Crap you read in high school

[nickg]

Lots and lots of Star Wars books. I remember even liking what Kevin J. Anderson brought to the table. Just typing that makes me feel dirty :ack:

I think i read every star wars book published from 3rd grade until 6th. Toss in some dragonlance and forgotten realms as well. Some terry brooks if you consider that crap ( I remember enjoying elfstones and wishsong of shanarra ). I didn't read as much genre in highschool aside from harry potter and random re reads of things I had in the house.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

Bakker :P

I'm pretty sure I read Pern books and Feist books in high school, and there were definitely some bad books in those series. I also shamefully admit to having read the first 3 books in the Flowers in the Attic series :ack:

I too confess to reading V.C. Andrews. I'd sort of blocked that.

And, if we're confessing from before high school, I will also cop to some Babysitters' Club and Sweet Valley High books. Yeah. I totally did.

[1918me]

I had quite a range of quality, to the point of reading Eragon and The Brothers Karamazov simultaneously. It was some contrast, let me tell you.

[The Reckoner]

In what way was Dragonlance considered important fantasy? I've heard that before, elsewhere, without any elaboration.

[Maester Llama]

For several reasons, the books I had access to in high school were pretty limited. Stuff opened out a bit in my last high school year, and then a lot more in university. This largely meant I read a great deal more widely within fantasy / sf after this broadening -- before 12th grade I knew virtually nothing about the genre beyond four or five authors.

Quite a bit of Terry Brooks and Raymond Feist -- this was before the Great Enshittening of Feist's books, which started happening right around when I was finishing high school; I still don't consider them great or anything but I'm glad I got obsessed with the era I did, rather than what came later. Impressionable little me got hold of some TG in high school and if you'd asked me I would've told you I liked it, but for something I supposedly liked I never could be bothered to read much of it. I got through a couple I think but then started to drift. I hope I hated them subconsciously. I certainly thought they were mighty bad when I came back to try them in university. I remember that among the two or three of us who read fantasy and talked about it in my high school there was, later in high school, once we'd found Jordan, pretty much no dispute that he was better than Goodkind, that Goodkind was what one read when Jordan was not available. I didn't have access to any larger fantasy community at that stage, and among our small group there was but one author-god, and Jordan was his name. The broader online community's disillusionment with WoT was well under way by this time, so I was mighty surprised when I got online in around 2005 / 06.

For about three / five years from the 8th grade through to near the end of high school -- when I found Jordan -- I fucking worshipped David Eddings. My library had a bunch of his books on audio, which was one of the few ways for me to access material, and after thinking his stuff was bullshit because it didn't have dwarves and elves in it for about five hours I fell under a compulsion, and he owned my soul not exclusively but foremost for a number of years. I still don't totally regret this. I could never go back -- there are some early Brooks and Feist books I could probably reread if there wasn't much else around but I don't think I could go back to Eddings; his stuff's not aged well -- but they were good times, and he taught me some stuff in retrospect about what fantasy could do and where it could go wrong if you weren't careful.

My love for Dragonlance was deep in high school, too, for which I will never apologize, but oddly enough only for the kind of core material. I was invested in Weis and Hickman's Heroes of the Lance characters, and the attempts to take the setting and story beyond them never really cut a lot of ice with me. I fell into what I consider one of fantasy literature's foremost traps for young nerdy men and got Drizztified in 10th or 11th grade, absolutely head over heels, and my devotion to Salvatore was intense and encompassed many books but didn't last very long time-wise. I still came back and read some more in university, but the obsession was gone -- even within Forgotten Realms tie-in fiction I'd discovered what I considered better fair in the form of Paul Kemp's and Elaine Cunningham's stuff, and for the most part I had other reading business outside the tie-in realm anyway. Oh, and yeah, Star Wars. So much Star Wars. This compulsion ended almost completely by 2006, one of the only times I've managed to pretty much chop a reading obsession right off rather than letting it trickle away gradually. An arc ended and I found I was just done.

So yeah, heavy diet of not-very-good pop fantasy pulp, supplemented by Tolkien, Rowling, Nix, and Stroud -- and Jacques, further back in middle school -- which remain important to me while Eddings etc have faded in favour of newer, imo pretty incontestibly stronger fantasy. All fairly tame, too. I got hold of a copy of AGoT in the 11th grade and almost wet myself.

[Shryke]

Funny thing about these kind of topics is I've read alot of these, but a ton of them much later then most people did. I read like Eddings and Dragonlance in my late teens (decent pulp nothing and utter crap respectively).

It's actually kinda hard to think of too many really shitty books I read as a kid that I didn't think were utter crap when I read them.

I think it's basically Goodkind (took until the Statue of Human Values for me to realise how bored I was reading the series) and Star Wars (took me a long time to break that habit, even while the books were shite) and Terry Brooks (dropped it with the flying ship series which just bored me).

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I did read alot of Pern (not super awful but still not very good) and Mercedes Lackey (women can't write an ending worth shit)

[Iskaral Pust]

I didn't have access to enough SF/F options to really wade deep into the crap. I think I read one each of Pern, Eddings and Dragonlance and never particularly sought more. I read LOTR each summer for 4 or 5 years in a row, for desperate lack of anything new worth reading. My local library mainly kept me in the area of adventure fiction like Ludlum, Clancy, Forsythe. It got repetitive to say the least.

[HexMachina]

Eddings.

Same, although I only read the Belgariad and the Malloreon out of his stuff.

Christopher Paolini. I used to read the first two books over and over again, I've probably re-read them nearly as much as I have Harry Potter. If not more. Then eventually the third one came out, it was a disappointment. Then the fourth one came out and it it was absolutely appalling. I've tried to re-read the first book again since then, but I've never gotten further than about 10 pages in.

Books by Chris Ryan. I actually got into this by reading Andy McNab's Bravo Two Zero, and that lead to reading Chris Ryan's book on the same subject, The One That Got Away. I read about 6 books by him before I put an end to it, but it still rankles to this day that I have one of his books in hardback whilst everything else is in paperback.

Also, The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett and The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks.

I only ever read the first Paolini book, after finding it in the library at school. Since I never felt any inclination to look for the following books I mustn't have thought it very good :P

I read Chris Ryan too, though in my case it was his Alpha Force books...I don't actually remember how many of those I read :dunno:

I also read one (or maybe two?) Twilight books because I was curious what it was that my schoolmates were so excited about. At least I can say I had the sense to not like them.

I've never read the Twilight books. Even when everyone was "OMG THIS BOOK SO GOOD! YOU LIKE BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ THIS!" I never really felt bothered enough to read them. Seems I had a lucky escape :P

Also, although I started these before high school, I read the Wardstone Chronicles by Joseph Delaney (or those that were released at that point anyway, I think maybe I read 3 or 4 of them?)

[Buckwheat]

I only ever read the first Paolini book, after finding it in the library at school. Since I never felt any inclination to look for the following books I mustn't have thought it very good :P

I read Chris Ryan too, though in my case it was his Alpha Force books...I don't actually remember how many of those I read :dunno:

I've never read the Twilight books. Even when everyone was "OMG THIS BOOK SO GOOD! YOU LIKE BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ THIS!" I never really felt bothered enough to read them. Seems I had a lucky escape :P

Some of my schoolmates were like that, so I asked one to lend me her copy so I could see what the fuss was about. I did not figure it out. And I joined them in the cinema for the first movie too. The whole hall was "ooooooooooooooh"ing and "aaaaaaaaaaah"ing and I did my best not to laugh out loud during most of the film.

I read the Paolini books (and did not even find them that horrible. :leaving: But I know this is a crime to say on this forum. Maybe I would think differently about them now).

[Anatúrinbor]

I thought this was going to be about what I read in HS as part of the curriculum, but outside of that I mostly read thrillers and mystery books. A lot of James Patterson/Ellroy/Grisham, which I generally regard as not-very-good now, and the Agatha Christie types, and some of those can be pretty good.

I did read some older fantasy back in the day, Gormenghast, Worm of Ouroboros, Broken Sword, LotR, and KoELD are the ones I can recall of the top of my head, and those were and are still pretty good, IMO.

[Darth Richard II]

Well this got more responses than I thought. Also makes me feel old. Eragorn in high school? Kids!

Man, I still read all the Star Wars books, I wish I could quit those, but I CANT. The last few were ok though. Gah, that reminds me, I used to read Trek tie ins, including the ones co authored by Shatner. I must cleanse my brain.

[Kindly Old Man]

Lots of Star Wars, Eddings, Gemmell for me too. I recognize that much of the Star Wars EU is atrocious, but I always thought Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy was actually quite good. Then a couple years ago I picked up some other Star Wars book he did and it was almost unreadable. Now I am afraid to go back and re-read those three and ruin all the good memories I have of them. Does anyone know if they hold up at all?

[Darth Richard II]

It's not so much that I read fluffy pulp, I still do, its that I thought some of the fluffy pulp was the best thing EVAR WRITTEN OMG.

That and some of the stuff I read that, in, uh, hindsight, I find morally/politically/what have you offensive, I.E. Goodkind, Card, Anthony. Looking at some of the MOdesitt stuff now too, boy, that guy does not like females, although he tries to be subtle about it.

[SilentRoamer]

Lots of Star Wars, Eddings, Gemmell for me too. I recognize that much of the Star Wars EU is atrocious, but I always thought Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy was actually quite good. Then a couple years ago I picked up some other Star Wars book he did and it was almost unreadable. Now I am afraid to go back and re-read those three and ruin all the good memories I have of them. Does anyone know if they hold up at all?

I am pretty sure Gemmell would. I plan to do a collected works reread soon.

It's not so much that I read fluffy pulp, I still do, its that I thought some of the fluffy pulp was the best thing EVAR WRITTEN OMG. That and some of the stuff I read that, in, uh, hindsight, I find morally/politically/what have you offensive, I.E. Goodkind, Card, Anthony. Looking at some of the MOdesitt stuff now too, boy, that guy does not like females, although he tries to be subtle about it.

Oh come on DR that's so weak. Enders game and Speaker for the Dead are two really good books!?

[benpeek]

Oh come on DR that's so weak. Enders game and Speaker for the Dead are two really good books!?

I've only read ENDERS GAME, but you know, it's not, not really. I know a lot of people love it, but the prose is workman like at best, and the plot with the children is just kinda silly. It's a book for a certain time in your time as a teenager - after that, it's just rubbish.

[Spockydog]

I've only read ENDERS GAME, but you know, it's not, not really. I know a lot of people love it, but the prose is workman like at best, and the plot with the children is just kinda silly. It's a book for a certain time in your time as a teenager - after that, it's just rubbish.

And the movie sucked balls, big time.

[Shryke]

Well this got more responses than I thought. Also makes me feel old. Eragorn in high school? Kids!

Man, I still read all the Star Wars books, I wish I could quit those, but I CANT. The last few were ok though. Gah, that reminds me, I used to read Trek tie ins, including the ones co authored by Shatner. I must cleanse my brain.

Peter David's are still pretty fun reads.

[Myshkin]

I've only read ENDERS GAME, but you know, it's not, not really. I know a lot of people love it, but the prose is workman like at best, and the plot with the children is just kinda silly. It's a book for a certain time in your time as a teenager - after that, it's just rubbish.

I happen to believe that Ender's Game is a very good book, and has held up well. It's certainly a far better novel than the works of Brooks and Eddings.

[Shryke]

Lots of Star Wars, Eddings, Gemmell for me too. I recognize that much of the Star Wars EU is atrocious, but I always thought Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy was actually quite good. Then a couple years ago I picked up some other Star Wars book he did and it was almost unreadable. Now I am afraid to go back and re-read those three and ruin all the good memories I have of them. Does anyone know if they hold up at all?

IMO, no. They are repetitive and often silly. (eg - Luuke Skywalker!)

[Shryke]

It's not so much that I read fluffy pulp, I still do, its that I thought some of the fluffy pulp was the best thing EVAR WRITTEN OMG. That and some of the stuff I read that, in, uh, hindsight, I find morally/politically/what have you offensive, I.E. Goodkind, Card, Anthony. Looking at some of the MOdesitt stuff now too, boy, that guy does not like females, although he tries to be subtle about it.

I find it's alot of everything for me. Some of the stuff I read is just shit, some is still fun but not amazing and some is kinda offensive on top of being dumb now. Though I can't think of anything that I thought was "THE BEST EVER" back then. I don't know, maybe I wasn't that kind of kid.

The first books I can maybe remember reading that I thought were really great were like ASOIAF or WOT.