Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday - Best or Worst Series Enders



This will be a quick Top Ten Tuesday post as I am currently running around with a bunch of other wildlife biologists in Milwaukee, WI at the annual meeting of The Wildlife Society and am full of science and not books.  Not to mention its way past my bed time.  This week the topic posted by The Broke and the Bookish is the Top Ten Worst/Best Series Enders.


Worst
So I'll start by being all negative and controversial...

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Don't throw tomatoes!  I LOVE this series and really like this book but do think it was one of the weaker book of the series with the problems of the weeks camping and nothing happening and such. 
2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
As I've mentioned elsewhere these books just went downhill for me after the terrific beginning of Hunger Games and I didn't like Mockingjay.

Best

3. Devil in the Music by Kate Ross 

This is a great historical mystery series and while this wasn't supposed to be the series ender, the author sadly died before writing any more.  It's a wonderful book and won the Agatha Award the year it was published.

4. The Return of the King by J.R. Tolkien

It's a classic and a pretty fantastic ending to the trilogy.

5. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

And amazing trilogy of books with a really thought-provoking ending. 


So at this point I can't really think about any series where I particularly enjoyed the ending but I can think of a bunch where at least it ended in a relatively satisfying manner without losing too much quality across the series.  

6. Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O'Brian

It was hard to leave Aubrey and Maturin but at least we left them in a good place.  Love this series!

7. Lord Sunday by Garth Nix

I really enjoyed this imaginative series for middle grade readers and it held up.  I know he's written some other series that folks would probably say are better but I haven't gotten there yet.

And I think this is where I have to stop.  Not a very thoughtful or complete list this week and I reserve the right to come back and update it later!  What are your favorite series enders?

4 comments:

  1. The Amber Spyglass is probably my favourite series ender of all time. Besides breaking my heart, it totally blew my 12 year old mind! It was probably one of the first books that made me think really hard about my values and beliefs...and a decade later it still does that haha

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    1. Yes, this is such a great series -an adventure but also a series of books that makes you think. The best!

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  2. Your worst are in my best. Ha! Different stroked, huh.

    My Best & Worst

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    1. Variety is the spice of life! The Deathly Hallows is a stretch calling it among "The Worst". I loved all the Harry Potters but thought # 7 was the weakest of a strong series. I listed it sort of in desperation.:)

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