what book do you dislike

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what book do you dislike That everyone else seems to love

#221 acesn8s

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Posted 22 March 2016 - 12:48 AM

Tiste Simeon, on 21 March 2016 - 09:51 PM, said:

Dang it guys I started reading Pawn of Prophecy, thanks a bundle!

1.0 Sendarians - a practical people. Used as the measuring stick against all other Alorns. Of all the Sendars, Durnik is the Sendarist. (aka Charlie Brown, but for some reason really gets Polgara's juices flowing, if you know what I mean.) I predict that future fantasy authors will steal my slow and self conscientious blacksmith coupled with a bold and strong female love interest and exploit that trope until the readers can't take it anymore.

2.0 Chereks: Vikings. They like to drink and fight, and fight and drink, then drink some more, until they are ready to fight their drinks.

3.0 Drasnians: A bullshit country used to justify the coolest character I'll ever write about. Of all the James Bonds, Silk is the James Bondist (hang on, I'll leave that fetish for some guy who will copy my Blacksmith character).

“The others followed, and found themselves in a small, stuffy basement, which would have been damp, smelly, close, and dark, were it not, in fact, well-lit, which prevented it from being dark.”
― Steven Brust, The Phoenix Guards

#222 Abyss

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Posted 22 March 2016 - 04:58 AM

Silk.
It's all about Silk.

And so was this...

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#223 Salt-Man Z

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Posted 22 March 2016 - 05:17 AM

Tiste Simeon, on 21 March 2016 - 09:51 PM, said:

Dang it guys I started reading Pawn of Prophecy, thanks a bundle!

I'm so sorry.

"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
―Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch

#224 Maark Abbott

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Posted 22 March 2016 - 06:33 AM

Don't be. It could be far worse. He could be reading Way of Kings.

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#225 Tiste Simeon

Faith, Heavy Metal & Bacon

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Posted 22 March 2016 - 07:51 AM

Abyss, on 22 March 2016 - 04:58 AM, said:

Silk.
It's all about Silk.

And so was this...

Man I forgot all about them! Hah good times!

A Haunting Poem
I Scream
You Scream
We all Scream
For I Scream.

#226 Maark Abbott

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Posted 22 March 2016 - 11:33 AM

Tiste Simeon, on 22 March 2016 - 07:51 AM, said:

Abyss, on 22 March 2016 - 04:58 AM, said:

Silk.
It's all about Silk.

And so was this...

Man I forgot all about them! Hah good times!

"Aunt Polgara, what are those clay balls you keep under the linen?"
"Those are Moranth munitions, Belgarion, and you really should not touch them."
"Why, Aunt Polgara?"
"Because they blow shit up, darling. Now go play with your friends."

...oh my

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#227 Abyss

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Posted 22 March 2016 - 06:22 PM

Maark Abbott, on 22 March 2016 - 11:33 AM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 22 March 2016 - 07:51 AM, said:

Abyss, on 22 March 2016 - 04:58 AM, said:

Silk.
It's all about Silk.

And so was this...

Man I forgot all about them! Hah good times!

Keep reading. It gets better.

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#228 Tsundoku

A what?

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Posted 24 March 2016 - 11:17 AM

Abyss, on 22 March 2016 - 06:22 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 22 March 2016 - 11:33 AM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 22 March 2016 - 07:51 AM, said:

Abyss, on 22 March 2016 - 04:58 AM, said:

Silk.
It's all about Silk.

And so was this...

Man I forgot all about them! Hah good times!

Keep reading. It gets better.

Yeah, but after the 4th installment I felt the author was just phoning it in, adding in pointless lycanthrope/vampire threesomes, milking it for more filthy lucre. And wtf was with all the braid-tugging and sniffing?

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 24 March 2016 - 11:18 AM

"Fortune favors the bold, though statistics favor the cautious." - Indomitable Courteous (Icy) Fist, The Palace Job - Patrick Weekes

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#229 polishgenius

Heart of Courage

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Posted 25 March 2016 - 10:25 AM

Maark Abbott, on 21 March 2016 - 10:45 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 21 March 2016 - 09:51 PM, said:

Dang it guys I started reading Pawn of Prophecy, thanks a bundle!

Say hi to Old Burned Face for me!

It took me years to realise just how much

Spoiler

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 25 March 2016 - 10:26 AM

I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.

#230 Grief

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Posted 26 March 2016 - 04:05 AM

Since Worry's post in another thread reminded me: WoT.

It's cliche, terribly paced, the characterisation is shallow and few of the characters stay interesting throughout, the dialogue is often woeful, the plot regularly descends into utter tedium... it's like someone took all the stereotypical criticisms of bland post-Tolkien fantasy and did their best to shove them into one series.

Cougar said:

Grief, FFS will you do something with your sig, it's bloody awful

worry said:

Grief is right (until we abolish capitalism).

#231 Abyss

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Posted 26 March 2016 - 06:21 AM

EmperorMagus, on 20 March 2016 - 09:48 AM, said:

Pretty much anything written by Charlie Stross.
His books are genius from the concept point of view (he has beautiful ideas and awesome plotlines), but I absolutely abhor his humour and find his characters grating and boring.
Disclaimer: I've only read Singularity Sky and part of Accelerando and the initial chapters of The Atrocity Archives.
I would give a lot to read Singularity Sky/ Accelerando in either Peter Watts or Ryan Reynold's prose.

Edit: I can't figure out his obsession with horrible romance side plots either.

A word on Stross... I hated Accelerando... I couldn't manage more than a few pages of Singularity Sky.... I acknowledge that Atrocity starts a bit slow... But push thru and Atrocity grows on you, and the rest of the Laundry series is just awesome.

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#232 Abyss

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Posted 26 March 2016 - 06:22 AM

Tsundoku, on 24 March 2016 - 11:17 AM, said:

Abyss, on 22 March 2016 - 06:22 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 22 March 2016 - 11:33 AM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 22 March 2016 - 07:51 AM, said:

Abyss, on 22 March 2016 - 04:58 AM, said:

Silk.
It's all about Silk.

And so was this...

Man I forgot all about them! Hah good times!

Keep reading. It gets better. :nuke:

Go back to Russia.

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#233 Mentalist

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Posted 28 March 2016 - 01:45 PM

The thread veered sharply into Eddings (of which I only read Elenium and thought it was ok) and WoT. I never read it, and the general impression i've gathered means I probably never will, b/c it seems like too much of a time commitment for smth fairly formulaic.

One series I've realized I don't really care for anymore is ASOIAF. I still feel the first 3 were a great trilogy (one of the best), but between Feast being mediocre, Dance being okay, but nowhere near ASoS, and the prolonged waiting, I find I've really moved on. I'll probably read the series when/if it ever comes to an end, but the books won't be a Day 1 purchase the way ADWD was-i'll probably wait for the mmpb.

Oddly, I don't feel the same fatigue towards Bakker, even though I was never crazy about The Second Apocalypse.

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Jump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.

#234 Abyss

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Posted 02 April 2016 - 04:34 AM

I suspect that Eddings would be a tough read for most 'adult' fant lit fans. Rereading it as an adult carries a certain nostalgia, but reading it for the first time... Well, see upthread.

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#235 Macros

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Posted 02 April 2016 - 07:06 AM

Rereading as an adult is painful, even with the nostalgia

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#236 Tsundoku

A what?

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Posted 02 April 2016 - 08:50 AM

Recently read the comic book version of the Eye of the World - which is the first "re-read" for me since it came out in ... 1990? And New Spring, which I had not read before. Not too bad actually.

Sadly it reminded me how much I hated the middle books like A Crown of Swords, The Path of Daggers, most of Winter's Heart and the truly godawful Crossroads of Twilight.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 02 April 2016 - 08:52 AM

#237 Tatterdemalion

I sneeze warrens.

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Posted 21 May 2016 - 04:40 AM

I just finished WISE MAN'S FEAR and the whole Kingkiller trio-wannabe is not for me.

It's got elements of amazing, for sure. He is an absolute master at applicable metaphors. Enough to make me hate him. And KK books are easy to pick up and go. Quick little bits and you're always right at home in Kvothe's head. Every word is of this character.

Thing is, after reading 'bigger' fantasy series, this just seems like nothing is going on. His quest for answers is not half as interesting as it should be. As in, there are never any damn revelations. The same can be said of the 'will they won't they?' between he and Denna. How many coincidental runnings-into are allowed before we have to assume Kvothe is ta'veren? WMF is basically just a laundry list of events as he hops about improving himself. There's just no intrigue or mystery to the whole series. The biggest danger is him running out of money, which is realistic and adds to the Kvothe flavoring of everything, but is still relatively boring. Now, I'm not saying have scenes threaten to see Kvothe 'almost dying' - it would not work well as the reader KNOWS he's just fine (since it's his story), but he never has much to lose and is so competent that he's clearly not even going to lose that, whatever that is. And floundering Sim gets the prettiest girl on campus. Quaint. For a place that has 10-15 males for every female, Kvothe sure knows every single totally beautiful girl in the bunch - although that's more a critique of The Name of the Wind.

Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoyed it. I enjoy things easily. But I'll take the weaving story lines and staccato action over especially elegant prose. Regular prose suffices if the story beneath it is teeming with excitement, wonder, mystery, danger, and depth.

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#238 Maark Abbott

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Posted 23 May 2016 - 07:58 AM

I'd agree with that, Joel. For me, KK is about a 6/10 after the first book. It was exactly average save the interesting magic system which earned it the extra point. It'd be much better if more happened and the protagonist wasn't such an utter Mary Sue. In addition, I found the 'amazing prose' to be grossly overstated - it was average in every damn way. And to have such a huge gaps between 2 and 3 so that 3 can be 'just right'... after reading 1, that gap is inexcusable.

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