[Abyss]

Re: T Williams - The conclusion of MS&T... three chapters of elves agressively singing at each other.
W.T.F?
But otherwise the 2nd and 3rd books were leaps and bounds better than the first.

Re: Williams again - Otherland - '!Xabbu' is actually a lot of fun once you understand how to pronounce it.

Re: Eddings' Redemption of Whatsisface - I had actually excavated that portion of my brain with a grapefruit spoon to excise the memory.


- Abyss, ourgrew Eddings but has fond memories of the Belgariad at like age 12 or so.

- Abyss, enjoying this thread.

[Orfantal]

Nothing can compare to the horror of the Gor books by John? Norman

Sexist misogynistic soft porn tripe. The only excuse I can give for reading some was that I was an excitable early teen at the time (several decades ago) I doubt you youngsters would be able to find them on a bookstore anywhere

[QuickTidal]

Oh man, I forgot about McCaffrey.....TRIED really hard to read Dragonflight....got so very annoyed...gave up like 40 pages in.

[McLovin]

I tried one of Katherine Kurtz's (?) Deryni books - gave up on that halfway through, it was just dull...

And I've tried to read Eddings, several different offerings, but he just has not written anything I can stand to read.

Oh, and here's another gem - Dennis (?) McKiernan's stuff. OK, I'm going to tell the story of LOTR for the umpteen millionth time, but I'll change the names of the hobbits and orcs so nobody will notice. Then, I'll tell the exact same story again only it'll be the next generation so nobody will notice since all the names have changed. Seriously, do you just have a program that writes this stuff for you, over and over?

Also, I never read Shannara past the first book, for the same reasons above...

[fan_83]

come on guys.. its not fair to compare eddings, fiest, brooks with erikson...

i used to love those guys,..... when i was around 10-14... they were good books to sink ones teeth into when one first start going into fantasy...

very very few peep will love fantasy if yo ugive them erikson or martin from teh get go...
those author do serve their purpose....


also about dhampir: its not too bad... the first book is pretty normal but the following 3 books aren;t bad..its a series...

the book which i can;t stand is by gene wolfe.... his style of writing makes me puke blood,,,,

i tried reading his first book ( hero or what ever its called)
omg..the style of writing really made my feel like puking and i was only in the first 20 pages......

set that book on fire and took out erikson...

its terrible

[Murrin]

"Puke blood"? Surely you can't have found it that bad. Wolfe is a master, though not perhaps to everyone's taste. Have you had much experience with first-person narratives?

Mine, well I'm not sure if it counts more as childrens fiction but One For Sorrow, Two For Joy by Clive Woodall was downright awful. Horrible, horrible, writing, and the dialogue... Sometimes I wish I didn't have a need to finish every book I start.
I'd have mentioned one of the Goodkind books, but when I first read them I didn't have much of an eye for bad writing, and I've never reread them because of how bad the one or two pages I looked at were when I finally did go back.

[ObsoleteResolve]

While I had problems with Wolfe when I read him, it wasn't because I thought the writing was bad. It was just of a very . . . different . . . style from what I'm used to- which isn't necessarily a bad thing -but one that also didn't compel me to read more.

I do think people need to realize that there's a difference between bad writing and writing that just doesn't do it for them. There are some authors who I don't like, but can admit to either their promise (as I believe Mieville has) or the fact that the ideas are interesting (Bakker) who still do little to nothing for me. I might classify them as "worst" for me, but not as genuinely bad books.

I'm just very utilitarian in what I like the books to do: I don't dislike the flowery flourishes in sentences, I think it can be an amazing element to a tale, but when that ends up taking the center stage and pushing aside considerations of plot... well, watch my attention wander out the window

That said: I probably made a big mistake in my reading of Wolfe in that I read 3/4ths of Shadow & Claw, and then jumped feet first into "The Fifth Head of Cerberus." The "Latro in the Mists" idea fascinates me, but . . .

"The Fifth Head..." made my brainmeats hurt...

.david

[Tsundoku]

Orfantal said:

Nothing can compare to the horror of the Gor books by John? Norman

Sexist misogynistic soft porn tripe. The only excuse I can give for reading some was that I was an excitable early teen at the time (several decades ago) I doubt you youngsters would be able to find them on a bookstore anywhere

Oof. Testify.

I like lingerie (on a woman). I like the sight, feel, and possibilities. What I do NOT like is page after fuggin' page of the intricacies of the lacework and how deep down the woman wearing it loves to be dominated and raped so she feels like a real woman and finds contentment in her place in the world - the foot of masters bed, on a chain. Yeesh!

*Grumble* OK OK, maybe that sort of stuff (minus the rape) gets the occasional cameo in my head, but fer crissakes, twenty fuggin' PAGES of it?! If I want to be titillated I'll watch porn, the Fashion Channel, or go to an R'n'B club.

God, it reminds me of Pratchett when he's being oh-so-clever and forgets the story to go off into a 20 page tangent about absolutely nothing.

Cheers,

La Sombra, Undersecretary: Dept of "Keepin' It Real™"

[Orfantal]

Sombra said:

Oof. Testify.

I like lingerie (on a woman). I like the sight, feel, and possibilities. What I do NOT like is page after fuggin' page of the intricacies of the lacework and how deep down the woman wearing it loves to be dominated and raped so she feels like a real woman and finds contentment in her place in the world - the foot of masters bed, on a chain. Yeesh!

*Grumble* OK OK, maybe that sort of stuff (minus the rape) gets the occasional cameo in my head, but fer crissakes, twenty fuggin' PAGES of it?! If I want to be titillated I'll watch porn, the Fashion Channel, or go to an R'n'B club.

God, it reminds me of Pratchett when he's being oh-so-clever and forgets the story to go off into a 20 page tangent about absolutely nothing.

Cheers,

La Sombra, Undersecretary: Dept of "Keepin' It Real™"

Too right!! Page after page of how if only a woman was raped enough she'd realise her true place in life and be content. Awful stuff.

[Arkmam]

I'm so stupid.
I forgot the book that seems to be genreally considered the worst piece of fantasy ever written by man, They Eye of Argon!

[polishgenius]

I agree with the Erick Van Lustbader or whatever his name is thing - how staggeringly boring. Made me want to poke my eyes out with a toothpick.

Thomas Covenant books - boringly written. The setup and world was fairly intriuging, but the man can't write. Also, the main character was poor- not just because he was unlikeable, though putting those at the core of the story is a risk (The Mhybe!), I've seen it pulled off okay (Bellys Coldwine in Mieville's The Scar managed it), but because he was tedious and repetitive.

Anything by Eddings after the Tamuli trilogy. I mean, those before were bad, but sufferable. I didn't even finish the Treasured One. Which makes me sad because I have fond memories of the Belgariad when I was younger.

[Dagger]

Christopher Paolini's Eragon - I couldn't get past the first chapter. Such poorly written derivative pap. There's a reason this kid was home-schooled. Because if he had been in a public school they would have beaten the snot out of his lame-a$$ every day for writing this crap.

Anne McCaffrey - Best line I ever read that succinctly explains everything that is wrong with her books: "Dragons aren't ponies!"

Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake series - I kept reading this for the action and the hope for the promised smut to happen. But it turned into a giant Mary Sue wankfest. Anita wore this and she smelled terrific. Jean-Claude wore this and his skin was luminous. Richard was a sensitive werewolf but his hair was perfect. OH CHRIST DID IT GET AWFUL.

[dktorode]

David Eddings "The Elder Gods"
Need i say more!!!!!!

[Brys]

I'd just like to make the point that I've read the Elder Gods, and still found Wit'ch War even more painful than it. You may think that it's not possible, but believe me, it is.

[dktorode]

Not possible

[Illuyankas]

Maggie Furey's pretty damn bad. I almost gave away the free copy I recieved from my (now defunct) book club. I just can't bring myself to lose/destroy a book...

[No-God]

I've never read Eye of Argon, but I've tried to read Harry Potter.

Maybe not the worst fantasy series/novel, but it's up there. Maybe just because it's too watered down and kids oriented - neither positive attributes I give to fantasy.

On Fire's Wings by Christie Golden was atrocious, too.