread over (4? I think) books. Fortunately, I didn't discover the series until about a month before the final one came out so by the time I was ready, it had already been released.
I can't really recall any cliffhanger endings that really frustrated me. All of the books that I loved to death didn't do it, and the books that did didn't triggered that reaction on the last page. Guess I'm just not bothered by this technique.
I am with you. I don't read a series until they are all out. Severe cliff hangers are not fair. If the book is not done, don't stop writing. A series should be many COMPLETE books. Not pieces of one long book.
You think books are bad? TV/movies have gotten worse. We just finished watching My Name is Earl and they ended it on a …to be continued and then the series was canceled! Flash Forward was that way too… Some movies which I can't think of right off the top of my head. Oh yeah, Twilight.
I know I have a problem with this so I generally don't start a series unless there are a good number of books already written in it. I like a good ending! :-)
I want a full book with a beginning, middle, and end, regardless of whether it is a series. Thinking… the Spenser mysteries by Robert B. Parker, the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, and even Hamilton's Anita Blake. The character continues to grow and change throughout the series, but each book is a complete and satisfying tale.
I have completely stopped reading YA series because the cliffhanger ending seems to have become standard. The story problem is presented, the characters learn more about the problem, who their friends are, who their enemies are and…. bang, the boy kisses the girl, yay happy, find out what happens a year from now.
Cliffhangers in most "series" of books is to be expected. I think there's a fine line, however, between satisying the reader and creating a dead-stop cliffhanger. As an author, you should give the reader something at the end that satisfies them for all of their hard work reading the book.