endings suck. Anyone...

juelz4sure

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the other day I was watching the hobbit and unexpected journey, and about 15 minutes into the movie my now wife looked over at me and I was just smiling. for me JRR Tolkien's books [FONT=&quot]mesmerized [/FONT] me it's one "story" I wish didn't have an ending and just kept going on am I the only one like that, and if not what are the books or movies you just wish could keep going on and on with no ending. The ending to JRR Tolkien's books are [FONT=&quot]saddening [/FONT]because it's just so beautiful.
 
It's hard to say, really. With some of my favorites, or-more importantly-with first time reads I really get into, in the fantasy genre, endings always seem to be bittersweet. Sweet, because the characters who struggled to get done what they needed to, and finally be able to settle down for peace, but bitter because I realize I can't turn the page and see more of what's going on.


I would say some examples of this for me would probably be things like Soldier Son trilogy by Robin Hobb and The Interior Life: A Quest by Katherine Blake. (The latter I definitely recommend reading, by the way. It is thoroughly enjoyable.)


Some books I disliked so much, or were simply annoyed by so much for some reason, I couldn't wait for them to end. The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series by Tad Williams belongs in this sort of category, not because the story he was telling was bad, but because the POVs between characters bounced around more than Flubber on speed.


Other reads I tend to favorite seem to be simple, goodhearted fun, and while it can be sad for those to end, it's not as bad as more intense reads. Dark Castle, White Horse by Tanith Lee is a good example of such a category.
 
There have been times when I never wanted a story to end. Lord of the Rings would be one of those times, but not so much The Hobbit, which I don't think PJ did as good with as the older movies.

Some books that I wished didn't end would be GRRM's Song of Ice and Fire - because I'm tired of waiting so long for each release - Joe Abercrombie's books - because they are just so damn good - and Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen - because it needed to keep going to do the story justice.


I always feel sad at the end of an epic series of books, because I know that's it; the writer isn't going to invite us along to explore any more of that world and its characters - unless they make spinoffs/sidestories - or do what Sera Douglass did and make a whole new story based in the same world, and again after that.

I know this year, after A Memory of Light is released, I'm going to once more feel sad because finally, The Wheel of Time will turn one last time and then there will never be another book written in its world.
 
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Well, I never got into the Whee of Time myself. I tried-god knows I tried-but Robert Jordan, I felt, just liked hearing the sound of his own voice, I guess. At least it wasn't leapfrogging like MST, not how far I got into it, anyway.


Only reason I never got into Song of Ice and Fire is because I attempted to read it right after coming home from surgery, and that is a time when you get very emotional. Songs I normally listen to for pleasure, like Signs, started making me cry like a newborn.
 
Some books that I wished didn't end would be GRRM's Song of Ice and Fire - because I'm tired of waiting so long for each release
I completely understand, I feel the same way about Patrick Rothfuss it takes so long for him to come out with his next book it's madding.
P.S. When I was talking about the Hobbit it was in regards to the entire series including the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
 
Are you in love with the characters or the world or both?

I have this problem when writing (or imagining my own stories). I just don't want things to end. My theory is it is because what excites me is the opening up of possibilities. For any story, there comes a point where you have to stop opening up possibilities, and instead start pruning off the different paths that the story could have gone down, otherwise you'll never reach any sort of resolution
 
Read Shogun... I didn't want it to end, and when it did, it didn't... if you see what I mean... The love story is ended but Blackthorne's story isn't - he's sitting on a beach with a clearer (but still uncertain) future, and the story itself could go on and on. Maybe I should contact Clavell's estate and ask if I could write a sequel? :eek:;)
 
Sharon Lee's Carousel Tides. Not sure what it is about that book. Read it last year, finished it, sat there holding it as I wanted to be able to continue reading the story, couldn't think of what else I fancied reading so I just opened it and tried re-reading it. It worked. First time I've ever done that. (Only time to date.)
 

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