Light Novels With Strong Endings / Final Volumes? (use spoiler tags where necessary)

Korppi

@harmlessdave said in Light Novels With Strong Endings / Final Volumes? (use spoiler tags where necessary):

I thought If it's for my Daughter had a strong ending, followed by some fluffy epilogue and prequel volumes. I look at them as being like the bonus OVAs for a finished series.

Can't say the endgame wasn't without hiccups in structure, the author certainly could have made the story flow better/less rushed, but in overall, the end/epilogue afterwards comes close to an ideal one in my mind. It's not a sudden drop from the sky, instead the story lands smoothly as we readers say goodbye to that world and all its characters.

The one epilogue that has stuck as my favorite for all this time isn't actually from a light novel or a book but from the realm of video games, and that was Lunar: Eternal Blue's way back on PS1. Some day I have to replay it just to see that again...

Paul Nebeling

Here's my comments on the Finished series that JNC has translated.

Ao Oni had a decent ending. I thought it was pretty good for a horror story.
Beast Head felt a bit rushed and incomplete.
Bluesteel Blasphemer did ok for wrapping up a cancelled series. Seeing as the author also have us Outbreak Company, I have no complaints.
Brave Chronicle hasn't been read by me. I keep hoping Sam will put it on catch up some month.
Echo was a strange one volume story, but it felt complete.
From Truant to Anime Screenwriter is JNC's only non-fiction title to date, and it's a damn good read.
JK Haru is probably the best single volume LN we've gotten translated. Loved the ending.
Last and First Idol was another strange one volume story. It felt a bit less complete than Echo.
Me, a Genius? felt totally incomplete.
My Big Sister lives in a Fantasy World didn't make me very happy with the ending. I felt cheated, somehow.
Paying to Win in a VRMMO had an open ending. I'm glad the author ended it the way he did. I was happy with it.
Yume Nikki is the only JNC title I haven't finished, as in I dropped it. I just couldn't get into the story.

Now for some honorable mentioned of not quite finished titles.

Clockwork Planet left us hanging pretty badly. There's got to be more to this story.
Mixed Bathing is a leisurely stroll, but it would be nice to finish things up and the up the loose ends.
Occultic;nine... Come on. The anime managed to reach the end of the story.
Faraway Paladin is too good of a story not to finish.
Walking My Second Path in Life doesn't fill me with confidence that we are going to get a finish to this story
And lastly
For my Daughter for this one, I'm going to use a spoiler tag

spoiler

Yeah, an ending like that would be nice.

Terrence

Sounds like Ao Oni would be a good one to focus on when I can. I'll definitely grab those next Halloween.

DoubleMangekyo

@paul-nebeling Me, a Genius? should be in the second category. It's not really finished, the author just hasn't written much past volume 3. (Black Bullet, Haruhi, Second Path, etc.)

Raitoiro

@paul-nebeling I doubt The faraway paladin is in any way near it's end, aside from the serie being cancel which seem unlikely since it recently get a manga adaptation. The "main" plot with the god seem more like it start with vol 4 and most subplot are unresolved (the dagger promise, Menel and the elve, torch port devloppement,...).

HamsterExAstris

@paul-nebeling said in Light Novels With Strong Endings / Final Volumes? (use spoiler tags where necessary):

Occultic;nine... Come on. The anime managed to reach the end of the story.

They're releasing a new version of the game with a "true ending" this year (new release on Switch plus patches on other systems). Hopefully they'll bring out volume 4 once they finally finish the story.

Paul Nebeling

@terrence I liked it as a horror series, but

spoiler

Paul Nebeling

@doublemangekyo Accordingly to several people, the series is complete at three volumes. The story, not so much so.

Paul Nebeling

@raitoiro Oh, I don't think it's anywhere near finished. I definitely want more.

DoubleMangekyo

@paul-nebeling I'm just saying there's a difference between "It's complete" and "It may as well be complete since there hasn't been a new volume out in years, despite it not being cancelled". The former means exactly what it says on the tin. The latter is just equivalent to an indefinite hiatus and should never be considered a finished work. It's the same as calling Walking My Second Path in Life complete (its second volume also came out in 2016).

The editor even added a comment to the Genius vol.3 afterword, saying:

spoiler

Paul Nebeling

@doublemangekyo Ok. Let's compare and contrast Bluesteel Blasphemer and Me, a Genius. Both series appear to have been cancelled by the publisher. On Me, a Genius, the author seems to have been unaware that his series was being cancelled. On Bluesteel Blasphemer the author was aware that volume 4 was the last volume and wrote a rather hurried ending to the story. Nothing is there to stop an author from continuing to write their WN, but further LN publishing is highly unlikely.

My "designations" of series status was pretty cut and dried. The "finished" titles are the ones that JNC has said (maybe indirectly) that they have translated all the volumes that there are to translate. That second list was mostly (and most of) the titles that haven't published anything in over a year. For my Daughter was included because the upcoming volume is possibly the last one.