Have you ever seen "to be continued" at the end of a novel?

IThinkICan29 · Sep 7, 2009

I was watching videos on YouTube and came across one in which a lady was reviewing a book and venting about the author ending the book with, "to be continued". She actually put the last page of the book up to the camera so we could see the words.

I felt her frustration--though I think the source of her frustration was a culmination of sorts (how the author ended the book + those 3 words = ticked off). I mean, I've read several series on my reading journey and can't think of an author (off the top of my head) that has done something like this. Actually, I'm really trying to see the purpose in doing so. I mean, even on my dimmest of days, I am able to flip through the first few pages of a book and see if the one I am holding is a part of a series. Heck, when all my pistons are firing, I can deduce it from the way the book ends.

So, I ask you, why would an author do this? Am I making too much of this? Could this be attributed to nuance? The book is classified as urban fiction. Since I'm not too familiar with this genre, I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Trying...

alleycat · Sep 7, 2009

I have heard of that, but have never actually come across it in a book. If I did, I would make a solemn promise to myself to never buy another book by that writer, then go and write a snarky review on Amazon.

veinglory · Sep 7, 2009

Seems like a bad idea to me. A book can be part of a series, but it should still have a 'the end'.

scarletpeaches · Sep 7, 2009

If I ever came across that, I would gather up every copy of the book concerned in existence and insert them into the author at speed.

katiemac · Sep 7, 2009

veinglory said:
Seems like a bad idea to me. A book can be part of a series, but it should still have a 'the end'.

Agreed.

James D. Macdonald · Sep 7, 2009

Unfortunately, yes. I've seen it. 1945 by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen.

maestrowork · Sep 7, 2009

If I were an editor I would try to make sure there would be no second book... just to show the author "to be continued" is a bad idea.

Xelebes · Sep 7, 2009

Yes I have. Though it wasn't as frank as you have it. "The Adam Experiment" I think it was called. Forget who wrote it. Published in the 70's.

Capes&Corsets · Sep 8, 2009

I've never come across it, but would be mightily pissed off if I ever did.

DeleyanLee · Sep 8, 2009

"The Mirror of Her Dreams" by Stephen Donaldson ended with a "To Be Continued".

The book got wall-banged, thrown in the garbage and then covered in plate scrapings. Haven't touched another of his books since.

Charlie Horse · Sep 8, 2009

If I remember correctly, didn't Anne Rice do this at the end of 'The Vampire Lestat'? The next book in the series I believe was 'Queen of the Damned'.

ChaosTitan · Sep 8, 2009

I saw it once as part one of a duology, and the second book was releasing the following month. I knew the resolution was coming, so it wasn't too frustrating.

The Lonely One · Sep 8, 2009

I think it could work in humor or comic writing but a dead technique otherwise.

JoNightshade · Sep 8, 2009

Don't quote me on this, as I returned the book to the library several months ago, but I do believe Laurie R King's latest Mary Russel novel ended with something like "To be continued" or "to be concluded." In a literary sense I did not find it terribly jarring, as she had wrapped up one major story line but left several other rather large bits hanging. It had the effect of reassuring the reader that, "yes, there is a planned ending; yes, I am working on it right now; no, I will not leave you hanging."

Personally, however, I was pissed off - as I had been waiting in anticipation of this book for quite some time, without any idea it was only the first of a two-parter. Had I known, I'd not have read it at all until the second volume came out.

Phaeal · Sep 8, 2009

If the book was good, I'd say, "All right! More tasty stuff coming up!"

If it wasn't good, I wouldn't have gotten to the "to be continued" in the first place.

Freelancer · Sep 8, 2009

There was one series where I met with this. "Stargate", by Bill McCay (Based on the original movie). It wasn't that bad at all with To Be Continue. The writer always closed the actual storyline, but always left a hint for the sequel. That series lived 5 books. Unfortunately I read only four as I couldn't acquire the last one.

By my opinion To Be Continue is not bad at all, if the writer is ending it with hook. But sometimes there are some works, where at the end I can't feel I should buy the next one.

TheIT · Sep 8, 2009

DeleyanLee said:
"The Mirror of Her Dreams" by Stephen Donaldson ended with a "To Be Continued".

The book got wall-banged, thrown in the garbage and then covered in plate scrapings. Haven't touched another of his books since.

Too bad, because book 2 was a lot better than book 1 (IMO).

"To be continued" only bothers me when I don't realize that this book is part of a series when I begin reading. What annoys me is when there's no indication at all on the cover that the book is only a piece of the story. If I know what I'm getting into when I start, fine.

Izz · Sep 8, 2009

Yep. C.J. Cherryh's "Chanur's Venture" Trilogy. Didn't bother me at all.

Ravenlocks · Sep 8, 2009

I don't see what's wrong with it. Also, if a book is part of a series, I like it when the last page tells me the name of the next book.

K_Woods · Sep 8, 2009

I don't remember if it was actually "To Be Continued" or something along the lines of "End of Book I" but Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games had the same effect either way. It had already crossed the silly threshold about 100 pages earlier, but reading that at the end was just insulting.

A.R. Starr · Sep 8, 2009

I've never seen anything like that in a book I've read and if I did, it would be the last book of that author's that I read. I'm not a very forgiving reader. As soon as an author does something 'clever' that annoys me, that's the last I'll read of them.

MGraybosch · Sep 8, 2009

DeleyanLee said:
The book got wall-banged, thrown in the garbage and then covered in plate scrapings. Haven't touched another of his books since.

Good move. I tried to force myself to read the Thomas Covenant books, even though the villain has a name straight out of a Saturday-morning cartoon. Am I honestly supposed to take seriously a Sauron-knockoff named "Lord Foul the Despiser"?

MGraybosch · Sep 8, 2009

Izz said:
Yep. C.J. Cherryh's "Chanur's Venture" Trilogy. Didn't bother me at all.

I don't have the books handy, but I think I saw it at the end of the first paperback volume of Peter F. Hamilton's The Reality Dysfunction, which had been split for that edition into two paperbacks: "Emergence" and "Expansion". Since The Reality Dysfunction was obviously meant to be a single book, the "To be continued" made sense.

Salis · Sep 8, 2009

I really don't care, to be honest. If they wrote a good book and it ends with "TO BE CONTINUED...", that's totally fine. It's a little gauche, I guess, but I think it's only gauche because people don't do it very often.

Does every Wheel of Time book not ending with "TO BE CONTINUED..." make it any less annoying that every book in the series effectively reads like that?

Ravenlocks · Sep 8, 2009

Salis said:
Does every Wheel of Time book not ending with "TO BE CONTINUED..." make it any less annoying that every book in the series effectively reads like that?

But what's wrong with a story continuing through multiple books in a series? I don't get the current bias against it. If all the main plot threads wrap up in the first book, I'm less likely to pick up the second book, especially since in my experience the next novel is often a disappointment with a weaker story (or a rehash of the first story, although the first story was supposedly already resolved).

If the story's not done and I enjoyed the book, I will probably check out the continuation.

Have you ever seen "to be continued" at the end of a novel?

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