The never ending series

It seems to me that there is too many fantasy& sci-fi writers out there trying to make money from us, because they know people will want to read an entire series. In the end you have a series that just won't die.

I don't ever buy a series that isn't finished. I don't like to be kept waiting for the end. So when I saw Terry Goodkind's books sitting on the shelf, 5 of them, I thought, 'fantastic'. There was no mention of others. So, delighted, I read the first three and liked them, they might not be on my favorites list, but they weren't bad. Then I read an interview with Goodkind only to find out, he doesn't know when the series will end. Excuse me? No end?

There's something just plain wrong about taking a series too far when it should be finished. Terry Practchett probably springs to mind. But the beauty of Pratchett is that his books don't rest on drama. Humour will captivate every time, in addition he manages an entirely different story every time, the only this is it's in the same world. But, not once, while reading his work, have I felt that somehow he is deliberately extending out the series just to make us keep on buying. No, I get the feeling he enjoys the writing - and enjoys creating entirely new characters to fit into his world.

What bugs me, and I doubt I am the only one, is the feeling of being merely a source of income rather than a reader. This sort of thinking drives some writers to take a book and milk it dry. Once again I'll refer you to Goodkind. I'm sorry but it took, what, 5 books for Richard and Kahlan to get married? Even Mills and Boon can manage that in one book. But the time they did get married it had dragged out so long I wanted Kahlan to just die, ao that there would be a real twist to the ongoing marriage plans. It drove me insane, I could have thrown the book at the wall when they did finally tie the knot.

To be fair, Goodkind isn't the only author who is dragging out a story. I'm reminded of David Eddings. Adding to the Belgariad is prequels and sequels galore. The idea seems to be once you're onto a good thing, stick to it, bleed it dry, and take advantage of the loyal reader.

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