# Bad Endings - Novel Divison **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150 "2014-02-12T15:11:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/41 "2014-02-14T11:16:33Z")
> [@JacksMom](#): > > Don’t pass it up. Even with the lame ending, I think it’s a great read. Can’t say that for _Dark Places._ I couldn’t get into it. OK, so I guess I should take _Dark Places_ off my Amazon wish list, then. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/42 "2014-02-14T12:01:59Z")
The _His Dark Materials_ trilogy, by Philip Pullman. He just doesn’t pull it off in the end. He sets up a lot of promise and then we get a flimsy battle and Lyra can’t read the alethiometer anymore. Big meh. It feels like he made it all too grand and he just can’t pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/43 "2014-02-14T16:08:58Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > The first and only novel I have ever read by John Grisham is “The Broker.” About a third of the way through, it became very evident to me that the book was written as a tax write-off for a trip to Italy… I liked _The Broker_, all in all, but Grisham says in the author’s note that he enjoyed his trip to Italy so much he wanted to get a book out of it. He really makes no bones about it. > [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > _Gone Girl_. Horrible ending… I strongly disagree. Couldn’t disagree more. It’s a dark ending, it’s certainly an appalling ending from the perspective of a key character, but it’s a _great_ ending, I think. **Jabiru** , I hope you’ll still read it. Joe Haldeman is one of my favorite authors, but several of his books have crappy endings - in particular _Buying Time, Earthbound_ and _The Coming_. Abrupt, unconvincing and bigtime let-downs. What was he thinking? Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/44 "2014-02-14T16:14:39Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I liked _The Broker_, all in all, but Grisham says in the author’s note that he enjoyed his trip to Italy so much he wanted to get a book out of it. He really makes no bones about it. I guess I am too attached to the authors I admire, who could distill a warehouse of knowledge or experience into worthwhile prose… having a naval officer say and do exactly the right thing, using a subtle observation about a European city to advance the story, communicating exactly what it’s like to ride this train, drive that car or make an extreme save in tennis. I don’t have much appreciation for the Grishams and Clancys who dump whole travel journals, weapon manuals or encyclopedias into their work, primarily to pad them out to modern salable length. I’m glad Grisham had a nice visit to Italy, but that should have disappeared into the bones of the story and made no more of an appearance than necessary… not go on for page after page about specific hotels and restaurants and menus and tours and so forth. That falls somewhere in between snobbish, stupid and lazy. IMVHO. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/45 "2014-02-14T16:19:56Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I liked _The Broker_, all in all, but Grisham says in the author’s note that he enjoyed his trip to Italy so much he wanted to get a book out of it. He really makes no bones about it. > I strongly disagree. Couldn’t disagree more. It’s a dark ending, it’s certainly an appalling ending from the perspective of a key character, but it’s a _great_ ending, I think. **Jabiru** , I hope you’ll still read it. > > Joe Haldeman is one of my favorite authors, but several of his books have crappy endings - in particular _Buying Time, Earthbound_ and _The Coming_. Abrupt, unconvincing and bigtime let-downs. What was he thinking? Ugh. Crappy doesn’t equal, ‘bad’ or ‘out of nowhere’…actually I don’t really see it. yes, “Seasons” is kind of a kick in the gut, but most of his short stories have happy endings, and Forever War had a surprisingly happy one. Admittedly, the short stories and Forever War are all I’ve read of his work. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/46 "2014-02-14T17:02:46Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > The _His Dark Materials_ trilogy, by Philip Pullman. He just doesn’t pull it off in the end. He sets up a lot of promise and then we get a flimsy battle and Lyra can’t read the alethiometer anymore. Big meh. It feels like he made it all too grand and he just can’t pull it off. Agreed. And I wouldn’t even call it meh. I found the ending so poor that I wanted to throw the book across the room. Not one of the best-known books, but _Down to a Sunless Sea_ by David Graham. Supposedly there were two versions of the novel out there, with a positive and a negative ending. I’ve never seen the negative one, only the positive and it’s just a little too “everything’s going to be all right in the end and if it’s not all right it’s not the end” kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/47 "2014-02-14T17:09:23Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Crappy doesn’t equal, ‘bad’ or ‘out of nowhere’…actually I don’t really see it. yes, “Seasons” is kind of a kick in the gut, but most of his short stories have happy endings, and Forever War had a surprisingly happy one. > > Admittedly, the short stories and Forever War are all I’ve read of his work. I like Haldeman. But, in sci-fi, I dislike aliens that are so advanced and powerful as to be virtually gods - and Haldeman loves them. He’s ended more than one series with hey, turns out that godlike aliens have manipulating events all along. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Cognoscant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Cognoscant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cognoscant)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/48 "2014-02-14T18:07:29Z")
The ending of J. G. Ballard’s _Super-Cannes_ wasn’t a bad ending really. It wasn’t a good ending either, with the protagonist turning himself in for a crime he didn’t commit for no apparent reason. The bad part about it was that was **exactly** the same ending as his previous book, _Cocaine Nights_. And the whole time you’re reading _Super-Cannes_ you’re thinking, “There’s no way he could be possibly setting up the same ending, is there? I mean, it’s J. G. Ballard, but even he wouldn’t pull a stunt like that, would he?” Sadly, that turned me off from reading anything else by Ballard. I’m sure there’s better stuff in his body of work, but that ended it for me. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/49 "2014-02-14T18:31:01Z")
The Golden Compass. the first book was very interesting. Every person a has a familiar who is their Id, armoured polar bears, flaying archer witches, steampunk, etc… Then the next two go off into boring and depressing mundania so that the author can lecture us all about how religion is Eviiiil since I mean, well Narnia… ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/50 "2014-02-14T18:34:51Z")
Thomas Hardy’s Return of the Native ends in a perfectly satisfying fashion. Then for the 1912 edition he added a different ending, apparently the original, which his publishers hadn’t liked. This being Hardy his preferred ending is the one that leaves everyone as miserable as possible. This pales in comparison to what the ITV adaptation of the book did: A main character is a reddleman\*, his job, making a dye for marking sheep, has stained his skin red. In the book he waits two years for the colour to fade before returning to woo his long time love. In the TV series the dye washes off when he heroically leaps into a river to rescue someone. Yep, he was only red because he never had a wash and furthermore a charlatan whose dyed sheep didn’t last the first rainfall. Or the river was magic. Or something \*The dye is red ochre ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/51 "2014-02-14T18:45:14Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > The original ending for “The Stand” is fine. As for Deux ex Machina…like BSG, it’s practically there from day one. Also like LOTR, the ‘God’ part is pretty minimal. And like LOTR, once the big part is over, there’s still quite a bit of story to tell. > > As for Dark Tower, Roland is a tool of the Tower. Roland will never ‘get it right’. The Tower needs Roland to protect the cycles of the Universe. The fact that The Stand’s ending was foreshadowed doesn’t make it any better. I disliked the senselessness of it. It could have ended exactly the same way with or without the “good” characters there. As far as The Dark Tower, I think the ending we got was the only ending possible so I was okay with it. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/52 "2014-02-14T19:15:00Z")
Mother Abagail’s God works in mysterious ways. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/53 "2014-02-14T19:25:28Z")
For me, the ending of _The Stand_ is just fine… because the scene everyone always references as the ending isn’t the actual ending. The _real_ ending is much cooler. Daddy saved the day this time, but the Walking Dude has lots and lots of times. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/54 "2014-02-14T20:11:15Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Crappy doesn’t equal, ‘bad’ or ‘out of nowhere’…actually I don’t really see it. yes, “Seasons” is kind of a kick in the gut, but most of his short stories have happy endings, and Forever War had a surprisingly happy one. > > Admittedly, the short stories and Forever War are all I’ve read of his work. Well, “Seasons” is a short story, not a novel (this thread is about novels), and its ending is fine IMHO. I agree that _The Forever War_ has a “surprisingly happy” ending, given all that came before. But to be blunt, I don’t care if it’s a happy, sad or ambiguous ending, as long as it’s well-written. Abrupt endings, _deus ex machina_ endings, implausible endings, endings that just drop what seemed to be long-important plot thread(s) - that’s what gets me chewing bricks. May I suggest, if you want to read more Haldeman novels with well-written endings, check out _Mindbridge, Tool of the Trade, All My Sins Remembered, Camouflage_ and _The Hemingway Hoax_. > [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > I like Haldeman. But, in sci-fi, I dislike aliens that are so advanced and powerful as to be virtually gods - and Haldeman loves them. He’s ended more than one series with hey, turns out that godlike aliens have manipulating events all along. Ugh. All too true. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/55 "2014-02-15T16:32:17Z")
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Brillant book, but the ending was sad. Hannibal. Thomas Harris takes the best villian and one of the best female heroes, and turns them into a couple by turning her into a Stepford wife? ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/56 "2014-02-15T17:54:49Z")
> [@grude](#): > > GAH! I meant King’s IT, NOT The Stand! IT is the one with the out of nowhere bizarre sex scene that is so squicky it ruins the ending. I’m with you! The first time I read it, I was quite young, and I guess I lacked perspective. But reading it as an adult? Holy shit, I still can’t believe it got published and King didn’t get lynched. And aside from the total social unacceptability of it, it is just poorly thought out and executed. The fact that he thought a bunch of twelve year olds who had developed such strong bonds of friendship needed to express ultimate love by having a gang bang makes me reeeeeaaaallly wonder about him. The Stand had a literal deus ex machina, but at least had a god who regularly communicated with characters all along. It also fits in with our general concepts of the Christian god, who IMHO doesn’t come off as actually all-powerful, and is also kind of a dick who likes to demand totally unnecessary sacrifices from his followers. The Dark Tower had a disappointing ending, but it would have been arguably justified if so much of the preceding story hadn’t started to totally suck ass. > [@Diceman](#): > > _Hannibal_ by Thomas Harris has an ending that is not only bad, but leaves you wondering about the mental stability of the author. Yes. I’ve never read anything that was so obviously a big “fuck you” to all the loyal fans. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/57 "2014-02-15T18:38:42Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > For me, the ending of _The Stand_ is just fine… because the scene everyone always references as the ending isn’t the actual ending. The _real_ ending is much cooler. Daddy saved the day this time, but the Walking Dude has lots and lots of times. This… I think it’s just fine and really- the ending isn’t the point. The whole point of that book is how Stu Redman is the most awesome, righteous man in the fictional universe. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/58 "2014-02-17T19:03:07Z")
I want to make my case for: Tad Williams, maker of ginormous tri/tetra- ologies A: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series-The Dragonbone Chair was really a great beginning book; Stone of Farewell is a strong middle; the story starts to drift a bit in To Green Angel Tower, which had to be split into two books (each longer than the previous ones!). After all that, the ending was so anticlimactic, I can’t even remember it to spoil it. I can’t recommend this series. B: Otherland series- City of Golden Shadow was a super great start, the River of Blue Fire was also fantastic; then the story gradually dwindles and loses focus over two more books, Mountain of Black Glass and Sea of Silver Light. Again, I found the end so anticlimactic that I cannot even remember it, and I never recommend this book. I think he introduces too many moving parts to keep a cohesive story going from start to finish (much like @#% George RR Martin and his @#% Song of Fire & Ice, which I predict none of will live long enough to see how he screws up that ending). I will not read another book by this author. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/59 "2014-02-17T19:35:23Z")
> [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](#): > > A: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series-The Dragonbone Chair was really a great beginning book; Stone of Farewell is a strong middle; the story starts to drift a bit in To Green Angel Tower, which had to be split into two books (each longer than the previous ones!). After all that, the ending was so anticlimactic, I can’t even remember it to spoil it. I can’t recommend this series. The third book was a single volume in hard cover - it was only split in two for the paperback version. And I loved the ending. One of the best in fantasy literature. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150/60 "2014-02-18T05:16:51Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > As far as The Dark Tower, I think the ending we got was the only ending possible so I was okay with it. What annoyed me the most about the series was the retcon of the first book. I had read the first book not too long after the second book had been published. This was back in high school. Then about 10 years or so ago I began to read the entire series, and still had the copy of my original _Gunslinger_. I was thrown for a bit of a loop when it was revealed (in the third book, IIRC) that Walter and Marten were the same person, since it was clear that they were two different people in the original version of the fist book. Walter was one of Marten’s retinue. He pretended to be weaker than Marten so that he could keep an eye on him. Marten was an evil sorcerer; Walter was someone who seemed to be more of a neutral entity. It’s even implied that Walter removed Marten from the equation so that Roland could fulfill his role in the events to be without Marten’s meddling. After being confused, and double-checking that I hadn’t misread the first book, I looked online and discovered that King had a some point changed the ending to the first book, for a worse version. So I guess this does fit the thread in that the retcon to the ending made no sense. There was no reason to make Walter and Marten the same, especially since Walter dies of old age at the end. Heck, there wasn’t even much reason to make them both more incarnations of Flagg. Walter was an intriguing character that had promise. I found Marten/Flagg to actually be kind of boring. His minions were far more interesting. Even his death was rather lame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-endings-novel-divison/681150.md?page=4)