Im not sure if it's a taboo thing to do comparing films with books but Im not all that fussed about the 'Bad guy' winning at the end and the 'good guy' failing. When you watch a movie and the MC, after investing all your emotions on egging him/her/thing/it (or all four ) on right to the end, fails or dies i think it's new and rather exciting and hits the emotion buttons in a big way. Like when you watch 'The green mile' and you see Duncan being strapped to 'Ol Sparky, you know he's going to die but you love the film anyways, and so you should! it's a bloody great film and adaptation . So the death of an emotionally invested MC isn't always a bad or disasterous thing in my opinion. I loved reading Cormac McCarthy' 'The Road' where the MC 'The father' (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER) eventually dies leaving his son to use what skills he's learnt on his perilous journey to survive the world when his father has died. Wow, i loved it!. If it's done right i think its fab but it can be a slippery slope. I haven't read many book where the antagonist wins at the end and like you i have read ALOT. I guess you just have to take chances with your writing, which is always exciting and kick's 13 shades of sh** out of the boring sameness of novels out there, and see what happens. So if you plan on your 'Bad guy' being the winner at the end of a novel, give it your all because you won't know unless you do it. You cant learn to swim standing still on the shore, take the plunge and see what happens .
