Theory of Bastards - Q6: The Ending

clash_bowley

How do you feel about the way the book ended?

RichardAbbott

Yah well I kind of rambled on about this in an earlier discussion starter. It didn't work for me - it felt too abrupt for one thing, and implausible for another, what with them not finding any significant place of human habitation. I felt as though she couldn't quite decide how to round off an ingenious and compelling narrative

Apocryphal

I think they found plenty of places of human habitation - just none that hadn’t been abandoned, except one - the shopping mall city, where they couldn’t say.

As to the ending - the beginning book did end, but what conclusions did it draw? I remain uncertain, and I can’t draw the various elements together enough to suggest one. So in that sense, I suppose it wasn’t that satisfactory, though I did like the journey.

NeilNjae

Yes, I don't think the story ended so much as stopped. There was next to no closure there. And if the pop science angle was about women actively choosing their mates from a selection, there was no real competition of mate choice. Enjoyable enough, but it needed another male character or two to reinforce the theme.

clash_bowley

The ending shocked me. I had stopped for the day before half a page from the last sentence because I had no idea it was about to end. I was like "Whaaaat?". No wrap up, no resolution, no preparation, just stoppage. I occasionally write songs that end in the middle of a phrase without resolution - once as a musical pun for a song called 'Lacking Resolution' - for that shock value. I assumed she did this for the same reasons, but perhaps I am inserting myself here. The ending bothered me, but I was assuming she meant to bother me; but now I am uncertain after what you all said.

Apocryphal

> @clash_bowley said:
> but now I am uncertain after what you all said.

Then our work here is done.
😁

clash_bowley

@Apocryphal said:

@clash_bowley said:
but now I am uncertain after what you all said.

Then our work here is done.
😁

RichardAbbott

@clash_bowley said:
The ending shocked me. I had stopped for the day before half a page from the last sentence because I had no idea it was about to end. I was like "Whaaaat?". No wrap up, no resolution, no preparation, just stoppage.

Yup. It was just over.

clash_bowley

@RichardAbbott said:

@clash_bowley said:
The ending shocked me. I had stopped for the day before half a page from the last sentence because I had no idea it was about to end. I was like "Whaaaat?". No wrap up, no resolution, no preparation, just stoppage.

Yup. It was just over.

Sorta like Firefly...