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

[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