unsatisfactory endings

[Shellhead]

Sometimes I really enjoy a book until I get to the ending, because the author has decided to end the story with a deliberately unclear ending. I don't mean a cliffhanger or an ending that is just open to interpretation, because either of those can be enjoyable. No, I mean an ending where I just don't even know what happened, and I'm deprived of any sense of having read a finished story. I can't think of specific examples right offhand, although the name Gene Wolfe is definitely one that I associate with unsatisfactory endings.

[howyadoin]

Two examples from Greg Rucka come immediately to mind: Critical Space, and A Gentleman's Game.

[Roquefort Raider]

Umberto Eco's "the mysterious flame of queen Loana" suffers from an extremely "eh" ending.

[Karl J. Barnes]

All of Agatha Christie novels that I read have been always unsatisfying. I enjoy the trip, but her perchant of pulling the solution out of thin air got old real quick.

[Expletive Deleted]

Neal Stephenson, as much as I love his books, has some trouble with endings.

He's getting better, though. The Baroque Cycle actually had a fairly decent one.

[Doodle Bob]

I do agree with Shellhead regarding Gene Wolfe. He couldn't seem to figure out how to end the original Severian series: he ended up writing a not-stand-alone sequel to it. The book of the long sun just kept piling on new subplots even near the ending, and then in the last chapter suddenly turned into a completely different book.

The Latro in the Mist books, though, had a pretty solid, reasonable ending.

That said, I still love his books.

There are some books, though, that I just don't want to end: no matter how they end I'll be sad that it's over. Lord of the Rings, in particular.