Is The Calamity ending "bad"? And why? (NO SPOILERS PLS)

[AlexLas95]

So, I'm doing a Sanderson's marathon for the first time, and the next saga I'm going to read is The Reckoners.

But before I do, I would like to be ready for the "bad", "disappointing", or even "terrible" ending of this saga according to some people.

So if the ending is bad to you, could you tell me exactly why the ending is bad without giving any details about the plot at all? Just tell me if it's consider bad because it's an open ending, because it's rushed, because it's a bad and sad ending... Why exactly? Thanks.

Edited September 25, 2017 by AlexLas95

[King Cole]

It's bad?

[AlexLas95]

23 minutes ago, King Cole said:

It's bad?

Well, I've seen many people complaining about the ending of "The Calamity" so I'm wondering why that is. But I never read those complains to avoid spoilers. 

That's why I want to know the reason behind all those complains without spoilers.

[Foundation]

I can see why some would consider the ending slightly annoying because there is a slight Deus ex machina feeling at the end that leaves the ending without catharsis for some; however, I think this is prevalent among readers who didn't really understand the ending very well. I personally thought it was very good.

[Ammanas]

I thought it was more incomplete than bad and I believe the next series, The Apocalypse Guard, will further explain things and that Calamity will be looked at more favorably in the future.

[AlexLas95]

29 minutes ago, Foundation said:

I can see why some would consider the ending slightly annoying because there is a slight Deus ex machina feeling at the end that leaves the ending without catharsis for some; however, I think this is prevalent among readers who didn't really understand the ending very well. I personally thought it was very good.

Oh ok. I will see by myself if I like it or not, but now I have an idea of what to expect for the ending, so it won't take me for surprise. Thanks!!

 

6 minutes ago, Ammanas said:

I thought it was more incomplete than bad and I believe the next series, The Apocalypse Guard, will further explain things and that Calamity will be looked at more favorably in the future.

Oh, there's going to be a sequel trilogy?! Oh wow didn't know that. Then I'm not that scared about it ending "bad".  Thanks.

[Tsidqiyah]

@AlexLas95 i don't know if you still want info here but my 2cents

Personally i had no issues with the ending and actually loved the way epilogue leaves the story. BUT the three biggest complaints are that it:

1. Felt Rushed. (But this is Sanderson's style this is just a different type of rushed)
2. Was very Deus-Ex-Machina (Unless you guessed the deeper theme. All I will say on that is remember classic superhero comics were the inspiration for this series)
3. Has a feeling of being incomplete. (Again this is vaguely reminiscent of the way comic books end leaving it open for the next instalment... at least the ones i have read)

I will say read it and make your own opinions 

Also Apocalypse Guard is the same Multiverse and takes place after the events of Calamity but it is not a sequel trilogy. It may only have cameos of these characters if they show up at all.

Edited September 25, 2017 by Tsidqiyah

[Khyrindor]

The ending seemed a bit far-fetched to me actually, but if you can get over that it's still satisfying and fulfilling. I'd definitely give it a read and see what you think. It isn't Sanderson's best by any stretch, but even a less-than-perfect Sanderson ending is better than many other authors.

[Stranker]

People think the ending to Calamity is bad? I loved the ending to Calamity. Maybe a little rushed, but still very enjoyable. I was satisfied with it. Yes, it left some things open, but that's not a bad thing. It just means there's things for the sequel to explore. And this is only the world that I'm talking about. the characters' arcs all end nicely.

 

I liked The Reckoners more than some of Sanderson's Cosmere works, so it's definitely worth checking out.

Edited September 26, 2017 by Stranker

[Flying]

I wouldn't say the ending to Calamity is bad, I don't even think Brandon is capable of writing something bad, but it does leave a few things unanswered. Of course, the Apocalypse Guard is set in the same universe as the Reckoners, so it might answer some of our questions, and probably create even more of those. After all, there's always another secret 

[Dysphoric Kitten]

Not much of a plot spoiler - it barely influences the plot. It is emotionally significant, and as such I did remove all information but what the pattern actually is and why it is unsavory. Still, be warned.

Non-spoiler: Sanderson breaks with things he said earlier, many times in unlikely ways that just leave you feeling that characters are protected from consequences and his writing becomes less real and less meaningful, at least to me.

Spoiler

 

Sanderson has an extreme tendency to be far too sweet and considerate with his stories. Instead of letting worlds crash, he usually prefers to make something unlikely happen and make sure they are all well. This translates to dead characters not being dead. The worst offender of those is definitely Calamity. It revives a character that has been dead for no reason other than Sanderson being squeamish about it, and the revival doesn't even influence the plot much.

It all just makes Sanderson's works be less emotionally significant, as deaths are not possible for some characters.

 

This happens in many other books, including Stormlight 2, Mistborn 5, and so on. But, the worst offender is definitely Calamity, as it is even less plot-significant and the plot points undone are even farther back than in other books, and done only to get the 'Merican happy ending.

[Aon Ati]

When I finished read Calamity I was slightly disappointed by the ending. But then I began to think about it and realized something. The reason why I was disappointed was because I had read Sanderson's other works and was blown away by them. If Calamity, or the Reckoners for that matter, had been written by any other author the ending would have been seen as a good solid conclusion. But because it was from Brandon Sanderson, the guy who wrote the ending to the Mistborn trilogy, the fans expected much more and were met with a normal ending. When reading a book, I try to remember Wit's advise at the end of Words of Radiance about keeping my expectations in check or else I will see everything as below the standard I have set up.

[Fifth of Daybreak]

it definitely felt rushed to me. The other two books you had a clear goal of who the antagonists were and what the objectives were for the story. This book doesn't follow that formula and when it splits off from that it makes the second half of the book feel like it didn't get the exploration it deserved. 

[The Allomantic Metalhead]

I liked it.

[Kari]

Since it was my first Brandon Sanderson series my expectations weren't crazy high.

So yeah, It's a decent ending.

[WayneSpren]

I enjoyed the ending and Calamity as a whole, but found it slightly underwhelming as I think the first two book had more satisfying conclusions than the finale.

[Rage]

I thought the ending was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Although there are a few questions that I would like answered.

[Vogelsang]

It was a Sanderson ending. It's impossible for it to be bad. Though I do go into a month long mourning period when I read the end of one of his sagas.

[Matt O]

On 9/25/2017 at 1:04 PM, AlexLas95 said:

So, I'm doing a Sanderson's marathon for the first time, and the next saga I'm going to read is The Reckoners.

But before I do, I would like to be ready for the "bad", "disappointing", or even "terrible" ending of this saga according to some people.

So if the ending is bad to you, could you tell me exactly why the ending is bad without giving any details about the plot at all? Just tell me if it's consider bad because it's an open ending, because it's rushed, because it's a bad and sad ending... Why exactly? Thanks.

As I said in another post, the ending to Calamity was awesome.

My main complaint is that the ending is _too short_.  It's not what happens at the end that I don't like, it's that Sanderson doesn't let us bask in the awesome feeling for longer.  The ending gave me an extremely high emotional "YES!!!" moment, and I wanted more and suddenly the book is over.  Crap!  In Stormlight, the endings seem to really stretch out, which I think the reader wants if they were in love with the story as they went along.

[WickedCold]

Just finished this today.

Agreed. Ending was fine but I found it was too short. Would have liked it to be a little longer of an ending and maybe point towards where they go from here. 

Still, loved the book.

[AonEne]

I'm in the camp where I liked the ending, but it gave me an Eli Monpress feeling in that I think there were better options available to Brandon to write at the time. I liked the characters as they were and would have preferred there not to be the massive change that there was, (though I won't say what that change was here) . Of course, it was still good - I just thought he was going in and should have gone in a different direction. The direction he went in was satisfactory; it just wasn't what I wanted.

Still a great series. I have no complaints with the rest of the book - just that one major bit. The remainder of the series was also great.

[The One Who Connects]

With regards to the complaints about the ending "feeling rushed," I think I understand why they would think that.

Brandon's books are saturated with characters being wrong about their assumptions and having to refocus what they are doing once they realize their mistake. In most instances, this either happens early enough in the story(Dalinar's revelations in OB) that we can ponder and think for ages, or directly at the climax(like Sazed's Revelation in HoA) where we have to "read now, think later."

This time, we as readers got hit with revelations and were given just enough time to start thinking about them, but not enough time to really understand them before the book hit the climax. The ending itself is perfectly fine, it's just the timing messes with our heads because humans are wired to work in certain ways.

That's why I feel like people are having issues with this ending. Important things happen late enough in the story that we don't have enough time to process them, but far enough from the end that we start processing them, so most people either stop reading and think(which you wouldn't do that close to the end), or finish the book while still half-confused.

[Darth Woodrack]

How can you ask this question and not expect spoilers? That isn't really intelligent, but anyway, I like the ending, because it isn't open ending in a bad way, but it let's you think about what could happen with out disliking the end. If that makes since.

[Toaster Retribution]

The problem with it is that it is rushed, really. Not Mistborn-rushed (which worked very well) but... bad-rushed. Add 20-30 pages to the book and the ending would have been fine. 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

The problem I had with the ending was that it felt more like a setup for a new series than a satisfying conclusion to an existing trilogy. Throughout the book, we're introduced to some new concepts—which isn't bad at all, or unexpected; Firefight did the same, expanding the world and setting things up for one heck of a Sanderson Avalanche. But where Firefight used its final 30-50 pages to answer the questions brought up both during its own story and in Steelheart, Calamity just posed more questions, teasing with the promise of having them answered in a different series. 

And, even more personal opinion here, where Steelheart's denouement felt both gritty and determined and Firefight's was a hard-won sort of hopeful, Calamity's felt kind of….okay, you know the epilogue for Deathly Hallows? How after all the grittiness and darkness and despair of the book itself, the epilogue is just a little too sweet, and it ties things up a little too neatly? How it's not a bad ending, and there are some good bits in it, but overall, after the series you just read, it feels unsatisfying? That's how the last 20 pages of Calamity felt to me. In a different series with a different tone, I'd probably have liked that ending; but for Reckoners? Not so much.