A while ago, Jamie talked about her fear or reading the next book in a series on her blog. And I realized I don't so much share this fear as that I have a fear of reading the last book in a series. Because then it will end and pretty much it leaves me like this:
Only more like: but WHY did this series have to end? Now what will I do with my time if I can't wonder what'll happen next for the characters I've come to know and love?? How will I survive not living in this world and not going on new adventures anymore?? After reading the last book in a series I always feel a bit sad, like I've had to say goodbye to friends who are moving halfway across the world or something. They're still there, just not in the same way they used to be.
And I know, I know, I can re-read the books and get lost in the world again, but it's just not the same! And what if one of my favourites dies? How do I cope with this knowledge? What if the main character ends up with the wrong guy FOREVER? (See, this is why I don't like love triangles)
So 2013 is going to be a hard year for me as I'm going to have to say goodbye to a lot of my beloved series, or maybe I'll just put it off, after all, I still haven't read Inheritance by Christopher Paolini yet either..
So how about you guys? Do you share my (maybe irrational) fear of reading the last book in a series because there just won't be any books after that EVER? Have series hangover like me? Any series you're particularly dreading the end of?
Um, it's been about 20 years and I still haven't fully gotten over the fact that there's no more Narnia.
ReplyDeleteI've also been putting off reading the last Blue Bloods book, because I don't want to admit that it's over.
I was sad after reading the final Narnia book and sorta angry at how Susan was depicted in the last book... I haven't started the Blue Bloods series yet, is it good?
DeleteI was very disappointed with the end to Lauren DeStefano's Chemical Garden series. I almost wish I didn't read it now.
ReplyDeleteThe reviews for Lauren Oliver's Requiem make me also want to put it off for similar reasons.
The only book I'm actually holding off on, because I don't want the lovely story to end is The Clockwork Princess. It seems the reviews are standard across the board and they are all, "This is EPIC Perfectness," but with better grammar then I just displayed.
The Chemical Garden series and Requiem are on the list of books I'm putting off because they are hugely scary! I'm sad to hear you were disappointed with Lauren DeStefano's books! I really liked Wither.
DeleteI've been hearing so many good things about Cassandra Clare's books, I should really start them! From all the reviews and ravings on Twitter it does sound like she did a good job with the end of Clockwork Princess :)
YES!
ReplyDeleteI love this discussion topic because I talk to my friends about it a lot. I have a lot of series that I won't read the last book because I am soo sad that it's over!
I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I just finished Rae Carson's Fire and Thorn series and while I'm satisfied with the ending I'm SO sad I won't get to spend more time with Elisa and Hector! :(
DeleteIt is in noway irrational. I still have yet to read Boundless by Cynthia Hand because it's the last book in the series. Sometimes... I can't. I just can't.
ReplyDeleteIt's a double-edged sword really. Sometimes the series needs to end (Sookie Stackhouse, anyone?), but other times I'm not ready to say goodbye to these characters and their world (much like that of Hands Unearthly series).
~Andrea @ Beauty but a Funny Girl
I'm with you on Boundless, I bought it straight away and have been putting it off because I just can't handle that series ending!
DeleteIt's just that I feel that with a series you put so much time and heart into this world and these characters and then it ends and there's just this empty space...
I'm the same way. I always feel kinda lost when I finish a series. So I do like it when sometimes the author will write a novella for the series, after the final book has come out, so I get just a little bit more. (I will say, though, that the final novella for Prophecy of the Sisters KILLED IT for me.)
ReplyDeleteBeware, once you read Inheritance. It is epic, and LOTS of *things* happen. But by the time I finished that book, I was ready to let the series go, so it'll be okay. :)
I don't think it's irrational. We've all been disappointed by the endings to series that didn't pan out quite the way we would have hoped. And I'm thinking of that third Pirates movie and the third Spider-Man movie. There are book series the endings of which disappointed me, but I don't want to name names. I wish every series ended as splendidly as the Harry Potter series, which is a textbook example of how to rock a series ending.
ReplyDeleteI think most of us feel that way. Many of my favorite authors have died. I just try to find new ones that I really, really like. It's hard.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely -- the end of an author's output is even sadder than the end of a series. I'll never forget the heartbreak of finishing All Of Austen Ever.
DeleteI am so glad that I'm not the only one with this fear :)
ReplyDeleteI have so many unread last books in series on my shelves-crazy! I make myself finish some series this year because I love them and I want to know what happens at the end but the fear of loosing friends is always huge.
I'm just hoping that no bad things will happen in those last books and that I will keep them close to my heart.
I'm so scared of series ends. If I really, really loe the series then I'm really reluctant to read it. I have this nagging fear that pulls at me and tells me to slow down while I read it -- or avoid reading it at all. If I read it then ... then it's over! Like you said, I could always re-read it but it's not the same as knowing you're going to get a fresh, new story in the series soon. But I love how it ends, then I can get over this sadness. Great post :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! And I particularly liked your comparison to Jack Sparrow, well done *applauds*. But in all seriousness, it's SO hard when a great series ends. I read the Hunger Games series in rapid succession last year and wasn't sure what to do with myself when it was over. I'm waiting for the third in the All Souls trilogy but I wouldn't say I have the same obsession factor with that series. It's great but not...addictive, I suppose you could say. There are a lot of series I'd like to start but everyone's so sad to see them ending that I may keep waiting... :)
ReplyDeleteYou are NOT irrational. I completely get it. :) I read the last HP book in two days over a weekend becuase I din't want anyone spoiling it for me! I wish now I would have savored it. I'm doing my first reread of the entire series this year.
ReplyDeleteAnother great example? The Wallflower series by Lisa Kleypas. You can always reread a series but there isn't going to be anything new there. The thrill of exploring/learning about a new world isn't there during a reread.
Saying goodbye to a series is bittersweet. There's the satisfaction of scratching something off my list but then that's it. :( So yeah, I completely understand!
You know, I never THOUGHT I was this way. I heard people say that and thought it was kind of irrational, honestly. I prefer to wait until series are finished, and then I binge read them, from beginning to end. And in that case, it doesn't even occur to me to not want to read the last book.
ReplyDeleteBut now I've started caving now and again, reading books and then having to wait months for the next, a year for the next, etc. And I find myself doing this! For instance, I stalled on reading Boundless for several weeks (there were other reasons for this, too, but it wasn't KILLING me like I anticipated). I still haven't read Shades of Earth. As much as I anticipate the next books in series, I also don't want the world/characters I've loved for so long to just stop. The knowledge that there will be no more after the end of the last book is just heartbreaking.
I have NO IDEA what I will do when the Shatter Me series is over. Probably curl up into a ball and read them over and over, LOL.
It's a totally rational fear! :)
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side of this, there are some authors that don't know when to throw in the towel and end gracefully vs letting their series decline drastically.
ReplyDeleteI understand why some people react this way, but personally my impatience to find out what happens overrides any desire to hold onto the world as long as possible. I'll often wait until the final book is released, and then read them all in one fell swoop, rather than pick up an incomplete series.
ReplyDeleteI still have to read Promised from the Birthmarked trilogy even tho I've had it for MONTHS because I can't bear it ending especially after Requiem let me down so badly since that was my equal favourite. Reached is another I still have waiting...
ReplyDeleteI've never really had this feeling. I tend to get more worried that the second book will not live up to the first (which unfortunately happens an awful lot).
ReplyDelete