Ow, not reading the sequel then.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

It's happened to me.

I read a book. I like it. I like it a lot. The characters engage me, the plot strings me along, the concept intrigues me, and then I hit a brick wall.

That brick wall is the ending.

I picked it up as the first in a series, and the series looks nice based on this book, but I can't continue it. Too many character get killed off, or the plot drives into a ditch where there is no returning, or some ridculous dues ex machina that you just know the writer will bring in whenever it suits him is introduced. Whatever happens, you liked the book, but the way it ended just stopped me from continuing the series.

Ship of Magic and The Bone Doll's Twin were like this.

Anybody else have similar experiences?

[Thrashalla]

Finish Liveship Traders, NOW!!! It gets soooo much better than the first book, I promise.

As for my own experiences...Erikson's Malazan series is kind of like that, only I'm reading the second one due to external nagging from people despite not giving half a crap about any of the characters. I'm fine if an author kills off people I care about, the emotional impact is the result of good crafting and shows the person did their job well and properly created their vision. Hell, have a massive genocide of all of my favorite characters, just make sure you justify it as a necessary loss in the movement of the story.

But to make it so that I have no attachment to any of the characters, not necessarily relating to them...I usually don't give a shit if about that, it just breaks the book. Thankfully, because I do quite a bit of research before picking up a series, I'm rarely disappointed.

I defi itely have a few books that I'm in no rush to read the sequel of, though. JV Jones Fortress of Grey Ice and Bakker's Prince of Nothing Series are probably the big ones where I'm basically thinking, "Ok, first book was good...but it's not getting priority over others." Though, the more I sit on Bakker, the more I want to pick up the next one.