Characters dying at the end of books.

[vivadelkitty]

Depending on how its done, killing off main characters can be an excellent way to drive the plot forward and add a massive amount of emotional impact.
I know George RR Martin has something a penchant for killing off main and beloved characters

Gods yes, and always in the middle of one of his books. If he ends up killing off Jon Snow in A Dance with Dragons, I will be very, very unhappy.

OT: It can be extremely well done if it makes sense in context, but there are some times when killing a character off just feels like a gimmick.

 

[Sprogus]

Harry potter comes to mind. Mainly the 7th book.

Spoiler

Harry should have died. It would have made a lot more sense and that's where it was heading anyway. Than the writer chickens out

 

[Mr. Blik]

If any of you have ever read Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, you would know the badassery that is the death. I wont even post a spoiler. Call me a fanboy.
READ THE BOOK. its great

 

[SuccessAndBiscuts]

Anybody read the Dune series? People die by the droves and they just keep coming back, sometimes exactly the same, and sometimes in crazy new bodies

Ive read the whole series as far as I remember, and I honestly have no idea what you are on about.

 

[Alpha_7]

I think it can strengthen a story if done correctly, and if it suits the tone / theme of the book. I have a favourite author who when he killed of a main character and love interest got hate mail. But I credit him for making the bold movie and now its a bit like watching the BBC Spooks (they kill of lead roles with abandon) everytime I read his books now, there is always the chance of more casualities you know no one is safe. Except perhaps the kids, I doubt he'd kill a kid, even in fiction.

 

[Lexodus]

I hate it when that happens. If I'm going to read a book, I'm going to get attached to the characters, and then, BAM! Dead. Makes me a sad panda.

 

[Metaphor]

Speed of Darkness.

Spoiler

This is probably the best book I've read with the heroes dieing at the end. Even if anyone who has played the first few missions of Starcraft already knows how it ends, it still manages to be a really good ending.

Although, sometimes it comes off cheesy - most books I've read that surround a games' established story end up killing off every character that wasn't in the original game (or somehow removing them from any future plots) so that it has no impact on the original plot. Although most of my experience has been with Starcraft <___< *slightly biased*

 

[Aur0ra145]

If any of you have ever read Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, you would know the badassery that is the death. I wont even post a spoiler. Call me a fanboy.
READ THE BOOK. its great

Just as a general book, Ghost of Onyx is great. Highly recommended.

On-topic, these are a few books in which people die or don't have happily resolved problems.

Spoiler: Shadow of the Wolf

The main character man dies on the last page.

Spoiler: Presidential Agent

One of the commo seargents gets freaking garoted.

Spoiler: Ethan From

They try suicide via snowsled

 

[whaleswiththumbs]

Depends, if it can work them by all means, i have no real solution to make it work. I only can call them once their in print. But generally it does make them alittle better for me, makes me think of the whole reasoning behind the book.

 

[Aur0ra145]

If any of you have ever read Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, you would know the badassery that is the death. I wont even post a spoiler. Call me a fanboy.
READ THE BOOK. its great

Just as a general book, Ghost of Onyx is great. Highly recommended.

On-topic, these are a few books in which people die or don't have happily resolved problems.

Spoiler: Shadow of the Wolf

The main character man dies on the last page.

Spoiler: Presidential Agent

One of the commo seargents gets freaking garoted.

Spoiler: Ethan From

They try suicide via snowsled

 

[SnippyWings]

If any of you have ever read Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, you would know the badassery that is the death. I wont even post a spoiler. Call me a fanboy.
READ THE BOOK. its great

Completely agree woth you there.
Also the first law trilogy

Spoiler

when they killed off logans group except for dow and the dogman.
but I was angry when they killed grim cause he was awesome.

 

[MetaKnight19]

It depends entirely on the kind of book. At least it's a better ending than 'And it was all a dream...'

 

[Banana Phone Man]

People dying at endings can make a difference from normal, happy endings. Say for example in one story two character fell in love and lived happily ever after yet in another story two people fell in love and for that love died. It can really show how much emotion the characters have if something like this is done correctly. It's hard to explain and it depends on a lot of things but I think it can be a good thing.

 

[Shurikens and Lightning]

Depends if the book is good or not. I read a book (Which I can't say the name of, because that would spoil the entire fucking thing) that did it, and it was really, really good.

Is it

Spoiler

John Dies At The End?

No, it's

Spoiler

Winston dies at the end

Winston... John Winston... Winston Churchill... Fraklin D. Roosevelt... Barrack Obama... MY GOD! They are going to kill the President of the United States at midnight!

 

[Erja_Perttu]

I've noticed that most books end with a happy ending and I've got to ask this: If the main character died at the end would the book be better? Hear me out. Let's say your reading a book and you grow really attached to the character and you want them to leave happy. Then at the end they win or don't win, I don't know, and then they die. I honestly think that would make the book better because it makes the book dramatic, sad and plus it's a twist ending. So what do you all think? Killing off people in books, awesome or not?

It's probably already been said, but if the book is twilight, then yes. It would make it much better.

If you've got a character who is a part of a series, like say Dirk Pitt (as written by Clive Cussler) or Acheron (Dark Hunter series), it wouldn't improve the story at all, unless the characters are very, very unlikable (see above statement)

 

[Delock]

Anybody read the Dune series? People die by the droves and they just keep coming back, sometimes exactly the same, and sometimes in crazy new bodies

Ive read the whole series as far as I remember, and I honestly have no idea what you are on about.

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the newer stuff by the son. Seriously, if you establish any form of connection or preference for a character THEY WILL DIE. Except for one person I think. I couldn't go on after awhile.

 

[RatRace123]

Well, if the main characters of Twilight died, I think the book would've been much better.

On the flip side, I was incredibly surprised when

Spoiler

None of the Baudelaire kids in the Series of Unfortunate events series died. I guess they figured an extremely dark children's series could only go so far

 

[Methos12]

Anybody read the Dune series? People die by the droves and they just keep coming back, sometimes exactly the same, and sometimes in crazy new bodies

Ive read the whole series as far as I remember, and I honestly have no idea what you are on about.

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the newer stuff by the son. Seriously, if you establish any form of connection or preference for a character THEY WILL DIE. Except for one person I think. I couldn't go on after awhile.

Actually, I think he's referring to old books and the whole Ghola thing with certain swordsman.

 

[Chronologist]

I dislike it when the main character dies. However, I've read books where they should have died, but didn't, even if it was a suicide mission, and that feels cheap to me.

My favorite book, The Name of the Wind, is a series of flashbacks (in a way), so you know the main character is not going to die. Even though it takes the thrill out of it somewhat, I prefer that to a doomed character.