The Worst of 2014: Your 5 Most Disappointing Reads of the Year

[Larry.]

Since there's already a thread for the best of the year, why not have one devoted to highlighting (lowlighting?) those books you read this year that either disappointed you the most and/or were just the worst-written/plotted/executed stories of the year? Although I'm going to list below five books released in the US this year, feel free to include any from previous year. Very curious to hear justifications for the putridness of your choices!

Here's my Bottom 5 (excerpted from a blog post for the worst six):

5. Katherine Addison, The Goblin Emperor

I mostly enjoyed Sarah Monette's Mélusine series, but this new fantasy just did not work for me. The narrative just felt too bland, lacking in some je ne sais qua quality that would have raised it above being just another average fantasy narrative.

4. Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance

No, I'll resist making the obvious pun. However, lately Sanderson's prose and narrative constructing skills have declined from slightly above pedestrian to something that is barely able to keep me reading anything he's written. So yeah, it's mildly disappointed, combined with being decidedly bloated. Not a good combination.

3. Kameron Hurley, The Mirror Empire

While I have never thought all that highly of Hurley's prose (a good stylist she is not nor has ever claimed to be), I did have some hopes that the narrative at least would be coherent or at least attention-absorbing. It was neither. The inchoate mess of the first quarter, while alleviated somewhat later on, just made this novel too structurally flawed for it to be anything other than a huge disappointment.

2. Edan Lepucki, California

If #FirstWorldProblems wrote a post-apocalyptic novel, it likely would resemble California in many of its thematic concerns. Such a shallow, vapid, vaguely white ethnocentric novel that barely can maintain any semblance of structure or plausibility under the weight of the bullshit presented over the course of the narrative. If it weren't for the truly "special" prose and narrative of #1, this would have been by far the worst 2014 novel I've read/reviewed this year.

1. Terry Goodkind, Severed Souls

I didn't expect Goodkind, crappy as he is, to be able to put out something that would make Robert Stanek's self-published works read like Flaubert, but with Severed Souls, he managed to outdo himself and create one of the worst fictions ever published by a large publishing firm in the 21st century. Quite an impressive accomplishment, actually.

[Bastard of Godsgrace]

I wonder how many of these books will end up on Hugo nomination list? ;) I mean especially Addison and Hurley which seem to have a lot of fans. I won't be voting for them, since both have some issues, but neither are they Goodkind level, IMHO.

[Calibandar]

I agree with the Monette ( Addison) and Sanderson, I found both of these very disappointing.

Sanderson is downright unreadable for me, there is nothing at all that I like about his style of writing or characterization.

The Addison was weird and bland at the same time.

The Hurley, that one I did not judge because the premise already didn't appeal to me.

I need to go through my acquisitions to see what other books belong here. The Elizabeth Bear series ( 3rd book released this year, Shattered Pillars I believe ) is one that comes to mind as I ponder her fellow writer Monette. Tried this series several times in fact, wanted to like it for the setting, could not get along with her characters.

[Hello World]

These are not necessarily bad, but they were disappointing compared to all the hype,

1. Ocean at the End of the Lane. I replaced my sleeping pills with this.

2. Use of Weapons. Always a problem with books that rely too much on a twist ending, if you guess it early on the book is ruined.

3. Richard Morgan. Not really what I expecting, it felt too much like a James Elroy which I can’t stand.

4. The Shining Girls. I read this because of the (I now realize) ridiculous reviews that it was getting. Astonishing! Mind-blowing! A masterpiece! It’s actually a 2/5.

[peterbound]

These are not necessarily bad, but they were disappointing compared to all the hype,

1. Ocean at the End of the Lane. I replaced my sleeping pills with this.

2. Use of Weapons. Always a problem with books that rely too much on a twist ending, if you guess it early on the book is ruined.

3. Richard Morgan. Not really what I expecting, it felt too much like a James Elroy which I can’t stand.

4. The Shining Girls. I read this because of the (I now realize) ridiculous reviews that it was getting. Astonishing! Mind-blowing! A masterpiece! It’s actually a 2/5.

Just 'Richard Morgan'? Did he have some tattoo's on his body somewhere that you were able to read? Which of his various books and comics are you referring to.

[Hello World]

Huh... That was supposed to say Black Man by Richard Morgan.

[aceluby]

5. Rise of Endymion - Great book, but too much filler and not great for a re-read

4. Words of Radiance - Did not live up to Way of Kings at all

3. Night Angel Trilogy - It was a fun read, but not what I'd call literature

2. Deadhouse Gates - 1,000 pages of travelogue with maybe 100 pages of action around characters you don't care about.

1. Gardens of the Moon - Plot was almost non-existent and characterization was frankly bad. This + deadhouse gates is almost 2,000 pages of setup. Thank goodness MoI is head and shoulders better.

[aceluby]

One was Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erickson. Well, I actually quit after about 100 pages. I made it through the supposedly difficult first book in the Malazan series and just wasn't intrigued at all by the beginning of this one and put it down. I'm very much of the "OK, so I read ASOIAF and now want to try some other fantasy, so rec me some stuff" background, so Malazan had to be attempted eventually. I think it's not my thing.

Try 200 pages of Memories of Ice. Look at my list and I have to recommend to skip the first two books in Malazan.

[sologdin]

i read stanek, dune 8, turner diaries, ayn rand, and hayek this year--they are the worst, but i expected it, so no disappointment there.

most disappointing to me this year, though not necessarily bad: murakami's hardboiled wonderland, delillo's mao II, ballard's vermillion sands, saramago's stone raft, and selby's last exit to brooklyn.

[HexMachina]

I haven't read anything that was awful exactly. But there have certainly been books I was disappointed with.

1) The first book in the Lightbringer trilogy by Brent Weeks. This was probably my least favourite book of the year, it just failed to interest me at all. Will not continue the trilogy. I found nothing at all to like in this book, either in terms of characters, plot or setting.

2) Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. I know a lot of people like this.novel, and I would not.call the book bad. It just did not appeal to me personally. I could however see good points about this book , even if they did not appeal to me. I have no plans to read the following books any time soon, but I may do at some point.

3) Dangerous Women. As an anthology, this just did not work for me. There were a few shorts I reaply enjoyed but overall this book felt like a big let down, particularly in comparison to other fantasy anthologies I have read.

I can't think of any others that I was very disappointed with so far. The Minaturist may make it onto the list if it doesn't improve

[Darth Richard II]

Well, I had a pretty good year for once, probably because I discovered a whole bunch of new authors/series that have been running for years and years that I've been catching up on.

But the biggest disappointment, by far, was Cameron's The Fell Sword. I really liked the first book, but this one was...bad. All the interesting characters and bits from book 1 had maybe 100 pages worth of time, the rest spent on a bunch of new POVs that, well, were boring. And as far as I Can tell(so far) don't matter one shit to the plot. Kind of like some of those middle WoT books. I'll read the next one, which looks like its going to get back to, you know, the actual plot. But if it's as dull as this one, gah.

[beniowa]

I don't have that many that I really disliked because if it's that bad I stop reading and mark it as DidNotFinish. Of the ones I finish there are of course some that disappointed me, or I found subpar or below average for various reasons.

Messenger's Legacy, Peter V. Brett

The Secret of Abdu el Yezdi, Mark Hodder

A Taste fur Murder, Dixie Lyle

Veil of the Deserters, Jeff Salyards

Time of Contempt and Baptism of Fire, Andrzej Sapkowski

Wild Cards X, Melinda Snodgrass

The Septembers of Shiraz, Delia Sofer

The People in the Trees, Hanya Yanagihara

[David Selig]

Most disappointing for me was probably Echopraxia. After Blindsight I expected another masterpiece, but it was merely good and quite boring at times.

[Spockydog]

Tower Lord by Anthony Ryan was probably the biggest letdown for me. The author's decision to relegate Vaelin to a secondary character sucked big hairy balls, and the new POVs just didn't do it for me. Binned it two-thirds of the way through, and will not be buying the next in the series.

[Andrew Gilfellon]

BEST SERVED COLD by JOE ABERCROMBIE.

I thought it was perhaps because I was relatively young when I first read it, but listening to it on audiobook I still find it a bit of a slog.

[aceluby]

BEST SERVED COLD by JOE ABERCROMBIE.

I thought it was perhaps because I was relatively young when I first read it, but listening to it on audiobook I still find it a bit of a slog.

I think this is my favorite Abercrombie book. My gf is currently reading it as a standalone and she's loving it too.... different stokes and all...

[RedEyedGhost]

5. The Year of the Ladybird by Graham Joyce - it wasn't terrible, it just didn't resonate with me like most of his books do.

4. The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J Sullivan - the main characters were interesting as was the plot, but everything else was lacking.

3. Red Rising by Pierce Brown - too much hype, didn't track with the synopsis, too juvenile.

2. Heaven's Queen by Rachel Bach - did not even approach the high quality of the first two books, and the plotting was very paint by the numbers.

1. The Revolutions by Felix Gilman - this is by far my favorite book on this list, but also the most disappointing because I expected that most out of it. It was two really good book ideas mashed into one, and they both suffered tremendously.

BEST SERVED COLD by JOE ABERCROMBIE.

I thought it was perhaps because I was relatively young when I first read it, but listening to it on audiobook I still find it a bit of a slog.

That would have made my list in whatever year it came out. It's my least favorite Abercrombie book by a pretty fair margin.

[Weeping Sore]

most disappointing to me this year, though not necessarily bad: murakami's hardboiled wonderland, delillo's mao II, ballard's vermillion sands, saramago's stone raft, and selby's last exit to brooklyn.

Eerie. I read all of these with the exception of the Saramago book circa 1998-2000. They were all disappointing. Ballard in particular has never lived up to his reputation as a transgressive sci-fier on par with Burroughs for me. And while Selby intends his earnestness to be excoriating, it's really just kind of exhausting/deadening.

ETA: I realize this sounds like I'm saying I'm so far beyond these books, now since I read them 15 years ago. On the contrary, I've probably regressed in my reading habits if anything. I just thought it was weird that I read these titles all around the same time.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

1. The Witch with No Name. Kim Harrison. I totally enjoyed the Hollows series for a while (good brain candy), but this book was just brain dead. Thank goodness it put the series out of its misery.

2. George Washington's Secret Six Brian Kilmeade. Bad History, bad writing, just bad.

3. City of Dark Magic Magnus Flyte. I don't know why I picked this up. Just do yourself a favor and don't.

4. Dangerous Women. Anthology. With one or two shining (and I mean it) exceptions, this anthology was just flat. Rogues which I read shortly thereafter, was incredibly, so very much, better.

5. The Paper Magician. Hormberg. It was an interesting conceit. It desperately needed to be edited and rewritten. There were large parts that just did.not.make.sense.

[Nosutchmanas Tulsadum]

1. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn - I adored Sharp Objects and enjoyed Gone Girl, but this one was way too dark. I rank it up there with Cormac McCarthy's The Road in the topic 'Books Not to Read When Contemplating Suicide'.

2. Carl Hiaasen's Basket Case - I love this Florida writer's sense of humour, but BC fell pretty flat.

3. Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell - Really? I don't know why this received so much acclaim.

4. A Red Death by Walter Mosely - Too much 'whitey' hate for me. I could get by it in Devil in a Blue Dress, but this one killed my interest in anymore of Mosely's writing.

5. Savages by Don Winslow - Another book that doesn't deserve the credit it gets. Although The Winter of Frankie Machine was great.

6. James Crumley's The Last Good Kiss - Pure poppycock.

7. Deadman's Road by Joe R Lansdale - The great writer of The Bottoms goes Wild, Wild West in this weird western collection of tales.

8. Be Cool by Elmore Leonard - a pure cash-in on the continuation of Get Shorty.

9. The Barrow by Mark Smylie - After a rocking dungeon crawl start, it loses itself completely, never maintaining the magnificent momentum that first chapter created.

10. Emperor of Thorns - I thought Prince of Fools was one of the best fantasy books this year, but this continuing tale of Jorg Ancrath lost all interest from me.

Although that's ten, it was hard to pick out just five from these books.