thoughtfulBecause Deadline doesn't have a proper ending, and they don't want to encourage this behavior from publishers.
Okay. Look: if your definition of "proper ending" is "the story is over, and I can walk away satisfied and never need to read another volume," then no, Deadline doesn't have a proper ending. I have often said that the only time it's appropriate to end on a cliffhanger is in the second book of a trilogy, and Deadline ends on a pretty major cliffhanger. I can't apologize for that. It's the nature of the trilogy structure that part two will often end on a cliffhanger, and is allowed to do so. I don't end series books on cliffhangers; the Toby books, and the InCryptid books, all have solid, closed endings. I try to make sure there's always more story, but you can still walk away if you need to. This book is not those books.
Let me be clear: Deadline has an ending. There is a point where it ceases to be Deadline, and becomes Blackout, and that point is where the book ends. The Newsflesh trilogy is three books long, and those books are intrinsically linked, but each of them begins, and ends, at a certain place. The thrust and mood and structure of each volume is different, and when you pick up Blackout, you'll be reading a very different book, even if Deadline ended with some pretty major questions unanswered. I didn't pick that end point arbitrarily. I picked it because that was where the story of Deadline ended, and the story of Blackout began.
I completely understand and appreciate frustration over unanswered questions, unfinished measures, and endings that don't appear to end. And I also understand why some people have chosen to buy Deadline and put it on the shelf to wait for Blackout. I wrote back to the person who emailed me and said that I was sorry, I hadn't done it to increase sales or because my publisher made me; I ended the story where I did because that was where the story ended. And I stand by that.
Deadline may not have a "proper" ending.
But it has the right one.
June 13 2011, 20:34:37 UTC 6 years ago
My favorite example is Stephen King's The Cell. I will not give away the 'ending', because I highly recommend the book. But I will say that you wait with baited breath for hundreds of pages to see if something can be resolved...reach the penultimate moment...and the book ends!
When I finished the book, did I want to shake the ending out of Mr. King? Well, yes, I certainly did. I also wanted to shake his hand, because as a writer...I totally appreciated that he had left me hanging. I was mulling over and playing out in my mind how that damn ending went for months. It was a brilliant way to end the book.
As for the Newsflesh trilogy, that is how it has been presented from the start. And being a trilogy, I expected to be left wanting more at the end of each volume, with the middle volume being the most likely to cause hair pulling anxiety. The person clearly has no understanding of storytelling structure.
Look at Star Wars. (The original three movies, if you please, none of the others exist in my world.) At the end of Empire we are left on these notes...
Luke and Leia do not know they are siblings, and are confused by what they feel for each other.
Leia is falling for Han, but may never see him again.
Luke has lost his hand and is beginning the process of becoming mechanized.
The Empire is WINNING. Our heroes have no idea what their next move should be.
Yet, over the years, many people...fans and critics alike...have argued that Empire was the best of the three movies.
When it comes to Newsflesh...no one can judge the 'ending' yet, because we haven't READ it.
Now that I have truly exposed both the utterly high levels of my geekery, and my total lack of punctuation skills (thank Isis for commas, I use them for everything!), I shall return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.
Rise Up While You Can!
June 13 2011, 20:49:03 UTC 6 years ago