What’s Up With the Ending?

What's bound to happen at the end of the first novel in a series? A cliffhanger, duh. And our authors aren't too subtle about it. By the end of the book, nothing is really resolved: Lena hasn't chosen Light or Dark, Sarafine has escaped (neither victorious nor defeated), and Ethan… well, Ethan doesn't seem all that much different to us. Sure, he's realized that things do happen in the town of Gatlin, and he's discovered a whole world of magic he never knew existed. But he still has so much mystery to unravel. There's even a new song on his iPod, "Seventeen Moons." How much more obvious could it be? There's a sequel—three, in fact. Bring 'em on!