Yep. I’m on my soapbox.

As you may or may not know, the ending to the Sookie Stackhouse novel was revealed on Charlaine Harris’s Facebook page yesterday by a fan. Don’t read any further if you don’t want any details about it, though I don’t directly say what the ending is.

I have mixed feelings on some things, but at the end of the day, I’m a reader.

There are a lot of upset fans, but I don’t even know if you can say the ending was “leaked”.  Though it’s in Germany, the book is technically released now and it’s the digital age so of course information will travel fast. Honestly, I’m surprised it wasn’t “leaked” sooner. Makes me wonder where the ARC readers were. Wasn’t Harry Potter’s ending leaked?  For the record, I think it’s totally lame to post spoilers out in the open for the masses and not give them a choice to decide to read it for themselves.  But for those fans who cancelled pre-orders, I am curious as to if you’re glad the spoilers were released, giving you the option to save your money on assured disappointment, or would you rather have not known?

I’ve not read the series but I do watch the show (though I’m not emotionally attached to it), so I was considering giving them a try but followed my instincts to let it finish first before becoming invested, especially considering the general consensus from my closer friends who complain about how the quality of the series has degraded ever since the show began. From the general sound of things, I’ve already been reading series of superior quality so I don’t feel like I’m missing out. And after this debacle, I think I’ll pass.

While I don’t read these books, I know all too well what it’s like to follow a series (in books or film) and become very invested in the story’s outcome. I’m not up for paying upwards of $30 for entertainment that will only serve to piss me off more than make me happy.  When it comes to authors, I do respect that it’s their work and their creation, but when you have a following I believe you do have a responsibility to them. And last I checked authors don’t do this for charity. It’s made a lucky number of them very wealthy and they wouldn’t be there without their readers. So it’s sad when an author’s attitude suggests that they’ve forgotten where they came from. It is impossible to please everybody. That’s one thing, but it’s another to pretty much say F and U to the following that got you there. The “privilege” to read someone’s work stops when people have to put down their hard-earned cash to get it. Like with any product someone pays for, there are expectations. No, you can’t please everyone but blatant misdirection and a bait and switch will piss off a lot more than if you deal it straight.

Kim Harrison has already weighed in pretty much asking that nobody threatens her because of what Harris has done.  When it comes to The Hollows, though I love it, I’ve time and time again said that I’m glad it’s ending because I don’t really like being grabbed by my proverbial balls and that’s how it’s been for years. I’m too invested to turn back and though I am confident that Kim will deliver, you never really know until you know.

It’s one thing for a series to take a new direction and I lose interest, like Anita Blake . I enjoyed the first few books immensely but when ardeur came into the picture I realized the series wasn’t what I was hoping for and dropped it like a hot potato, especially when I finally caught up with library copies and had to start paying for them.  I don’t miss them and don’t even care, and that’s totally fine. I didn’t feel misled when I stopped because at least it’d been happening for a while. I don’t even think I was that angry about it.

No, an author is never going to make everybody happy regardless of what they do, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to be reasonable. I’m not necessarily saying Harris wasn’t being reasonable because, as I said, I haven’t read it. But it definitely happens so I do understand the frustration.

Just my two cents, though for a number of you this is the case where time is more valuable than any dollar sign.

This article has 15 Comments

  1. I haven’t read the spoilers… but I ‘heard’ about the situation, and even know some friends that have cancelled their orders. I haven’t placed any pre-order, and was considering just hitting up my library when it’s time. I have invested time, and some money into this series, and I have to say I am disappointed that whatever the ending is, is so bad or frustrating (whatever word you want to use) that it’s upset hard core fans. I will seriously be considering NOT picking up future books by Harris if I feel she’s taken a dump on her Sookie fans.

  2. I also didn’t preorder (never do, actually) but if I had I defineitley would have. I’m already grateful that I know how things shake out because now I can choose to not but this book. I may still read it. Someday. Some year. But I sure as hell am not going to pay good money for it.

  3. I haven’t read the spoilers, and won’t. My pre-order for the book stands and I’m looking forward to reading it. I’ve followed this series from the beginning and have enjoyed it. The books varied in quality, I was sometimes unhappy with a plot turn or the fate of a few characters, but I trusted the author to get me through it and keep me interested, and I don’t feel that she betrayed that trust.

    Many fans (and ex-fans) of this series are very polarized over the men in Sookie’s life, and were very unhappy when the last couple of books seemed to be giving a strong indication that Eric wasn’t going to be Sookie’s partner in HEA, so if the spoiler was that she doesn’t end up with Eric, I can see how that would lead to a lot of rage and cancellation of book orders.

    I’m not really that invested in who, if anyone, Sookie ends up with, so that’s not going to affect my opinion of the series conclusion. In fact, I’d prefer that the author leave it at least a little open-ended, in case she wants to write the occasional short story set in Sookie’s world.

    I’ve always considered the series to be more urban fantasy than paranormal romance, so have never felt that the author owed us an HEA ending.

  4. Honestly, Spoilers never bother me. it’s not about the “What” for me but they “When” and “How”. As for the Facebook spoiler. I do think whomever the page admin is is the one responsible. You can control comments and posts. As for the Sookie Stackhouse series. I got bored with it by book 8.

    1. That seems to be the lucky number. I’ve been told to read to book 7 and stop there. If I ever read this (it’d be waaaay down the line) I will keep this in mind. It’s hard to forget really.

  5. I didn´t even buy or read the last two books, because I sensed this crap ending.
    I agree, it´s her books, her writing and series, she can write what ever she wants, but I can also stop buying or reading, if I want.
    To hint and give hope since book 1, and then just do a 180 and crap on us all, and all this OOC *shakes head*
    I´m not reading CH again and I un-Liked her, too.

  6. I agree with you and your “Soapbox” thoughts.

    I had read the Anita Blake series until The Harlequin. They just fell apart after that. Although Laurel K. has tried to redeem her character in the last two books, it is too late.
    I read the first six CH Sookie books and stopped when the HBO series started because of the difference. Spoiler or not if I love a series like Kim Harrison’s, I will read the book.
    One final thought to add, I think CH got distracted by the HBO series and lost her original mind’s theme. Hollywood, actors, etc. has a trend of changing most people. CH got lost in the fame.

    1. I think I read AB through Blood Noir, though I’d been going through the motions for a long long time and can’t tell you what the plot was for anything past book 7 if my life depended on it. I heard at a Kim Harrison signing last year that LKH was trying to take AB back to its roots, bu you’re right. It’s too little too late. I read the short story with her and Jean Claude (and Asher) and there seems to be absolutely no progression in their relationships, so I found that very disappointing.

      As for CH and the show. You would think someone like A Skars would make the decision easy, whether you got lost in the game or not! Rofl.

  7. I stopped reading the series after Book 10 cos I found it got really repetitive and I was bored with it. The writing was going downhill.
    I am however a massive fan of the TV show, though I’m anxious after the last couple of seasons. The show itself is actually quite disconnected from the series so I hope it will continue to go its own way ( and hopefully pick itself up for the new season)
    As for the spoiler itself: yeah it REALLY sucks for fans of the story. If I was more invested in the series I would be devastated and I really cant see what Harris was thinking. Its a shitty ending

    1. Some people I know didn’t even last until Book 10, Rochelle. I’m hearing if I read it I should read up until 7 and stop there. The tv show is cool. A fun summer show. I like it. At least if I read it I now know what to expect. I will certainly not allow myself to become invested.

  8. OK – I had not heard, my bad. I’ve been up to my fangs in prom dresses for the last week. I’m not going to search it out either. I know what it has to be, but I did not want to find out via a debacle like this. I would have read the book and been upset, but I would have read it. I buy the same brand of soap! And yes Kim Harrison is wise to be pre-emptive, she knows first hand about the backlash, book five if I remember correctly. I have to say as a totally invested, devoted book follower since the first release, I am sad, but not shocked. Not anymore. I was down right LIVID after the ending of the previous book. I knew the series end game was going to kill me half way though that one. Still I held out hope. After a week of ranting to anyone who would listen, hope won out. Now that I know Mrs Harris for the sell out she is, I.m out. Yes the quality of the books has been hit or miss since True Blood hit the air, but I would not say they were horrible. They were never great works to begin with. They were unique, they had a decent mystery and they had great CHARACTERS! That’s what kept me coming back. I’m going to go cancel my pre-order now.

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