Have you ever read an entire series just to have it end in a way that makes you flip back a few pages and say to yourself "Wait...that was it?" of course you have. Everyone has. We all find that really good series that just ends...not so good.
I have recently (recently meaning a few weeks ago because I swim competitively so getting around to these posts/finding a new book is like asking a cat to not jump up on the table...it won't work out) finished Abhorsen, the third book in the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix. I enjoyed reading the book. It wasn't the most fast-paced book but it was creative and thought out with a unique writing style. It was still a page turner, my favorite parts being when Lirael was traveling into Death. However, when I came to the end, the final battle against the Destroyer, I guess I just expected...more.
Leading up to the end, the book got progressively better. The events got more exciting, but they were all relatively low key. There wasn't a lot of suspense in my opinion. I was reading to find that big "wow" ending that is so action packed it blows my mind. Well, I got a sorta action packed ending that only got good towards the end when Sabriel returns. There wasn't a lot of fighting, even in Lirael's battle with Hedge. I guess when you battle one of the most powerful necromancers you leave with only a scratch on your arm.
Lirael didn't even kill Hedge, when he looked up at the sky while in death (the Dog tripped him and that made him look at the sky) it was his time, because he had been avoiding death for awhile, and he just died. No epic charter spells here. Just dead.
Nix did a good job on the end of the ending though, when they finally battled the destroyer and everyone had to come together, each person representing a bell. Lirael used a special sword to kill the Destroyer, doing so she knew she herself would die(she didn't share this with Sam and the others, though) and knew what must be done. However, while being engulfed with flame, about to meet her end, the Disreputable Dog jumps in, bites Liraels hands off the sword that they were fixed to, and takes her place as the sacrifice. This was the good action packed ending I was hoping for. People injured, my favorite character unfortunately died, all was good.
But it wasn't all good. I still craved more action, more of that sweet, sweet action. But there wasn't any. That was it. End. The multiple chapters leading up to it, with the destroyer present, that couldn't have been more action packed? The book waited until the last few pages to get really good?
So I find myself among tons of other readers who finish a series only to be unsatisfied. Like many readers, I'm wishing I could change the ending.
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