Essay Question: Ghost Ship Cliffhanger!

[rolanni]

WARNING: There may be spoilers for Ghost Ship in comments. This is a Warning, this is your only Warning. Proceed at your own risk.

Edited to Add: 
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To everyone:  Good discussion; keep it coming.

So! There's an expressed view that Ghost Ship ends on a cliffhanger, in the form of The Epilogue. We frequently get rapped for "cliffhangers," a charge I happen to think is (1) unfortunate and (2) inaccurate, but that's a rant for another day. What's interesting about the Ghost Ship "cliffhanger" is that the presence of the epilogue creates the "cliffhanger."

My question to you, then, is --

Would Ghost Ship have been a fuller and more satisfying read for you, had there been no epilogue?  Explain, with diagrams, if necessary.

Mind you, Steve and I discussed this very thing at some length, and you see where we finally came down.  I do think this is a topic worthy of in-depth examination, and I'm interested to hear opinions.

Have at it.

Comments

Not a Cliffhanger

[(Anonymous)]

I didn't really think of the epilogue as a cliffhanger—it was a conclusion to Daav's story. It wasn't necessary for me because I'd read Lord of the Dance, but I have a friend (who hasn't read the chapbook) who needed it because she didn't know Daav had survived and was upset.

Tanya K.

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

I'm in the not really a cliffhanger column. It might be for those new to the books but I must admit that I had thoughts before the epilogue. Tricky writers, I like tricksey writers.

Your books all cause me to want the next one. Now! preferably, then I grumble a bit, do a bit of research to find out exactly when the release date is and wait not very patiently for the next book. You leave me wanting MORE! which is not the same as a cliffhanger.

[(Anonymous)]

The epilogue is better than not. It isn't exactly a cliffhanger. It just feels unfinished/incomplete/expectant due to all the loose ends. Theo and Bechimo isn't an ultimate disposition. Win Ton is still in Limbo. (Not to mention whatever relationship Theo and Win Ton will end up with- Presuming Bechimo can fix him.) The DOI is still out and about. Korval isn't exactly settled into Surebleak, they're still getting used to each other and sorting out who gets/does/is what. Daav's position just illustrates this, he's alive, but the outcome is still in doubt. The book isn't contained in and of itself the way, for example, _Conflict of Honors_ is. It requires a sequel instead of just leaving room for one.

Cliffhanger?

[claire774.livejournal.com]

Cliffhanger? I don't think it really is. I have complete confidence in the Uncle. There are a lot of loose ends we are waiting for. How will Win Ton do? What happens when Kamele shows up?

I just wish these books could be published faster aften the writing is finished.
C.

cliffhangers

[(Anonymous)]

I liked the epilogue, it did two things, let me know there would be another book and gave me an idea of what happens next. I hope that is what you wanted. June

Not a cliffhanger. . .

[(Anonymous)]

more of a teaser for the next book, and very necessary to the story.

[enleve.livejournal.com]

I think the book does end on a cliffhanger, but that removing the Epilogue would not remove the cliffhanger. I think the Epilogue clarifies the cliffhanger, and I am glad it is in the book. But I was wondering whether Daav was living or dying at the end of the scene where he was smiling at Aelliana.

Re: Ghost Ship

[joycependle.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

Re: Cliffhangers, unanswered questions, hooks, and other mysteries

[(Anonymous)]

I agree entirely and I couldn't have put it better - obviously great names think alike.

Melvyn
(another m barker)

[estara.livejournal.com]

I liked the epilogue ^^. I really would like Daav and Aelliana to sort of become the irreverent patriarch and matriarch of the Korval line.

Authorial necessity

[samrobinson.livejournal.com]

I remember my first read of Ghost Ship, and at that reading there was a bit of a jolt at the ending and epilog. My reaction was to wish that the next installment would come more quickly, which is the usual reaction to a cliffhanger. This was not, solely due to the epilog, which did take some of the edge off.

After a few passes through the book, I've decided that the package, as it exists, is a well polished and well thought out whole which unfortunately has a stopping point. I'm not certain why this particular problem (this particular gambit by the Ministry) moves the plot forward yet. I am content with what we've been given so far.

Because we can't have the entire story at once, or read the story in a serialized fashion (I really enjoyed being part of the Fledgling/Saltation reading group) it must halt somewhere and the stopping point was in about the right place given your word count per book. Including the information regarding continuing potential viability of two major characters was a friendly tease, rather than a cliffhanger.

Better with, and it's not a cliff hanger (to me)

[(Anonymous)]

I agree with others, that the epiogue is not truly a cliff hanger, and I'd say it''s almost an anti-cliff hanger - without it we assume Daav is dead, but don't really KNOW. With it, we assume Daav is NOT dead, but... Also leads to some trepidation about what The Uncle might do with a "mostly dead" ex-Delm and what might this mean for Daav and Aelliana.

This also seems to be the sort of open ended "ending" you specialize in. Your books don't, as a rule, end neat and tidy with all the loose ends tied up, rather they either scream or wisper "to be continued" - sort of messy, like teal life.

At the simplest level I'd vote "Better with the Epilogue"

-Gus Fleischmann

Re: Authorial necessity

[pgranzeau.livejournal.com]

The end of the part of the story involving Pod 78 would have been, or at least felt like, a downer without the epilogue. And at least, I won't have to wait ten years or so for the next, I hope, because I won't live that long (I'm 76 already).

Epilogue

[abwarwick.livejournal.com]

I liked it all
Leaves room for speculation and imagination.

:)

A

More hook than cliffhanger.

[(Anonymous)]

I enjoyed the epilogue since it brought to mind the Tree giving Daav two seedpods. Is the Tree prescient? Will Uncle’s treatment bring about a body for Aelliana and that is the reason for the two seedpods?

Ken in MO.

[otterb.livejournal.com]

Count me in the "like the epilogue" camp. I liked the reassurance. It's not so much a cliffhanger as a "life goes on" epilog. Plus, assuming that Dragon Ship will include the path the epilog shows, IMO it would feel a lot more iffy to have the information pop up there without previous foreshadowing.

[(Anonymous)]

Not a cliffhanger, but just enough reassurance that I can make it to the next book with pleasant anticipation rather than sadness over a definite death. I have to say I'm at least as anxious about 1) Win Ton and 2) Kamele arriving on Surebleak.
mf

[chris huning (from livejournal.com)]

I love the ending just the way it is. It left me with a sense of hope. Which is a good thing. You could certainly call it a cliff hanger in the sense that the book ends with the story clearly unfinished and more story to come just around the corner. But we knew that was the case anyway as the sequel is already in progress. It does whet the appetite and make me yearn for the next book all the sooner, but I mostly feel that way after each of your books.

Chris

Re: Not a Cliffhanger

[sraun]

I recall Our Authors declaring that Ghost Ship had made "Lord of the Dance" an AU.

[sraun]

I'm in the 'like the epilogue' camp. It turns the book from 'could have a sequel, really needs one', to 'where is that sequel? I want it NOW!'

Re: No need to change

[drammar.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly this.

?

[(Anonymous)]

The first time someone complained to me that GHOST SHIP ended with
a cliffhanger, I was all ???Hmn, what?? It doesn't have the feeling of a
cliffhanger.

Cliffhangers make me wail and gnash my teeth - I was ready to throw
a hissy fit at Butcher (see comments about his main character's shooting).

If you had left off your epilogue, I would have gone into serious depression for a bit. Mourning for beloved characters - I do this ever
since I read THE BLACK CAULDRON as a kid. I was breathing a sigh of
worried relief after the epilogue. BIG difference.

What your epilogue achieved was something similar to the shooting/dream/resurrection sequence in the TV show Life. You
see the protagonist get shot (not who does it), you see him hallucinate
an encounter with someone he's shot/killed before and you see him
laboriously gasp. The emotional roller coaster the watcher goes
through packs an incredible punch, no less satisfying for the relief
at the end. THAT roller coaster is what you put us through....but it
had SUCH a satisfying ending I couldn't fault you.

My only complaint about GHOST SHIP was that it was too derned short.
Lauretta@ConstellationBooks

if the epilogue had...been the opening of Dragon Ship

[barbinbandon.livejournal.com]

Exactly. That would have felt false (and contrived) to me, too.

Two Seed Pods .... Mean ?

[(Anonymous)]

Not sure you can hope for a new body, as the Tree gave two seed pods for the Ambassadage to the Turtles, and both "ate" then.

Ghost Ship

[(Anonymous)]

That epilogue was not a cliff hanger, it gave us hope for the future book.

Write faster! I'm 8!.


Joan C