Authors that excel at Endings/climaxes?

[tromedlov87]

I was thinking about endings in books recently, and about how much I enjoy Brandon's books especially because he's so good at crafting satisfying, great ending sequences. We all know how good the "Brandonavalanche" can be! But this THEN got me thinking about other authors who also excel at this, and I wanted to see what other authors people here think do the same!

Here are some of mine!

Robert Jordan: This one may be obvious, since he was also a huge influence on Brandon, but RJ was really good at endings. Every book in the Wheel of Time (except maybe one or two) has an excellent, action-packed climax that really ramps things up. Even some of the more... well, long and slower books can have an amazing ending sequence almost out of nowhere! *cough* Winter's Heart *cough*

Steven Erikson: This is the big one. IMO, I'm not sure there's any author I know of who does endings (or I should really expand that to 'climax and ending sequences' here) better than Erikson. The Malazan Book of the Fallen series is infamous for being dense, hard to get into, confusing, and (especially in the later books) VERY slow to really get going. But what Erikson excels at that I can't really think of any other author doing is his way of building different plot threads throughout his books. He will often, in a 1000 page book, take the first 300-400 pages just to 'clear his throat' so to speak, and introduce a ton of different storylines. These storylines then slowly build and develop over the next 400-500 pages, often staying almost entirely separated from one another and not being entirely clear how they even connect at all, until BAM somehow he brings them all together in a gigantic convergence of epic proportions for around the final 100-150 pages of the book. This style isn't for everyone, and can definitely put people off, but wow does it really make those ending parts sing.

[Knight of Iron]

You know, my own reading experience has unfortunately been not as good outside of Brandon Sanderson, though I could supply a healthy list of very underplayed climaxes, the worst of which being Richard Paul Evans's Michael Vey.

6 hours ago, tromedlov87 said:

We all know how good the "Brandonavalanche" can be!

I think the unofficial term we actually use for this is the Sanderlanche. And as of right now, I can't think of any other authors that I have read who have near comparable climaxes.

[Ghanderflaffle she/her]

3 hours ago, Knight of Iron said:

I think the unofficial term we actually use for this is the Sanderlanche. And as of right now, I can't think of any other authors that I have read who have near comparable climaxes

I have never read a better, more action-packed climax than one of Sanderson’s. Especially Oathbringer, that one was crazy.

[tromedlov87]

14 hours ago, Ghanderflaffle said:

I have never read a better, more action-packed climax than one of Sanderson’s. Especially Oathbringer, that one was crazy.

Some of the Malazan books are right up there. Probably the most action-packed, bananas climax I’ve ever read is in The Crippled God. Toll the Hounds is very close too, especially in how quickly it escalates into a truly fantastic and momentous climax when most of the book prior had been on the slower and more relaxed side.

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

On 12/31/2020 at 11:57 PM, tromedlov87 said:

Steven Erikson: This is the big one. IMO, I'm not sure there's any author I know of who does endings (or I should really expand that to 'climax and ending sequences' here) better than Erikson.

Hahaha, I opened up this topic to post just this! 

I agree with you, my two favorite endings in fantasy are the endings of Toll of the Hounds (which is my favorite Malazan book) and the Crippled God. 

The idea of convergence, where power draws power, is such a perfect setup for epic finales and just plain great storytelling. 

Sanderson's ability to consistently deliver great endings is one of the main reasons I love his books. I was so impressed with how he did the seemingly impossible job of tying up all of the loose ends for the Wheel of Time while still keeping the story moving that I had to check out more of his books. 

Robin McKinley's Damar books, The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword, have great endings and have a very unique atmosphere as well. The endings on these contain no clever twists or shocking revelations, but they are solidly built up and satisfyingly resolved. The atmosphere in The Blue Sword is better, but the ending of The Hero and the Crown is better. I would highly recommend both. 

For books of a more literary bent, I think Haruki Murakami writes incredibly compelling endings. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, Hard Boiled Wonderland/End of the World and Kafka by the Shore all have great endings though they are less definite than Sanderson's or Erickson's but just as satisfying in their own way. 

One of my favorite endings of all times is in the Manga Pluto by Naoki Urusawa (a drastically altered retelling of Ozama Tezuka's "The Greatest Robot on Earth" Astroboy story). And the artwork is beyond amazing, truly one of the finest comics ever made, and the ending is a 20 out of 10.

[Bacon]

Not a novel, but Naruto Shippuden has one of the best climaxes I’ve ever seen in anything.

it’s a massive battle including just about everyone in the cast, and the stakes escalate several dozen times, to the point that by the end of it, there’s an entirely power scale at play compared to when it starts, the magic system and its origins have been fully explored, and the main antagonist has changed 3 times over (more if you count switching back and forth).

It’s one avalanche that I don’t think even Sanderson can match in a single go.

literally the entire 4th Ultimate Ninja Storm game takes place just within that one massive battle.

which occurs over the course of a single night.

for over 100 episodes.