My wife is a huge fan of Robert J. Sawyer's writings. With good reason - he's an excellent author.
She has read nearly everything he has ever written. She's read at least one series more than four times.
Sawyer has very interesting ideas. His characterization is good. His setups are fascinating, and I like the flow of the stories he tells.
But he can't end his books to save his life.
How bad is it? Analog recently serialized one of his stories. I didn't tell my wife. Because I knew the ending would be thoroughly unsatisfying. And I was right.
One book started its epilogue (following an ending without any sort of resolution) by jumping forward 300 years. And moving the story from Earth to Mars. You read that correctly - he couldn't figure out how to end the story within the frame of the story itself, so he had to jump time and space so that the book would have a decent ending, even if the story didn't.
My wife threw the book across the room.
She confronted him at NorWesCon.
I still can't mention the book to her, or she throws her hands in the air and gets a bit shrill.
This, by the way, is not mockery. We all have our hot buttons and triggers.
My wife's just happens to be Sawyer's habit of not ending his books. And I have a hunch I'd have done the same in that situation.
I can't say as I blame her.
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