Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week we're discussing what each of us considers to be among the best and worst series endings.
A caveat for my list: I have a tendency to not read many series to their conclusions. This tendency isn't necessarily indicative of anything other than the fact that there are far too many series out there and I have a hard time keeping track of all of those that I have started. So my list is based on a rather limited sample size here.
A caveat for my list: I have a tendency to not read many series to their conclusions. This tendency isn't necessarily indicative of anything other than the fact that there are far too many series out there and I have a hard time keeping track of all of those that I have started. So my list is based on a rather limited sample size here.
Best:
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) by Suzanne Collins — An unpopular opinion, but deal with it. I didn't like Mockingjay at first, but upon reflection I've come to realize how very good it is. There's no happily ever after for Katniss and the characters I'd come to love, but then again there shouldn't be. There's just enough hope at the end for readers to rest easily, if not quite contentedly.
Lady Knight (Protector of the Small, #4) by Tamora Pierce — I think this is Pierce's darkest work to date. She's stated that certain aspects of this book were heavily influenced by the events of September 11, 2001 and it shows. None of Pierce's heroines have an easy time finally achieving her full potential, but I do think Kel's journey is the roughest. And then ultimately the most satisfying.
The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3) by Philip Pullman — I liked this series as a whole, especially what I've learned in the context of Pullman retelling the biblical Fall. The books really do put a different and creative perspective on everything. The ending is one of the saddest I've ever read, but it's so very fitting.
Lady Knight (Protector of the Small, #4) by Tamora Pierce — I think this is Pierce's darkest work to date. She's stated that certain aspects of this book were heavily influenced by the events of September 11, 2001 and it shows. None of Pierce's heroines have an easy time finally achieving her full potential, but I do think Kel's journey is the roughest. And then ultimately the most satisfying.
The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3) by Philip Pullman — I liked this series as a whole, especially what I've learned in the context of Pullman retelling the biblical Fall. The books really do put a different and creative perspective on everything. The ending is one of the saddest I've ever read, but it's so very fitting.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) by J.K. Rowling — No surprise here. I really do believe that the Harry Potter books only got better as the series progresses. Everything from the previous books comes together so brilliantly and Harry and his magical world are given the send-off they deserve.
The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3) by J.R.R. Tolkien — Technically The Lord of the Rings is simply one massive book that was split into three parts. None of the parts can really stand that well on their own, but that doesn't matter for my purposes here. The ending is perfect. Yes, good conquers evil, but there is a price that must be paid. Oh, but I do want to just ignore that little section about the scouring of the Shire. Perhaps that wasn't necessary.
Worst:
Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3) by Cassandra Clare — I was already fed up with the love triangle by the second installment, and this conclusion did absolutely nothing to assuage my anger from it all. Tessa, Will, and Jem aren't bad characters per se (even if they are a little derivative), but no. This is not how a love triangle should be resolved, and, unlike Clare's thoughts on this, I did not find it to be respectful or fitting.
Perfect Fifths (Jessica Darling, #5) by Megan McCafferty — I liked seeing Jessica and Marcus a few years down the road, but this wasn't the right way to show them again. Dual narrative in third person present tense? Taking place over the course of a day? The story contained more flashbacks than present-day action, too.
Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4) by Stephenie Meyer — The whole series wasn't very good, let's be honest. I enjoyed the first two books the first time I read them, but Breaking Dawn is a perfect example of a conclusion that should not have existed. This was clearly written to appease fans and give every character his or her own happily ever after.
Perfect Fifths (Jessica Darling, #5) by Megan McCafferty — I liked seeing Jessica and Marcus a few years down the road, but this wasn't the right way to show them again. Dual narrative in third person present tense? Taking place over the course of a day? The story contained more flashbacks than present-day action, too.
Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4) by Stephenie Meyer — The whole series wasn't very good, let's be honest. I enjoyed the first two books the first time I read them, but Breaking Dawn is a perfect example of a conclusion that should not have existed. This was clearly written to appease fans and give every character his or her own happily ever after.
Mastiff (Beka Cooper, #3) by Tamora Pierce — I'll admit that I was slightly disappointed by the Beka Cooper series as a whole. Not only does the conclusion start with a few years' gap, but it features instalove and an absolutely ridiculous change of character. Not Pierce's best work, that's for sure.
Fire Study (Study, #3) by Maria V. Snyder — I still am just not sure what happened to this series. After the strong first book, it just kind of fell apart. It almost feels like Snyder didn't really know what she wanted to do with Yelena's story. The plot was rushed and repetitive, and many actions were unrealistic of the characters I'd come to love.
I do realize that a number of these are repeats from my Top Ten Best Sequels Ever list a few weeks ago. What can I say? I'm a creature of habit.
Well, those are some of my picks. Now please let me know what some of your picks are!
Well, those are some of my picks. Now please let me know what some of your picks are!
I have Mastiff sitting on my e-reader unread because so many people expressed disappointed. Also I didn't really enjoy Bloodhound too much either. The Protector of the Small series was fantastic though.
ReplyDeleteGreat list!
The Beka Cooper series in general pales in comparison to her other Tortall books, I think. At first I wondered if it was just my childhood nostalgia, but I really do think the Alanna, Daine, and Kel books are better. And the Aly books were just all right for me.
DeleteI really want to finish His Dark Materials (I've read books one and two) but I'm TERRIFIED of the third book. It's one of my all-time favorite series EVER but I've heard the third book is gut-wrenching and I just don't know if I can handle it! I'm scared scared scared!
ReplyDeleteREAD IT, ASHELEY! I promise it'll be worth it. :)
DeleteI wasn't a fan of Mockingjay, but I do love HP, LotR, and The Amber Spyglass. I also have to agree that CP2 was a disappointment, as was JD5. Great list, Amanda!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Keertana! Out of curiosity, do you have your thoughts on Mockingjay posted somewhere? I'd be very curious to compare our thoughts on it. I'll check your gr account.
DeleteYes to Mockingjay, Harry Potter and LotR! And I hate that Perfect Fifths didn't work out for you! Still gotta read it myself. I was in the opposite camp for CP2--I loved the ending so much! But I know it didn't jive with a lot of people:)
ReplyDeleteI suppose if you're a big Tessa lover, then I can see why you'd like the ending. She started leaving a bad taste in my mouth towards the middle of the second book and that taste just never left. Ah well. Now I just know that Clare's stories are probably not for me.
DeleteI totally agree on Mockingjay and Harry Potter! I'm really glad you liked Mockingjay. It wasn't what I expected, but I ended up loving it for this series. I actually put Clockwork Princess on my best list, but (and I didn't clarify this) that's kind of if I ignore the Epilogue. That was a total cop-out! Without that ending, I loved how the series ended. I'm so in agreement on Perfect Fifths! I didn't love the whole series, but I was most disappointed by that ending.
ReplyDeleteIf you ignore the epilogue, I guess that does make sense. I was most firmly a Jem fangirl, however, so I still wasn't satisfied with it lol. Too sad for him. And yeah. I think the problem with the JD series is that it kept going on for too long. Should've ended in college, if not in high school.
Deletehaha... Breaking Dawn. I agree. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Return of the King were fantastic series enders, simply could not have been done any better. Will definitely be checking out some of the other new books I've never seen before on your list!
ReplyDeleteYes, of all of these, I return to LotR and HP endings the most. Both are just so satisfying to read. :)
DeleteMe too, about series to their conclusions. That's happened so often over the years especially with blogging. You're so much more aware now of various debut titles and you pursue some but if your motivation's even the little bit shaken, *shrug*
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Mockingjay!! It IS an unpopular opinion but for all the reasons you listed, there was no HEA possible, really. Not after all the shit that's happened in the book and before and what Katniss does. Plus very appropriate for the dystopia theme. Very few YA dystopians seem to go that way.
YESSSSSSSSS HP7. The HP books DEFINITELY got better as they progressed. I like them mostly in order of latest publication to earliest, and one of my favorite things about them is exactly what you said: that everything from the previous books comes together. It's layered on itself so well.
Bahaha, I think I'm half afraid to finish CP2 because of the LT and the various things I've heard about the book. I started it way, way long ago and still haven't gotten back to it... *shrug* Shame that you didn't like the Jessica Darling series ending; I haven't gotten around to that one yet, but it's a little sad to think that maybe the ending won't be worth it when I do... Breaking Dawn. Bahaha. I'm a little curious now as to what you thought of the movie's revised ending?
There are some TTTs that are really hard and off the top of my head, I can't think of any endings I hated nor any I loved besides those which you've already listed...
Authors just need to stop writing so many series lol. That would make our lives easier. ;)
DeleteAnd yay! Glad to find a fellow Mockingjay fan. I appreciate Collins' fearlessness in ending that series--and actually about many parts of that series as a whole. She's an author who has a solid concept of what a dystopian novel should entail, that's for sure.
My love for HP is actually 7, 5, 3. The rest vary for the most part. But I DO think the writing overall got stronger as they progressed. And obviously JKR figured out how they worked together more as time went on and all.
Ooh you should so finish CP2! Just to see how it ends and all. It's a fast read.
And I haven't actually seen Breaking Dawn Parts I and II yet. (I want to believe it's because I'm protesting the dumbness of them breaking the book into two films, but I also just haven't had the opportunity to.) Soon, perhaps. But I think those are movies best watched as I'm multi-tasking.