Inverted World's ending

[Ihe]

Just finished this one. Gripping. The City's ways are unique and detailed. The mystery of what's going on, their purpose, the south, and where they are is tackled incredibly well and at the right pace. Absolutely loved it--except for the final pages and the asspull (or at least sudden) explanation of their situation.
The ending is a downer considering all the implications of the permanency of the city's inhabitants' perceptions, but the worst thing for me was that I hadn't expected the story to end so neatly, if not happily. I was expecting the city to end up being sucked into the south, before the awed eyes of Liz, and thus defying all she thought she knew about the city's situation--dropping the reader back to square one in terms of understanding. My expectations in these cases are perhaps too dark, but the unknowability of it all was part of its charm. Unveiling the mystery's inner workings in such anti-climactic way (through a speech, no less...) rubbed me wrong. I would've been happier without an explanation at all. The "how" didn't matter as much as the fate of the inhabitants, and that's where I would've put the emphasis near the end (but then again, I'm not a writer, so what do I know), even if that wasn't very SFy.

Except for the very end, the rest of the book is brilliant. Any thoughts?

 

[JunkMonkey]

Except for the very end, the rest of the book is brilliant. Any thoughts?

It's been a couple of years since I read it - for the first time since it was first serialised in Galaxy Magazine sometime last century and I have to agree with you. I was hooked (I was riveted as a kid) but was a little disappointed by the ending. A little too neat - but a hell of ride till you get there.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

It's an early novel. Still excellent, though.

 

[Ihe]

The awesomeness of SF stories is quite frequently inversely proportional to the awesomeness of the ending...