The Desperately-Seeking-Sequels Syndrome

Rants of a rabid reader

It's happened again. Granted, it was an amazing book which I fell madly in love with, but it left me feeling so terribly incomplete:

Why, you ask?

I'm telling you, I've had enough. Absolutely enough of this cruelty inflicted by immensely gifted authors who weave compelling stories designed to suck me into their worlds, but leave half the threads untied at the end, promising a sequel or two some time in the distant future! 

I have been through this intensely frustrating feeling so many times; yet I become so blindly enamored of the characters and the settings that I keep subjecting myself to this torture. One of my close friends, an avid reader herself, prudently picks up books only after the entire series is complete and hence avoids the heartache that results from reading an incomplete story. I, on the other hand, have no such admirable foresight. I have just reached the end of the fourth book of a six-book fantasy series, The Cat's Eye Chronicles and am willing to do anything, just anything, to know what eventually happens to my favorite characters from the series, Sora and Crash. But do I get a resolution now? Do I get the promise of a resolution some time this year? Do I even know when the next book's release date is? No, no, and no. 

In the good old days of Jane Austen, Emily Bronte and Charles Dickens, no one had ever heard of a series. All books were what are now commonly referred to as 'stand-alone' novels. That did not make them in any way less popular though. I want to know, who, in the history of writing, first came up with this idea of writing a series? Was it the brainchild of some cash-strapped publisher who devised this as a brilliant marketing gimmick to hook the reader? No doubt it succeeded in that purpose. But did anyone spare a thought for the legions of sleep-deprived, eagerly-awaiting-happy-ending fans who were left craving for some sort of a closure, day after day, year after year? Shouldn't there be some sort of law to safeguard the poor, disturbed readers against this?

It's not that I have a thing against the series concept in general, but only a specific kind of series. As every modern fiction reader knows, there are two types of series that are usually written. The first type of series is written by a kind and considerate author, and each book in the series tells a different story which is satisfactorily wrapped up by the end of every book. The thread of continuity in the series may be a set of common characters who are present in all the books of the series. There may even be an overarching story line which runs through all the books and concludes in the penultimate book of the series. However, that doesn't affect the resolution of each individual story in the series. Now I come to the second type of series - the kind which frequently end in cliffhangers or circumstances which come out of the blue and baffle the logical mind. Such situations may be about  much-loved characters suddenly turning out to be traitors (no, it can't be true!) or seemingly dying at the end of a particular book in the series (perhaps she is still alive!) or being separated from their true love (please let them be together in the end!). Anyone who was unfortunate enough to read The Immortals of Meluha, before the second novel in the series was released, will know what kind of ending I'm talking about. What does one do with so many unanswered questions, so many unresolved relationships, and even the fate of the world hanging in balance (what will happen now!**biting nails**)? How does one shrug it all off nonchalantly and go back to one's daily routine, waiting patiently for the next book to be released, whenever that may be? It is just not done, dear authors. 

So what happens to the unfortunate readers in such circumstances? 

They hyperventilate, pace the floor, rave and rant, dream of all possible scenarios that can happen in the next book, stalk the author's Facebook or blog pages for the release date, and in the end, are willing to beg, borrow or steal to get their hands on the sequel when it's finally out! And you thought reading was a passive pastime?

Ask any Harry Potter aficionado and they will tell you how excruciatingly painful the long wait between Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Dealthly Hallows was. My heart goes out in sympathy for the hordes of hapless fans of George R. R. Martin's legendary A Song of Fire and Ice series, who have been waiting with bated breath for the next book since 2011! Just go through a rabid reader's comment posted on Goodreads and you will get an idea of how mass fan helplessness feels like:

"Do you think that it would harm George R.R. Martin's creative process if we forcibly locked him in a plastic bubble to keep him healthy and germ free until books 6 and 7 are complete?"

Another rant on Goodreads from a poor fan:

"It took a nearly fatal run-in with a van for Stephen King to finally guide "The Dark Tower" series to its decades-awaited conclusion. What kind of violent sign from the universe will it take to nudge George R. R. Martin toward the "Song of Ice and Fire" finish line?"

Then there are the truly obsessed ones driven to depths of desperation:

"If George R. R. Martin dies before finishing the series,  I will perform blood magic and bring him back by sacrificing the life of Justin Bieber and/or some other disgusting person."

Therein, dear authors and fellow readers, I rest my case :)