Dreams and Dragons: Top Ten Tuesdays: Best/Worst Series Endings

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Top Ten Tuesdays: Best/Worst Series Endings

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Hello, everyone! Yes, I know, I've been rather lax in my Top Ten Tuesday posts lately. Sorry about that. I don't remember what my excuse was two weeks ago, but my excuse last week was probably that I just never got around to it. But I am doing it this week, so let's get started on my top ten best/worst series endings! I'll do my best to keep these spoiler-free, but even so, do read with caution.

We'll start with the best:

The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia). One of the best parts of this book is the sudden turn from sorrow to hope. You think it's all over- but then you realize that it isn't, and the truth is much better than you expected. Also, it's a happily-ever-after with the promise of more, which is the best kind of happily-ever-after there is.
The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings). This is one of the few books that can make me teary-eyed, and when I first read it, I couldn't help thinking "But why'd you have to make it end that way?" Now, however, I feel that without that bittersweet ending, the whole story wouldn't be as amazing.
The Ale Boy's Feast (Jeffery Overstreet, The Auralia Thread). This one was a tough decision for me. In some ways, this book made me want to scream "Noooo! That can't be!" However, it was an excellent conclusion to the series. It says just enough to wrap up all the loose ends, but still leaves a few things for you to imagine yourself.
From Darkness Won (Jill Williamson, Blood of Kings trilogy). Sometimes, however, I like to hear all the details of What Happened After, and that's why I love the ending of From Darkness Won. It was so beautiful and sweet.
Forest Born (Shannon Hale, The Books of Bayern). It made me lay back, sigh happily, and hug the book. I'd say that's a pretty good way to end a series.

And now for the worst:

Green (Ted Dekker, The Circle Series). I dislike this book on many, many different levels. It was strange, even for Dekker. Several parts were pretty creepy, and not in the good-creepy way. To top it all off, I felt like the ending completely ruined the series. In a way, it made me feel like all the characters had worked for, fought for, and even died for didn't really matter anymore.
Elyon (Ted Dekker, The Lost Books). Really, the whole series went downhill after book four. But, like Green, this book was just weird, and it really wasn't very enjoyable to read. I had pretty much gotten to the point where I didn't much care about the characters anymore, and I was just reading it to see if they improved before the series ended.
Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games). I did like this book in some ways. But, it was also very depressing, and I lost nearly all my favorite characters. Plus, I got really, really mad at Katniss towards the end. To top it all off, the ending felt a bit rushed.
Inheritance (Christopher Paolini, The Inheritance Cycle). Again, I actually liked Inheritance in general. However, the ending made me mad for a variety of reasons, none of which I can say without giving away spoilers. We'll leave it that I expected a number of things to happen or not happen, and several of the ones I was most adamant about turned out the wrong way.
The Chamber of Lies (Bill Meyers, The Elijah Project). Fairly good book, but it didn't feel like an ending. In fact, I'd say it was just the opposite. And I have yet to find a sequel series.