My biggest pet peeve is cliffhangers — an anxiety-inducing tactic that authors use to keep readers buying their books forever. I don’t mind cliffhangers when I can immediately get my hands on the next book, but when I have to wait two years for the next book to come out, I might just stop reading the series entirely.
The “Empyrean” series by Rebecca Yarros is a shining example of cliffhangers making for an unenjoyable reading experience. Although the series is expected to span five books, only three have been released so far. I originally planned to wait until the series concluded so I wouldn’t be left in the middle, but after “Onyx Storm” (the third book) came out, the spoilers started getting out of hand. I had to get caught up, and the third cliffhanger couldn’t be that bad. I was wrong. All of the books leading up to the third had cliffhangers, but none were as brutal as the third.
That large of a cliffhanger must mean the next book is coming soon, right? Wrong, again. Rebecca Yarros said she was going to take a break between the release of the third installment and the fourth. While this break is well deserved, I feel like I’m coming apart at the seams not knowing what’s going to happen next. I’m all over fan platforms trying to see what other people think, coming up with my own theories, or even stalking Yarros’ social media to see if she left any hints about the next book.
While I completely understand taking a break and the cliffhanger business strategy, two years is excessive and crosses the border between sweet anticipation and actual torture. I can’t help but think I should’ve held out and waited for the series to be completed. A one-year wait allows readers time to come up with theories and get excited about the next release, but two years leaves me agonizing about what will come next.
Waiting too long between releases, especially when it comes to cliffhangers, takes a clever business strategy and turns it into pure suffering for readers. Will I still buy the next book? Yes. But next time, I’ll wait until the series is complete because I can’t handle another two-year cliffhanger.
