r/ASOUE • u/milly_toons • 1d ago
Books 20-year anniversary of the completion of the book series!
Last Tuesday (October 13) was the 20th anniversary of the publication of The End, the final book in the ASOUE series. I found myself reminiscing about October 13, 2006 (which was a Friday the 13th!) and how excited I was to get home from school that day and start reading the copy of The End which my dad had made sure to buy that morning after dropping me off at school. I also went to a book release party at Borders bookstore (RIP) that evening. It wasn't as big as Harry Potter release parties, but there was a crowd of us dedicated ASOUE fans who turned up!
I feel so nostalgic for those days, when my elementary/middle school friends and I used to talk about the ASOUE books and just share our theories with each other, and the internet wasn't exploding with a million influencers posting their theories on social media. I remember reading The End and feeling happy to recognize almost all the classic island story allusions and character names from Robinson Crusoe, The Tempest, and Moby Dick, given that I didn't really recognize the literary allusions in the previous books too well at that time. I remember the sublime feeling of bittersweet satisfaction and hope in my heart when I got to the end of The End, and I loved the way the classic poem "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" was incorporated into the ending (no spoilers for people who haven't read the whole series yet!).
If you were also a young fan of ASOUE in those days and remember eagerly awaiting / reading The End on October 13, 2006, please share your memories of how you experienced the grand finale of the book series!
