The End - More Than Meets the Eye

More than meets the eye...

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) Wallpaper

Some of you may realize that we are approaching the end of an era: Pluto transiting in the sign of Capricorn. In a few short weeks, the most distant planet in our solar system (in astrology, Pluto is very much considered one of the major planets) will transit into the sign of Aquarius for the first time in 245 years. We can say, it's the end of an era, but in truth, it is the beginning of a new one. Just like in all stories, the end marks a fresh start. It's something to celebrate!

Welcome to the first in the 2023 series - More Than Meets the Eye

Over the course of the year, I will explore how this above statement may be true in fiction, through characters' motives and expectations, plot twists, styles and genres, writing and publishing trends, deeper psychological treasures buried within books we love and today, a look under the surface of endings.

I hope you will join me on this journey of discovery wherever it might lead.

Endings or Beginnings?

Some of these ideas and examples are taken from my 2018 post titled The End is Near.

Endings can be more than meets the eye, for multiple reasons. They have to measure up to a certain level of expectation for the genre or be criticized if they do not. They also need some level of acceptance and appreciation if the book is to be remembered in a positive light. You'd think that after 400 + pages of story, readers would consider the whole experience, but no. They walk away from the book, (TV series, play or movie,) thinking of those last moments constituting the end. They might be left pondering, cheering, crying or sneering, but The End is what often sticks with us.

For an author, a good ending means readers feel satisfied, even if profoundly sad or disturbed. They hope that they will talk about the book, passing on its intrigue by word of mouth. 

A bad ending is one where readers feel cheated, let down or worse, unmoved. They don't talk about the book or lend it to a friend. They don't even bother to throw it at the wall. It's that much of a non-event.

What Makes a Good Ending?

Feelings. Emotions. Whether comedic, tragic or fantastic, the ending needs to make readers feel. It can come out of left field at the time, but there has to be, on reflection, a sense of logic, of possibility. Good authors will seed the ending in ways readers won't see coming but later they find it makes sense. That is the perfect 'more than meets the eye' ending.

Which Kind?

There are many types of endings and some of them are tethered to a genre. Romance novels, paranormal or otherwise, have a HEA (happy ever after). Thrillers require an unsettling twist (Gone Girl). Fantasy may end with everyone receiving a medal (Star Wars) or with the goal reached, but with varying degrees of fallout (LOTR).

YA Lit is changing the rules. In the past, 'happy and optimistic' endings were considered the norm. Yet, the most important ingredient in a good ending is its honesty. It may come as a shock, but it needs to ring true to the story. I remember being disturbed by the ending in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I didn't like it, but it felt right. 

An Eclectic Group of Endings 

Some endings lines summarize; others stun. Some come full circle. Some hang us off a cliff until the next in the series; others leave us guessing. Here's a mix of some of my favourites.

"Then she bade the white horse take her through the door, leaving the snow to close in behind them and winter to obliterate any trace of her passing. - The Heir of Night, Helen Lowe

"Later on he will understand how some men so loved her, that they did dare much for her sake." - Dracula, Bram Stoker

"He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance." - Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

"Are there any questions?" - The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood

"She looked down and for an instant it seemed she held a ragged teddy, torn and chewed with one button eye missing, but when she blinked she saw it was only Teg’s fingers laced in her own." - Journey by Night, Kim Falconer

"She opened the door wide and let him into her life again." - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Stieg Larsson

She closes her eyes again and I begin to sing softly:
'''V'la l'bon vent, v'la l'joli vent
V'la l'bon vent, ma mie m'appelle.'''
Hoping that this time it will remain a lullaby. That this time the wind will not hear. That this time - please just this once - it will leave without us." - Chocolat, Joanne Harris

"And then we continued blissfully into this small but perfect piece of our forever." - Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer

"When they finally did dare it, at first with stolen glances then candid ones, they had to smile. They were uncommonly proud. For the first time they had done something out of Love." - Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Patrick Süskind

"Hector turns and sees me and the world around us disappears. - The November Girl, Lydia Kang

How about you? I'd love to hear your most liked, or disliked endings.

xxKim

Posts in the 'More Than Meets the Eye' Series

Book Titles

The End

Backstory

Environment

Styling Characters

Desire

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Kim Falconer, currently writing as A K Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series.

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

Throw the bones, read your horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site 

The End

Sara Amini  

The End - Art Ranked

I just finished reading Holly Black's Book of Night, and I give it full credit for this month's blog topic.  Yes, I have written about endings before, in the 2018 post, The End is Near, but today's topic is different.

Don't worry, I won't tell you how the Book of Night ends, except to sputter words like provocative, shattering and unexpected. I literally can't stop thinking about it. If the goal is to evoke emotions, it reached it, and then some.

You've probably guessed by now, I'm here as much for my therapy as I am for exploring insights into story endings. BON has me asking: What is the right ending for a story? How much is the rightness based on reader expectation and genre? Just how much can we get away with?

According to Master Class at Writing 101 (yes I researched this) there are multiple classifications of endings including:

Resolved ending

Unresolved ending

Expanded ending

Unexpected ending

Ambiguous ending

Tied ending

But even as I look at this academic list, I don't know where to put  Holly Black's Book of Night. And let me just add, that the narration by Sara Amini is stunning and visceral. She's amazing in her contribution to the storytelling.

But back to the topic. Each story is unique, as is each genre so let's go through a few. Maybe you can help me come to some conclusions about BON.

Romance and the HEA

I'm pretty sure all the Sup readers know that HEA stands for Happily Ever After. It's linked to the fairytale ending, but also might have the contemporary, slightly more real twist of HFN, or happy for now. It's satisfying, but also no big surprise... Holly Black's Book of Night was not this in the slightest.

Mystery, Crime and Detective - the Resolved Ending

Here we have the wrap-up ending. It may include a review of what the characters will do after the last page, or not, but the bottom line for this ending is closure. There are not going to be many loose strings left in the plot elements because the story is complete. Holly Black's Book of Night was definitely not this, because we know now it is #1 of a series. 

Fantasy and the Cliffhanger, Surprise or Expanded Ending

Fantasy books are not always series, and not always cliffhangers, but they often are. How else to lure the reader on to the second, third and fourth book? There are options, like write amazing worlds and characters. One may also include epilogues (the expanded ending) and partial resolves/partial unresolved, but note, just because a book is part of a series doesn't mean it can't have a feeling of HEA and/or resolution. 

Take Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. Each book is one of 28, so far, but has its own sense of completion. Charlaine Harris did this with the Sookie Stackhouse series. 

Meanwhile, the true cliffhanger is just that. It leaves us hanging on the edge of a cliff. But Holly Black's Book of Night was not really this. It has a powerful sense of The End, just not what I ever thought it would be.*

The Hero's Journey - a Tied Ending

Here we have the full circle, the ending that returns to the time, place or sense where it all began. It doesn't mean that nothing has changed, but here we are again, but with more significance. Time travel themes are obvious in this style of ending and those stories following classical mythology tropes. The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King is an example. 

Holly Black's Book of Night was not this either, except in the sense that we find a very early phrase

repeated in the very last sentence, making for a powerhouse theme I didn't see coming.

Literary Fiction and the Ambiguous Ending

Here the ending is open to interpretation. Ten readers might have ten different takes on what happened, and what may happen next. For example, Life of Pi by Yann Martel. 

Not all literary fiction ends this way, and it still can make sense and possibly resolve at least a portion of the plot, but there is a feeling of wonder (or horror) or maybe doubt. 

Holly Black's Book of Night comes close to this too. I haven't talked to enough other people who read it to know... I think I'll go check the reviews on Goodreads to find out.

* Reviewers on Goodreads are calling this a cliffhanger ending on Goodreads. For me, it wasn't OMG what will happen next but more, OMG that happened?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments if you have a second. I would love to hear them.

See you there

xxKim

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Kim Falconer, currently writing as A K Wilder, has just released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows coming out in 2022.

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

Throw the bones, read your horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site 

Beginnings & Ends

I admit it. I'm one of those people who couldn't wait for the last Harry Potter movie, and yet, the second it was over, I was sobbing, wishing I'd waited a little while longer to see it so that I still had that "final" experience to look forward to. I was thrilled to read the final book and devoured every word of it, but the movie. . .well it was the last Harry Potter related thing to look forward to, and my daughter and I grieved together. Lord of the Rings didn't make me cry (much) but I had the same feeling of glee, then regret, after it watching. The finale of Friends? Yep.

This month I'm facing a similar finale as Kyana and Ryker's story comes to an end with the release of Chosen. It was pretty cool, closing their story after three books, but watching them hit stores for their finale on the 28th is going be a little sad, too! Even though it's fulfilling to watch their story complete, and it's exciting to be back into a new world, pounding away at the keys, there's a part of me that doesn't want to let them go.

So to make me feel better, I'm going to give away a signed copy! Post a comment and let me know what, if any, series, book, television show, movies, whatever, that you've loved and were saddened to see go. I'll pick a winner tomorrow (16th) and you can choose which book in Kyana's series you'd like sent to you. It's that easy.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Sable