Books/Authors you hate

[Wabbit]

Severain, what a sexist and silly attitude to take! Mostly, I just feel sorry for you because you are so limited in your world view.

Regards
SillyWabbit

 

[Severian]

SillyWabbit your mind is so open I could push a skewer ear to ear and not damage any vital material.

 

[Wabbit]

AAAAAAAAHHAHAAHAHAHA

You are so HAHAHAH funny HAHAHA I can hardly catch my breath! Your fantastic and ever so HAHAHAH clever wit has cut me to the quick!!!! My god! There is no come back from that! HAHAHHAHA

Really.

Now run along and play with your crayons

Regards
SillyWabbit

 

[javelin98]

Ok, I know this may spark some debate, but I cannot stand John Grisham. If I ever need to read something that puts me to sleep or bores the living daylights out of me, I'll pick up one of his books.

I like Grisham's books, for the most part, but I will admit that he's begun to be pretty formulaic lately. Pretty much all his novels involve a hotshot (usually male) lawyer living life too fast or too large, a vast conspiracy on the part of shadowy powerful older white men, and a conclusion that brings the protagonist back to earth in some painful fashion. My absolute favorite book of his was The Runaway Jury -- terrific plot, great character development, good conclusion. But some of his latest works -- King of Torts, The Brethren -- have just been a little too formulaic to enjoy.

 

[Kerowyn]

...Tolkien. Can anyone say OVERRATED?

Tolkien is not actually known for his writing abilities. I do find him difficult to read, especially since he doesn't read like any other fantasy or sci-fi book I've ever read. If anyone watches the extras on the DVDs I believe one of his original editors made the comment that he's not that good. But that the concepts are amazing.
My personal all-time who let these authors be published are Ben Bova, Paula Volstoy and Jan Siegel. The concepts are weak and confusing.

 

[magemanda]

Joining this show late, but here's mine.....

I'm joining everyone else who dissed Tolkien. Only managed to get through Rings once. However, the man is the grand-daddy of modern fantasy, so thanks to him for that.

Really struggled with Philip Pullman's Northern Lights trilogy, despite the fact they were raved over.

Couldn't see the hype with Neil Gaiman's books (although enjoyed the Neverwhere BBC series very much).

And, for the biggest disappointment, The Elder Gods by Eddings. His first few series got me started on the road of fantasy, but this was the biggest pile of poo going

 

[{Tigress}]

And, for the biggest disappointment, The Elder Gods by Eddings. His first few series got me started on the road of fantasy, but this was the biggest pile of poo going

Wow! Someone else was just praising this yesterday. Now I'm going to HAVE to read it just to see if I think it's good or not. What made this one so bad for you?

 

[magemanda]

I think the worst thing was knowing he's capable of so, so, so much more. The characterization was lazy and, in a lot of cases, lifted almost directly from previous books. I can cope with the similarities in characters between the Elenium/Tamuli and Belgariad/Mallorean because the stories are exceptionally well-written and snappy. But the story itself in the Elder Gods is flimsy.

Problem is, I know I'll read the sequel *groan* to see whether it picks up at all...

 

[Wabbit]

I can cope with the similarities in characters between the Elenium/Tamuli and Belgariad/Mallorean because the stories are exceptionally well-written and snappy.QUOTE]

I ordered a crocodile sandwich once... they made it pretty snappy

WHAT????

 

[Ashlea]

Joining this show late, but here's mine.....

I'm joining everyone else who dissed Tolkien. Only managed to get through Rings once. However, the man is the grand-daddy of modern fantasy, so thanks to him for that.

Really struggled with Philip Pullman's Northern Lights trilogy, despite the fact they were raved over.

Couldn't see the hype with Neil Gaiman's books (although enjoyed the Neverwhere BBC series very much).

And, for the biggest disappointment, The Elder Gods by Eddings. His first few series got me started on the road of fantasy, but this was the biggest pile of poo going

I'm afraid I'm going to have to seriously disagree with you. Tolkien, Pullman, and especially Gaiman rock.

Since you're new, I won't insult your taste.

 

[magemanda]

Well, that's the grand thing about us all having different tastes - we can keep multiple authors in their old ages, rather than just one....

You can keep your Tolkien, Gaiman and Pullman.....

While I'll have Jordan, Martin, Eddings (some of his stuff - see above ), Gemmell etc....

Ooooh, here's another one I truly dislike - Terry Brooks.

 

[{Tigress}]

I think the worst thing was knowing he's capable of so, so, so much more. The characterization was lazy and, in a lot of cases, lifted almost directly from previous books. I can cope with the similarities in characters between the Elenium/Tamuli and Belgariad/Mallorean because the stories are exceptionally well-written and snappy. But the story itself in the Elder Gods is flimsy.

Problem is, I know I'll read the sequel *groan* to see whether it picks up at all...

Well, I've got quite a few things ahead of this on my TBR list, but when I get to it, I'll let you know what I think. Thanks for the info.

 

[Oponn]

Joining this show late, but here's mine.....

I'm joining everyone else who dissed Tolkien. Only managed to get through Rings once. However, the man is the grand-daddy of modern fantasy, so thanks to him for that.

Really struggled with Philip Pullman's Northern Lights trilogy, despite the fact they were raved over.

Couldn't see the hype with Neil Gaiman's books (although enjoyed the Neverwhere BBC series very much).

And, for the biggest disappointment, The Elder Gods by Eddings. His first few series got me started on the road of fantasy, but this was the biggest pile of poo going

I even think the ideas Tolkien gets accredited with aren't all that original. Fantasy was around long before Tolkien, and I find a lot of it better than what he wrote.
His Dark Materials trilogy - loved
Neil Gaiman:
American Gods - quite good
Same with Caroline
Good Omens - really good
Neverwhere - excellent.

The Eldar Gods... the worst fantasy novel I have ever read, bar nothing!
Richard Newcomb's Fifth Sorcerous comes close but can't quite match it in terms of sheer crapness.

 

[Breelander]

I didn't say it was. Psychologically though there are differences and since I'm really only interested in my mind and I don't profess to understand females I will usually select the male author if I had to choose between them. Besides the genres I'm interested in I would say are dominated (in terms of the ratio of male to female not quality) by male authors. So there is just more to choose from. I am not expressing a value judgement on female authors.

I don't do any research before I go out book shopping and I just will pick a male author over a female author when I'm browsing out of habit. I also have rather esoteric tastes in books, music and art.

there are a couple I'm interested in though:

Ursula K. Leguin
C.L. Moore

I thought that this attitude was dying, but apparently it still thrives in some people. I wasn't aware that women were doomed only to write romance. I wonder if you've ever heard about Emily Bronte? When she wrote Wuthering Heights, she wrote it under a male pseudonym because her publishers thought it would sell better. It was highly praised by male critics as a masterpiece, UNTIL it was discovered that she was actually a female, at which point their praise dried up. Plenty of women in the past have written books under male names because of the macho men attitude that women are incapable of writing anything but fluff.

By the way, if you're only interested in YOUR mind, that explains your arrogance. Some of the best writers recently, have been women, even in Fantasy. I wonder if you've noticed the phenomenal success of Harry Potter and Cornelia Funke?

 

[Breelander]

Not to mention a book with nothing resembling a plot and characters that might as well be blocks of stone.
Did Gandalf annoy anyone else? All he did was sit around and be wise. Some incinerating please...

How can you say there's no plot? There's an entire world in his books, it extends forwards and backwards in time. Did you notice the Ring, or did that slip your observation? And Gandalf was one of the most important characters - without him, Frodo would never have made it halfway to Moria. Defeating the Balrog took enormous power - he didn't just smote the bridge and cause him to fall, he battled him all the way down until he killed him.

Someone else said that they could have just flown the Ring all the way to Mount Doom. But when Gandalf flew away on the eagle's back, the eagle wouldn't go any farther than Rohan, because he had other business, and he couldn't transport a person very far. Besides, Sauron would quickly have discovered that an eagle was carrying the Ring, and would have killed it. He had plenty of birds as spies. Their hope was in secrecy.

 

[Wabbit]

All that you mention is world building. Yes, he was a master at that and a genius that I admire but as for story wise, he stinks.

 

[Oponn]

How can you say there's no plot? There's an entire world in his books, it extends forwards and backwards in time. Did you notice the Ring, or did that slip your observation? And Gandalf was one of the most important characters - without him, Frodo would never have made it halfway to Moria. Defeating the Balrog took enormous power - he didn't just smote the bridge and cause him to fall, he battled him all the way down until he killed him.

Someone else said that they could have just flown the Ring all the way to Mount Doom. But when Gandalf flew away on the eagle's back, the eagle wouldn't go any farther than Rohan, because he had other business, and he couldn't transport a person very far. Besides, Sauron would quickly have discovered that an eagle was carrying the Ring, and would have killed it. He had plenty of birds as spies. Their hope was in secrecy.

How can I say there is no plot?
Suppose it depends on your idea of what a plot is, but personnally I perfer something more challenging that A Dark Shadow is rising, we must quest though the lands to exploit his one weakness. We must preg* his inpregniable fortress and overcome many difficulties

"There's an entire world in his books, it extends forwards and backwards in time"
An entire world, great, never seen that before, I do enjoy a good read of texts in a made up language. He puts details in that I couldn't care less about and then ignores things like making sense!

As for characters... we have:
Frodo the merry hobbit who's a bit sad about leaving home.
Sam the loyal hobbit who's a bit sad about leaving home.
Merry the merry hobbit who's a bit sad about leaving home.
Pippen the merry hobbit who's a bit sad about leaving home.
Aragorn who kills people
Legolas who also kills people
Glimi who also kills poeple
Boromir who kills people... wait, he also wants the ring, amazing twist!
Gandalf who is old, wise and troubled
Gladriel who is old, wise and troubled
Elrond who is old wise and troubled
Morgoth who is evil for the sake of being evil
Sauron who is also evil because he is.
The only attempt at characterisation were Golum and yer woman, pretty pathetic for a 1000 odd page epic.
Now, many people would agree that the important pillars of writing are plot, characters and writing style. Since Tolkein fails so miserably at impressing me with his plot and characters, maybe he will do himself justice with his writing style. Unfortunally not, I don't really enjoy being bored to tears by descriptions of trees

There are tons of other faults I have with the "masterpiece" that is Lord of the Rings, but I'm not going to go into them now.

 

[Wabbit]

I think you summed up all my thoughts on Lord of the rings

 

[Martin]

Unbelievable.

You could deconstruct any novel in the way you deconstructed LotR, Oponn.

Cheers, Martin

 

[Crystal]

I agree on this. But I am not sure about the word deconstruct. LOTR also revealed to me the theme of friendship, loyalty, struggle to be evil or integrete(--though they are not the BEST words), blah,blah,blah....

I don't think I am a fan of LOTR, but I do not hate the authour either. In fact, I only finished the first one.