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Re: Fiction. The really good fiction doesn't always have the conclusion at the end -- you just think that that's the conclusion. Of course this presupposes tha
by Quekid5 7y ago
Re: Fiction.
The really good fiction doesn't always have the conclusion at the end -- you just think that that's the conclusion. Of course this presupposes that there's a sequel that the reader is not aware of just quite yet. (The sequel may not even exist yet, but if the author's narrative extends far enough into the future then you can get that feel.)
I think a decent example of this is the Three-Body Problem, although the first one does have a sort of abrupt ending. A weaker example would be Banks' Culture novels, but that was more about there being a whole world out there -- the actual narrative did usually just end at the end of the book.
- InitialLastName 7y ago> The really good fiction doesn't always have the conclusion at the end I was going to say that for the opposite reason -- I don't think that something being a series or part of a larger whole makes it inherently better (sometimes it hurts; many a great book has been ruined by a sequel). Some of the best books, however, have the conclusion right at the beginning and all the rest is "how we got there". C.F. much Vonnegut.