The major problem with Stars Above is the segment between when Alex returns from the Indian Territories and Spring Break. This is the final third of the book, and it should be when tension and suspense are being steadily ratcheted upward. Instead, we get shipping and foreshadowing.
I don't necessarily have an issue with shipping and foreshadowing. I have an issue when they take up the entire last third of a book. When the chapters before the climax don't directly contribute to the climax, it's a problem. Oh, and the climax itself? I like the Nemesis Spirit and John Manuelito as antagonists, but it's hard to deny it's a far less epic confrontation than in any of the other books. Probably because it all takes place in one small room in a basement.
Compare that to Lands Below, which probably has the best climax out of all the books, for reasons that should be obvious. My major issues with Lands Below are that its antagonists (Darla, John Manuelito, and the Generous Ones) are rather uncompelling, and it basically has two different main plots (Mors Mortis Society and Lands Below) with little to do with each other.
Honestly, I would've ranked Stars Above as #3 were it not for the last chapter, which was amazing and went a fair distance to make up for the issues with the climax. Not all the way, but a fair amount.
As for Thorn Circle? Well, it was Inverarity's first book and wasn't beta'd so we can cut it some slack. I actually think it has the best pacing and strongest antagonist out of all of them, and it's certainly not a bad book. But it's the worst-written, and some obvious places where a beta would've helped (a lot of irrelevant scenes, some Mary Sue stuff for Alex, etc). And the plot is probably the least interesting out of all of them, though that actually doesn't bother me as much as it might.
3. Ending
I really wanted a "Bittersweet" option, but while you use that word you also have "Tragic" before it, and I'm not expecting a tragic ending. So I chose "Mostly happy, some tears," even though what I really expect is "Half happy, half tears," to be glib.
For the most part, endings should be of the same tone as the rest of the story; a sad ending to happy series or a happy ending to a sad series will feel like an Ass Pull and will tend to (rightfully) get people pissed off at you. So while the question is "What kind of ending are you expecting?", what it's really asking is "What kind of tone does the Alexandra Quick series have?"
Inverarity has talked several times about how his series is "darker," or more tragic, than the Harry Potter one, and it is. But it's not that much darker. Basically, it has more deaths and a more cynical worldview, but that's about it.
There are other aspects that seem like they're darker. Like the government ritually sacrificing children, and racism, and the terrorist Abraham Thorn is somewhat sympathetic, and stuff. But these make it edgier, not more tragic. To explain why, I'll just copy from Dan Hemmens:
Secondly, horrors of actual, non-school-based wars aside, "like the real world but nastier" is yet another way of saying "like the real world but better".
None of the things I listed above make the series more tragic because none of them impact the characters we care about. To put it baldly, they're basically window-dressing. This doesn't make them bad--edgy window dressing is not necessarily any worse than happy window dressing--but they don't impact the "tragicness" of the series. Alex having to deal with people who sacrifice children is not necessarily any more tragic than Alex having to deal with Larry the school bully.
So when you ignore the window dressing and look at the core: both bad stuff and good stuff happens to Alex, and while she does really go through the ringer, each book ends with a generally positive outlook. So I don't expect Alex to fully succeed in her goals and I expect at least one of her friends to die, but it's going to end on a happy note because, despite everything, the series really is on balance optimistic.
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branchandroot
Re: Talkity talk talk
Date: 2012-06-07 06:22 pm (UTC)I don't necessarily have an issue with shipping and foreshadowing. I have an issue when they take up the entire last third of a book. When the chapters before the climax don't directly contribute to the climax, it's a problem. Oh, and the climax itself? I like the Nemesis Spirit and John Manuelito as antagonists, but it's hard to deny it's a far less epic confrontation than in any of the other books. Probably because it all takes place in one small room in a basement.
Compare that to Lands Below, which probably has the best climax out of all the books, for reasons that should be obvious. My major issues with Lands Below are that its antagonists (Darla, John Manuelito, and the Generous Ones) are rather uncompelling, and it basically has two different main plots (Mors Mortis Society and Lands Below) with little to do with each other.
Honestly, I would've ranked Stars Above as #3 were it not for the last chapter, which was amazing and went a fair distance to make up for the issues with the climax. Not all the way, but a fair amount.
As for Thorn Circle? Well, it was Inverarity's first book and wasn't beta'd so we can cut it some slack. I actually think it has the best pacing and strongest antagonist out of all of them, and it's certainly not a bad book. But it's the worst-written, and some obvious places where a beta would've helped (a lot of irrelevant scenes, some Mary Sue stuff for Alex, etc). And the plot is probably the least interesting out of all of them, though that actually doesn't bother me as much as it might.
3. Ending
I really wanted a "Bittersweet" option, but while you use that word you also have "Tragic" before it, and I'm not expecting a tragic ending. So I chose "Mostly happy, some tears," even though what I really expect is "Half happy, half tears," to be glib.
For the most part, endings should be of the same tone as the rest of the story; a sad ending to happy series or a happy ending to a sad series will feel like an Ass Pull and will tend to (rightfully) get people pissed off at you. So while the question is "What kind of ending are you expecting?", what it's really asking is "What kind of tone does the Alexandra Quick series have?"
Inverarity has talked several times about how his series is "darker," or more tragic, than the Harry Potter one, and it is. But it's not that much darker. Basically, it has more deaths and a more cynical worldview, but that's about it.
There are other aspects that seem like they're darker. Like the government ritually sacrificing children, and racism, and the terrorist Abraham Thorn is somewhat sympathetic, and stuff. But these make it edgier, not more tragic. To explain why, I'll just copy from Dan Hemmens:
Secondly, horrors of actual, non-school-based wars aside, "like the real world but nastier" is yet another way of saying "like the real world but better".
None of the things I listed above make the series more tragic because none of them impact the characters we care about. To put it baldly, they're basically window-dressing. This doesn't make them bad--edgy window dressing is not necessarily any worse than happy window dressing--but they don't impact the "tragicness" of the series. Alex having to deal with people who sacrifice children is not necessarily any more tragic than Alex having to deal with Larry the school bully.
So when you ignore the window dressing and look at the core: both bad stuff and good stuff happens to Alex, and while she does really go through the ringer, each book ends with a generally positive outlook. So I don't expect Alex to fully succeed in her goals and I expect at least one of her friends to die, but it's going to end on a happy note because, despite everything, the series really is on balance optimistic.