Was anyone else slightly annoyed with the ending to Stonefather?
It reminded me so much of "The Time Machine" by Wells. It was an excellent story and you were just ready for the next part of the saga to begin, and suddenly - it ends. I felt the ending was much too abrupt, that it left far too much untold.
Anyone else?
Posted by daventor (Member # 11981) on :
I really enjoyed Stonefather, loved the characters and the magic system, but, yeah, the ending was really abrupt. I think it's more just meant to lay the groundwork for a larger, full-fledged fantasy saga. So I think Orson Scott Card was just exploring and developing the world a little bit more while not going as in-depth as he would with a full-length novel. Reading it reminded me of a quote by Douglas Adams (I think it was Adams who said it), who said his "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" was "A really long beginning and then an ending." BTW, first post.
Posted by Craig Childs (Member # 5382) on :
I am REALLY looking forward to the new Mithermage novel, more so than any new Card novel since Magic Street. I know most OSC fans eagerly await the new Ender stories. I enjoy the Ender series, but the books that hooked me on his writing 15 years ago were Lost Boys, Seventh Son, and Pastwatch, not EG.
As for Stonefather, the ending did seem a bit all-too-easy. I found it hard to believe an untrained Stonefather could defeat three waterfathers so easily.
But at the same time, overall this was one of the best stories Card has written in a long time. The mileau, the characters, the system of magic all seemed very well-developed and all the details in the story--Runnel's unnaturally stoic expression, the porous rock in the water cistern, etc.--paid off handsomely in the end.
Even though the price tag was high for a 100-page story, it was worth it, I felt.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
Part of my problem may have been that I bought it on Audible and listened on my iPod Shuffle, so I really had NO CLUE how much (or little) of the story was left.