Poor reviews, expectations, and endings.

[seanan_mcguire]

Moshe posted his review of Deadline. He didn't like it very much, which is absolutely his right as a reader, and some of his points as to why he disliked the book are interesting and thought-provoking for me. Most of the time, I don't link to the negative reviews, both because I try to be fairly positive (biosphere ignition and all), and because I don't want to risk accidentally sending a swarm of people over to yell at a reviewer* for being wrong.

(*All reviews are matters of opinion. One man's trash is another man's treasure is a third man's raw materials for their planet-buster earthquake machine. Please do not yell at reviewers, unless the reviewers are saying things like "and this book is so bad that it proves the author likes to microwave kittens." If I am accused of being a kitten microwaving fiend, feel free to step in.)

I did not meet this reviewer's expectations, and my ending did not meet his standards for "this is how a book should end." That is fair, and I am sorry, although I stand by the shape of the story. I do find it interesting that there's often this assumption that a) things are artificially inflated into trilogies, and b) my publisher forced me to end Deadline the way that I did. So I wanted to state two things, for people who may have been wondering:

This was always a trilogy. It's a trilogy not because people expected it to be, but because that was the shape the story took. I started writing Feed (then Newsflesh) as a stand-alone book, and watched as it turned into something longer, a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Acts one, two, and three. We went to Orbit with three books, one finished, one half-finished, and one heavily outlined. The next project I'm planning to undertake as Mira Grant is a duology, rather than the admittedly more marketable trilogy. Why? Because that's the shape of the story.

The ending of Deadline (then The Mourning Edition) was always exactly as written. Why the stress? Because when you read the book, I want you to understand that the book's last line was in the original pitch package. Orbit had absolutely nothing to do with that ending. If anything, they might have encouraged me to provide something a little more concrete, and a little less "now is the time that the house lights come up and we all go to intermission."

The Newsflesh trilogy is a Schwartz musical, not a Sondheim; it's a 1980s horror film, not a 1950s monster mash. That's just how the story is shaped. I'm really sorry if I let any of you down, or if you don't like this shape. But it was my choice, not my publisher's, and it was dictated to me by the way the story needed to go. I will always go the way the story needs to go, even if that way isn't the one that's guaranteed to make the most people happy.

Treasure, trash, or death ray. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

Comments

[hiraeth.livejournal.com]

While I agree that every reader is entitled to their own opinion and interpretation of the literature they read, I must say that the ending to Deadline surprised, impressed and thrilled THIS reader.

Then again, that's my own opinion ;)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I am glad of your opinion. :)

[alitalf.livejournal.com]

My only unhappiness about it all is that the third volume won't be available for many months. I am expecting to enjoy it greatly when it is released, as I did the first two in the series.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I hope you will.

[valkyrwench.livejournal.com]

I distinctly remember you always referring to it as the Newsflesh Trilogy, back when you were still writing Newsflesh, well before it became Feed. It's a pity he didn't like it, because as far as I can tell, that puts him in a very small minority.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I've always tried to be very upfront.

[tig-b.livejournal.com]

I loved it. And do not share his views.

This reminded me of one of the first times I defended my own taste - literally as it was my favourite pasta sauce recipe. Ex-boyfriend started to tell me what was wrong with it, and how he would have improved it. As I listened I realised I loved the sauce and interupted his 'advicee' to point out, rather strongly, that was his opinion not fact.

As a statistician, I think it's important to know the difference between facts and opinion; people confuse them too often.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Fact, if you stab me, I will bleed; opinion, that would be a bad thing.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Me, too.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

You advertised it as a trilogy, long before it was bought. That set me up to expect a trilogy (surprising, yes?). You did /not/ do what some other authors have done, which was sell me the first book as a single book and then just stop at X thousand words.

I suspect that he's been burnt by the latter type of author, but the problem as I see it is that he's generalising that all trilogies are the same.

(Hmm, if he thinks it's slow with not much happening I wonder what he thinks of the Niven and Pournelle thick books. Those are definitely slower. As for the 'classic' Russian authors...)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Some trilogies have lost me like that. But you have to judge them all individually.

[cleverthylacine]

Feh. He lost me by saying that he finds it hard to identify with mentally ill protagonists.

1) Most characters in SF/F and all characters in horror who start out sane won't stay that way long. Protip: PTSD is a mental illness. Sanity is like health. Everyone has some degree of function and some degree of pathology. Stress, violence and lack of resources all encourage pathology.

2) I have quite a lot of mental pathology. Yet when I read books about relatively temporarily sane people (and by this I mean those who are ACTUALLY temporarily sane, not just the ones the writers think are sane, who clearly are not) I don't get to dismiss them by saying, "oh well, it's difficult for me to relate to people who are too mentally healthy." In fact I don't get to say that ever, which sometimes is a pity because there are people in the world who will never understand that they don't make sense to me either, but since they have temporarily sane privilege, they don't have to try. (I have NO comprehension about what it's like to live in a world where you expect: that authority is responsive, fair and benign; that it is safe to tell people what REALLY bothers you--not annoys, but unhinges you; that surprises will be pleasant ones; that you will be liked, if not admired, by most of the people you meet; and so on. If I can accept that most people feel like this, this dude can accept that Shaun talks to Georgia in his head.)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

That was a bit of a surprise, I admit.

[myuki-chan.livejournal.com]

I accept that not every book will be loved by every reader - it might be a bit weird if that were the case.

But I fully disagree with his opinion and am chiming in to say I loved it and my only problem with it were my cries of, "OH MY GOD I NEED THE NEXT BOOK." at the end. ;) However, I am patient so I can happily wait.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks. :)

[archangelbeth]

Huh. I thought the middle book was an absolutely masterful cliffhanger, somehow satisfying while also being scream-inducing.

Perhaps my threshold for cliffhangers is odd. I recall a much-younger me reading Hambly's The Silent Tower (the second or so Hambly book I'd read; the first was the standalone, equally-thick Dragonsbane [yes, I know it went on to be a series; that book stood alone at the time]). And, as I was getting near the end, I was realizing that either it was going to be one hell of a downer-ending, or a cliffhanger, and I didn't know which one would make me scream more.

As it happened, it was a cliff-hanger.

But that has shaped my perception of cliff-hangers ever since. And Deadline's ending compares favorably.

(On the other hand, in my grand unpublished duology, more than one person offered me at least theoretical violence if I actually stopped at the ending of book one, which I thought was actually a perfectly fine place to stop. So my perception of cliffhangers may be... warped. Or something. >_> )

[archangelbeth]

Also, I apparently have extreme indecision over whether "cliffhanger" requires a hyphen or not. *pokes the word with a pointy stick*

[spryng.livejournal.com]

I thought it left off at a very comprehensible point. Yes, it still leaves a lot left unsaid, but it concluded that particular arc of the story. It felt very second-act like, which was both awesome and frustrating, because I don't want to get up and walk around and have a drink of water and contemplate what just happened. I want the curtain to come back up. But that's my impatience talking. :P

I will have you know my friend to whom I recommended these books called me up out of the blue and left a three minute voice mail squeeing about the ending of Deadline. None of my friends have geeked out about a book like that in a very, very long time. Thank you. <3

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

The book ended when it ceased to be Deadline and became Blackout. That's where it had to end.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

This is why I'm glad I read your original posting about the ending of Deadline before I started the book... I may have mentioned it in a previous comment -- I bought the book the week it came out and am not reading it until I have Blackout too. That way I will be able to read Deadline without throwing it across the room when I hit the ending, because I can go straight into Blackout. (Personal preference.)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

And see, I respect this.

[jenk]

One of the things that can be very hard is that once your creation is out in the world, other people bring their own viewpoints and filters and see things you didn't intend to put in there, or in fact, that you deliberately didn't put in there. It's the bane of writers / artists everywhere.

You are being as clear as you can about your intentions, and that's both a good thing and probably the only thing you can do. (Well, you could also not publish, but I'm glad you are publishing.)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it can be a little awkward. It's also sort of fascinating. I really only get fussed when people say I microwave kittens, or accuse my publishers of things they didn't do.

I'm not sure I can keep reading your journal.

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

First you tell me you're not a man, and now you're telling me that you actually have control over the contents of your books, like you're some sort of author?!?

When will the madness end!?! WHEN!?!?

Re: I'm not sure I can keep reading your journal.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

When I ignite the biosphere.

[bloolark.livejournal.com]

You can't please all people. That seems to be a certainty of the universe. So far, with your writing, I've been pleasantly surprised by your ability to plan plot points ahead and actually hint to them nicely without being either ridiculously over the top about them or so subtle that you can't pick up anything. This was obvious in both the Newsflesh trilogy and in the Toby books thus far. It shows a pretty clear plan going on, not a 'I have written myself into a corner, what do I do?' This is especially obvious in rereading the Toby books, in which the Big Reveal in Late Eclipses is very well hinted at in all the previous books.

To the rest, some people like cliffhangers, and some people don't.

What I find oddest about this is the focus on the one singular sex scene. I don't have my copy of Deadline on hand, but if memory serves, it was not particularly graphic or particularly long -- maybe a couple of pages at most? Not really worth bringing up twice in one review in my book.

Still, he's welcome to his opinion. Clearly you have a number of people who disagree.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

If you've cited the Big Reveal in Late Eclipses, wait until you hit the Really Big Reveal in The Winter Long! Mwa ha ha ha.

And yeah, that puzzled me, too. I'm just glad he didn't call Becks a slut for pursuing sex. Several reviewers have.

[frackin-sweet.livejournal.com]

He's totally entitled to his opinion and putting it out there, but fwiw there was very little about his review that makes me take it seriously - he's got some biases that make his opinion seem less objective than it might otherwise. I haven't gotten Deadline yet, but nothing he says has made me want to read it any less.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

OMG I love your icon I LOVE IT SO HARD.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

The middle act of a three act play is always a tough act to pull off. Book one always has the option of an ending that could stand alone or continue, and book three always has the final resolution, but book two often can neither stand alone nor does it usually have a satisfactory ending, because by necessity it's setting up the last dive of the roller coaster.

I thought "Deadline" had three potential endings, any of which works, and the one you chose to actually end with was certainly the one with the biggest "Holy f***" potential. I certainly don't think you should have changed anything.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

The next project I'm planning to undertake as Mira Grant is a duology, rather than the admittedly more marketable trilogy. Why? Because that's the shape of the story.
Duologies are so rare! Buck the trend!

Because when you read the book, I want you to understand that the book's last line was in the original pitch package.
I can confirm this! Because you told it to me months and months before Feed even came out. And then I promptly forgot it, thankfully. And then I remembered it again. SPOILER WARNING.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I am gonna buck it like a motherfucking MECHANICAL BULL.

[lovefromgirl.livejournal.com]

Me, I love the shape of the story. :) And I won't be going over to yell at anyone, ever. That's rude.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Thank you. <3

[laurenthemself]

I like intermission. I get to have an ice cream and talk about the play to other theatregoers and discuss what we think might happen in the next part.

Maybe he should have had an ice cream before he wrote his review.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Mmmm. Ice cream.

[4hour-ramona.livejournal.com]

but a death ray made out of trash... that's treasure!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

If you can make death rays out of trash, I wish to be your new best friend.

[liret.livejournal.com]

One of my major pet peeves is when first books in a duology or trilogy aren't labeled as such and have a cliffhanger ending. That's less because I don't like those kind of endings, and more because if I read the last 50 pages thinking things are wrapping up and I find out there's actually another 100k of story after that, I get mental whiplash. This happens way too often, but I try to remember it's nothing the author has any control over.

Deadline, however, is listed as part of the Newsflesh Trilogy before the title page. I'd count that as fair warning.

[fullcontactmuse.livejournal.com]

And FEED stated its intention to be a part of the trilogy as well so we knew what we were getting into. Admittedly, picking up the book just now I found it on the "Other books by..." page towards the front. (Is there a name for that page? I would think there would be. Author Bibliography perhaps? I'm probably wrong here.)

[aubade-saudade.livejournal.com]

Sure, there is nothing wrong with having a mentally ill person as the hero of a book, but it sure is hard to identify with them.

for one, privilege check and for another what is this deal with having to identify with the protagonists of a book in order to find the experience enjoyable? i don't get it. that is the weirdest thing to me. (i guess i'm not identifying with this type of reader)

i mean, okay, sure maybe you'll identify with certain characters more than others, but i've never had to identify with a character in order to like them and sometimes i have identified with a character (we share a truly annoying characteristic) and not liked them AT ALL.

[thebluerose.livejournal.com]

Yes I read that line and thought "priviledged white male response"

And why do you have to identify with a protagonist?

Shaun was seriously messed up yes, but within the confines of his environment I find it entirely understandable. Anyone who had to kill their own sister (even without their rather warped relationship) would be affected, and surely not in a good way.

The whole book was an inevitable slide to what happened to Shaun at the end (what happened next was unexpected but when you think about it, also likely inevitable in the world of Shaun)

I knew it was the middle book of a trilogy, and the very last movement in the final act was an interesting twist, but it also sets it up (with Shauns variation) for Book 3

It does suffer a bit of middlebookitis - where the purpose of book 2 is to extend the story in book 1 and setup for book 3 - and not necessarily stand alone on its own merits.

The constant lurch from one disaster to another was wearying, added to Shauns habit of recklessly diving into a situation merely to provoke a reaction - an extension of the 'poking the zombie with a stick' Irwin mentality. I can cope with a certain amount of that, but an entire plotline based on those principles, spiralling down into self destruction made it not necessarily the easiest book to read.

I felt similar while reading Feed, it was clearly moving to a destructive ending, tho I was taken by surprise by who and how - it held the dramatic tension well.

But Deadline felt like watching a car crash in slow motion, you know its going to happen but are helpless to stop it, not the most comfortable reading matter.

So yes I get that it may not be everyones cup of tea, but for me its an incredibly brave and bold writing style. And an innovative story and engaging characters.

[melchar.livejournal.com]

I have a problem with reading multi-volume books because if I -like- the books, I wanna read 'em all ASAP. Just gulp them down in an orgy of sated curiousity.

That said, I can't help myself from reading -some- books, just because they look so darned interesting. 'Feed' warned me - it did - that it was part of a 3-some. So did 'Deadline'. My nibbling my nails down to the knuckle is purely my own fault. [But -damn- they were fun!] ... it just means that I re-read the priors before getting to the newbie.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

That works!

[solarbird]

For whatever it's worth, as a reader typically preferring stand-alone novels, it never even crossed my mind that the publisher was affecting the story arc here, or that this was in any way a differently-shaped story wedged into a trilogy.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

That makes me feel better, thank you.

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I guess I have to respectfully disagree with his central thesis of Shaun not being an enjoyable character to spend a book with. I liked Shaun much more at the end of Deadline than I did at the beginning! So, different tastes, I suppose.

As for having to wait for resolution, heh. I'm going to assume this guy doesn't read George R. R. Martin or Scott Lynch or any of the other fantasy authors who write series? Whatever. Not every book is going to be a solo venture!

Now, the waiting *is* hard... but at least we have Toby books and other things to read while we wait!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Hooray for things to fill the time!