# Did any long-term intricate story ever end well? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798 "2011-09-27T19:52:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/41 "2011-09-28T02:08:09Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > You fool! Just because there was discussion of God and Angels in the pilot miniseries of BSG is no reason to assume that the phantasms claiming to speak for God were angels. It was all a lie! LIES! > > Or something. I was fine with it. I was okay with it up until it turned out that [spoiler] **we** were descended from the show’s humans, and that All Along the Watchtower had happened before and All Along the Watchtower would happen again, and that a robot doing the robot had to appear on my screen. But then I remembered that our earliest human ancestors were short–like, really short, like 4’ tall or so–and I realized that everyone on the show was therefore a wee little person, and I felt better about it all.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/42 "2011-09-28T02:08:12Z")
> [@](#): > > I think the ending of BSG is much easier to swallow if you just ignore the whole “plan” business. The cylons had their reasons for what they did, plan or no plan, and I think the show evolved and ended decently. > > Honestly, I think the whole “plan” mantra was some marketing slogan early on (that made sense early on) that took on a life of its own. No, I don’t mean the _Cylons’_ plan, I mean the _writers’_ plan. The ending sucked. If the writers planned all along to end it that way, it doesn’t change the fact that it sucked. And on Harry Potter, I think Rowling wrapped up a lot of threads in _Deathly Hallows_, but they were mostly just threads that she had introduced in that same book. It felt to me like there were a lot of threads from the previous books that just sort of faded away. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/43 "2011-09-28T02:13:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …but they were mostly just threads that she had introduced in that same book. It felt to me like there were a lot of threads from the previous books that just sort of faded away. I’m not really disagreeing, but can you give examples of both? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/44 "2011-09-28T14:26:03Z")
I’ve never gotten around to tracking down the last 3 trade paperbacks, but from what I understand, James Robinson’s STARMAN comic book series came to a satisfying end after 8 years and 80-some issues and wrapped up a lot of mysteries that he set up earlier. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/45 "2011-09-28T14:26:12Z")
well, if the Count of MOnte Cristo could be nominated, so could “The Jewel in the Crown” or “Upstairs, Downstairs”. Long, intricately plotted, good resolutions ---
**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:** [September 28, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/46 "2011-09-28T14:30:32Z")
What about Stephen King’s The Stand. The ending of Tabitha King’s trilogy of Book of Reuben, Pearl and One on One was very poignant. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/47 "2011-09-28T14:53:12Z")
_The Stand_? You mean one of those classic examples of Stephen-King-can’t-write-an-ending? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/48 "2011-09-28T15:25:36Z")
Well, too be fair, there is a large segment of the population for which “and then god reached down and said ‘this book is already hella long so now it ends’” is a perfectly decent ending. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/49 "2011-09-28T15:38:26Z")
Thanks for the recommendations, all! I’ll be looking into Dorothy Dunnett, Starman, and Steven Erikson for sure, and maybe Death Note. Anything that’s one book (even as large a book as The Stand) or a trilogy is disqualified as too short. As is any TV series 2 seasons or shorter. Though some of those sound interesting on their own, just not what I was looking for. (Apparently Count of Monte Cristo sounds more interesting than I thought it would be.) Harry Potter? Really? Eh… They’re OK, I suppose, but Rowling was clearly making up a lot of it as she went along, and I can’t help but think that if Voldemort was half-way competent, Harry would have been dead by book 5 at the latest. (The whole plan in GoF really turned me off. All that elaborate subterfuge to get Harry to … touch an object Really, there was no easier way? ) But regardless, while HP has an inkling of what I’m getting at… they are competent, not amazing, IMHO. Did I not say NO BSG SPOILERS in the OP? Please, knock it off. I just got 4.5 from the library and will be watching it this week. I really don’t want to be spoiled after getting this far. Thanks. I guess I should elaborate that I’m not really looking for merely character arcs that come to a satisfying conclusion, like Buffy season 1-5. I’m looking for things where you can say “Oh, that guy back in book 2 was the guy in the shadows in book 5 and in book 8 it makes perfect sense why he was there!” Bonus points if a cryptic prophecy in book 1 said something fitting about the “shadowed stalker” that in retrospect points right at that guy but wasn’t obvious until later. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/50 "2011-09-28T16:27:02Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Steven Eriksons series “The Malazan book of the Fallen” was always supposed to be ten books long, with Erikson stating very early on that he had planned for ten books to tell his tale. > > The tenth and final book was released early this year. It was most definitely an intricate story, and though opinions always vary, also a well received story that garnered a lot of high praise. And wouldn’t you know it’s the only freaking book in the entire decalogy that my local library bothers to buy? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/51 "2011-09-28T16:45:48Z")
It has yet be shown but I am holding out hope for the new Dr Who. Most episodes are self contained. Some seasons have sutble arcs embedded in each episode and it at some point all comes together and makes sense. I am hoping the last bit of the NuWho (hopefully many years down the road) ties it ALL up in one nice package. Its a bit different from the OP because Dr. Who intricacies are are usually just that. Subtle things you might not notice or think important at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/52 "2011-09-28T16:48:46Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > I think that JK Rowling did pretty well with her Harry Potter series. I completely agree. I am beta testing Pottermore and I think that the level of additional detail that is introduced there shows that a lot more could have been done/produced, but someone (she, her editors?) kept the story pretty well in line. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/53 "2011-09-28T17:01:26Z")
I’ve only read _Deathly Hallows_ once but it seems to me that Rowling was irritated/disappointed that fans predicted Harry as a Horcrux. The bits about the Hallows, the Elder wand and all that, felt thoroughly out of place, as though she tacked them on in an effort to produce some kind of surprise. I can forgive the camping portion as an attempt to illustrate the transition from ‘magical adventure’ to ‘world at war.’ I can forgive all the self-serving, sappy, happy ending crap - she’s allowed to retire her characters however she likes and LOTR will always be king of the looooong ending. I could have forgiven predictability too. Instead we got a plot that hinged on heretofore unknown artifacts, unforgivable. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/54 "2011-09-28T17:18:21Z")
I got the feeling that Rowling was making it up as she went along, though I know she says she didn’t. sure what it felt like to me, though obviously most people liked it far better than I did. and whoever hasn’t read Count of Monte Cristo really should. the ultimate revenge story. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/55 "2011-09-28T17:30:18Z")
The Dark Tower. No, really, I thought the ending was perfect, and the only way it could have ended. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/56 "2011-09-28T17:33:08Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > I was going to mention this but you’ve beaten me to it. In my opinion the ending was pretty damn good and covered off most of the huge number of threads that Erikson wove into his epic. I enjoyed the series as well, but I have to disagree about the level of success of the ending. IMO the plot felt rushed and jury-rigged, all while still meandering a bit in parts. I’d still loosely recommend it, but I can’t say I’m enamored with how it finished. It’s actually an odd series for me in that the helter-skelter nature of the story being woven leads me to like some random chunks better than others, such that I can’t really say if I prefer the beginning, middle or end. Rather I like individual books and plots better than others. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/57 "2011-09-28T17:33:27Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > _The Stand_? You mean one of those classic examples of Stephen-King-can’t-write-an-ending? You beat me to it. I wonder sometimes if King just gets tired, and says “fuck it, I’m ending this thing” and writes whatever he dreamed about the night before. Except for this: > [@Steophan](#): > > The Dark Tower. > > No, really, I thought the ending was perfect, and the only way it could have ended. I completely 100% agree, and you and I are in the VAST minority regarding this ending. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/58 "2011-09-28T21:16:48Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I enjoyed the series as well, but I have to disagree about the level of success of the ending. IMO the plot felt rushed and jury-rigged, all while still meandering a bit in parts. > > I’d still loosely recommend it, but I can’t say I’m enamored with how it finished. It’s actually an odd series for me in that the helter-skelter nature of the story being woven leads me to like some random chunks better than others, such that I can’t really say if I prefer the beginning, middle or end. Rather I like individual books and plots better than others. I agree that the \*Crippled God \*isn’t perfect and some parts were a bit clunky, still I think it was a pretty good conclusion to what was a huge and diverse ride. I also agree about the unevenness of some of the bits and pieces (a problem I often have with with multi-pov books). I tend to have a few favourite threads and tend to rush through those with less favour to get back to the good bits. Still on the whole I thought the good bits of the Malazan series were very, very good and the bad bits were bearable. So it gets a recommendation from me. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/59 "2011-09-28T21:27:03Z")
> [@davidw](#): > > Lone Wolf and Cub. How did Lone Wolf and Cub end? I don’t think the English-language run I’ve got ever reached that point. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798/60 "2011-09-28T21:30:25Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > I completely 100% agree, and you and I are in the VAST minority regarding this ending. You can’t be in a vast minority - particularly when you mean a tiny one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-long-term-intricate-story-ever-end-well/597798.md?page=4)