Unfinished trilogies/series

[Carie]

Okay, I need to vent about something that is making me MAD and I’m hoping you guys will forgive me for my rant and maybe offer some advice, commiseration, or information to help me…? Here goes:

I am SO SICK of getting invested in a series which was clearly intended to be a trilogy (or longer series) and then having the author stop writing at only TWO books :( And, the story is definitely NOT wrapped up in TWO books! Many loose ends remain or outright cliffhangers are left unfinished :( WHY?!! Does this make anybody else as furious as me?!

This has happened to me no less than 3 times in the last year or two :( Granted, for a couple of these the authors have made vague comments on their profiles/blogs indicating that sales of the first two books will dictate whether a third is published, but I’m not holding out a lot of hope here or feeling very encouraged by these statements… :( And, in one situation, I heard the author has NO intention of finishing her series—she has actually stopped writing YA for now :(

Here are the series which I’ve found particularly vexing in this regard lately:

Fire & Flood series by Victoria Scott
Alienated series by Melissa Landers
Variants series by Susanne Winnacker
Carrier series by Leigh Fallon (this one actually shows a third book on GR, but I see NO indication of if/when it will be published)

And here’s an older one with an awful, unfinished ending that’s still bugging me: Everlasting series by Angie Frazier.

I thought The Body Finder series by Kimberly Derting (which actually has 4 books) ended like this, too--where I’ve been forever waiting for a 5th book to be announced that would tie up quite a few remaining loose ends, but to no avail. (At least this series was enjoyable overall and didn’t leave a huge cliffhanger or the final resolution of a romantic triangle or anything like that—I actually LOVED this series! I just wish the last book had felt more like “The End,” rather than a middle book…)

Does anybody out there have any positive news on any of these series getting a much-needed finale?! I’m super mad I even started reading most of these if I’m not going to get any closure EVER :( Why do authors write open-ended series like these when they haven’t solidified publishing for the last book or aren’t committed to actually finishing the series they started?! Infuriating!!

Whew!! Thanks for letting me get that out :) I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this topic! Has anybody else been burned by this type of scenario?

[Tommy]

I haven't read any of those series you named specifically, but I know in a lot of cases it is book sales. Which sucks because so many people wait for a series to be finished before checking it out, so there may have been much more interest than sales show, but from a business perspective, I get it.

The author just deciding to just stop if it's going well seems real odd, though. Then you got upset fans, possibly upset editors and your reputation could be hurt.

[Lawrence]

Yeah, that would upset me as well. Sadly, the business perspective in pretty hard to get around. I'm six into a series and have 7 - 9 plotted out, but have trouble motivating myself to write more without stronger sales.

Also, sometimes authors just get bored with a series or run into a story roadblock. Still, if it's getting a great response, my feeling is that they'd overcome their boredom. Anyway, I feel your pain. :)

[Carie]

Thanks, Tommy & Lawrence! I appreciate your perspectives on this :) I do understand that the book sales would definitely impact whether follow-up books are written/published. I think my main problem with this whole thing is that I don’t think the authors in these situations should leave the story as open-ended as they do when a follow-up book is not guaranteed :( I have read a number of duologies lately, which probably could have been extended into longer series, but were satisfactorily ended in 2 instead. I’m not sure if these were ALWAYS meant to be duologies or were sold as 2 books with a possible 3rd if the sales were good…? I’d MUCH rather read a series with 2 books and a good, solid, satisfying ending than be left with no closure to a story or a nasty cliffhanger that is NEVER resolved :( I also don’t mind if authors leave a few loose ends, in case they end up writing more in the series in the future--if it’s a good series, I’m always thrilled to get more ;)

Unfortunately, I can also understand how hard it might be to get motivated or inspired to write more of something that no one is reading :( SO sad!!

I think I probably need to wait until an entire series is finished before I start it in the future—unless it’s by an established author who has a history of finished series or a series that seems to be popular/profitable, but I hate to have to wait that long to read series by new authors or series with intriguing blurbs :( Plus, as you’ve mentioned, seems like if everyone is waiting to start a series until it’s finished, that might actually ensure that it is NEVER finished since no one will buy the earlier books, so later books won’t be funded. A vicious cycle!! And not particularly promising for new or unknown authors :( Seems like I’d miss out on A LOT of good reads if I always waited…

[chinami]

i have been waiting for strange fate by LJ Smith for many years now. i am confident it wont be released ever.

[Carie]

Wow! That's a LONG time :( I heard she doesn't have much of anything to do with the Vampire Diaries books anymore (NOT by choice, from what I understand...), so maybe something similar has happened with Night World...? That’s frustrating :(