by Beth Cronk, head librarian
Part of the journey is the end. Two major science fiction/fantasy series are
coming to an end for viewers within a month of each other. Avengers: Endgame just hit movie theaters,
wrapping up Marvel’s Avengers series of movies (but not all of the movies in
the Marvel Cinematic Universe) after eleven years. The television series Game
of Thrones comes to an end on May 19 with its eighth season.
Readers are still looking forward to the last two books in
the Song of Ice and Fire series that Game of Thrones is based on. Provided George R.R. Martin gets over his
writer’s block, there’s still more of that world coming. And Marvel comic books and graphic novels may
never end.
If you feel a sense of loss with these series endings,
you’re not alone. A quick internet
search turns up “Empty feeling after finishing a book/series” on the Goodreads
website, “Why it’s healthy to cry over TV shows” in Time magazine, and “The 5 stages of grief for the TV show you just finished binge-watching” in Huffpost
(some are tongue-in-cheek). There’s even
a name that some people use for this uncomfortable feeling: “post-series
depression.”
Some avid readers I know go through this quite often,
whether they read mysteries, historical fiction, or anything that comes in a
series – or sometimes just after a long, immersive novel.
The Time article says that we form parasocial, or
one-directional, relationships with fictional characters, whether on the page
or screen. Professor Jennifer Barnes is
quoted in the February 23, 2017, article as saying, “The interesting thing is
that our brains aren’t really built to distinguish between whether a
relationship is real or fictional… So these friendships can convey a lot of real-world
benefits.” She also says it’s completely
normal to feel upset when a character we’ve come to know dies or when a series
comes to an end.
It may help to turn your attention to another activity for a
while (exercise, go out with friends, be creative and make something), to discuss
the books or movies or TV show with other fans, or to pick up a new book or
DVD.
While we don’t have an Avengers or Game of Thrones support
group here at the library (hmm, there’s a fun thought…), we do have many
science fiction and fantasy books and DVDs here to help you find something new.
Mark Lawrence’s trilogy Book of the Ancestor has just come
to a conclusion with Holy Sister. This
epic fantasy series tells the story of a young girl, trained by an arcane order
of nuns, who grows into a fierce warrior.
One reviewer after another has praised the world building Lawrence did
in this series. The first two books are Red Sister and Grey Sister. We have
all three at the library.
Myke Cole is two novels into his Sacred Throne trilogy.
Our library has both: The Armored Saint and The Queen of Crows. The third will be published this fall. Another epic fantasy series, this one
features Heloise, a young girl who opposes the tyrannical Order after
witnessing their slaughter of innocent people.
Although this sounds like a familiar formula, reviews say the author
goes in inventive directions.
The Litchfield Library also has these new sci fi/fantasy novels:
- a new novel in the Planetfall series by Emma Newman, Atlas Alone;
- a new Invisible Library novel by Genevieve Cogman, The Mortal Word;
- the first novel in the Chronicles of Ghadid series by K.A. Doore, The Perfect Assassin; and
- the second novel of the Ascendant series by K. Arsenault Rivera, The Phoenix Empress.
In addition, our library always has superhero, fantasy, and
science fiction movies. Some of the
newest are Aquaman, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, The Kid Who Would Be King, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Mary Poppins Returns.
As Mary Poppins would say, “With every job when it’s
complete, there is a sense of bittersweet.”
If the magic of a story has worked on you, be glad that it had the power
to capture your heart and your imagination.
