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


Larry.

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Just checked my Goodreads and found out, that I didn't really read anything very bad this year. But I'm usually very positive about books I've finished and don't really care about books I couldn't finish... So none of those books I'll mention was really bad (imho), but they were the ones I rated the lowest this year:



Lord of Chaos - Robert Jordan. I'm actually doing a WoT reread since the middle of last year, I think. And I really didn't look forward to reading this again. I think it's the WoT book which I had the most trouble with, since nothing really happens and that the focus is on characters I don't particulary like. But not that bad at all. I gave it 3/5.



Dangerous Women. I have to admit, that I didn't read the whole thing. But I read a lot of the stories and 2 or 3 really catched my interest (fyi: not the GRRM one). It's not like I don't like female protagonists, I just didn't enjoy most of the writing. Could be that I would have liked it more if I read more books of the authors. 3/5.



The Steel Remains - Richard Morgan. Since I know that you're on this board, I'll adress you personally. Dont get me wrong, I don't think that the book is really bad, I just didn't like it. I liked the story, the worldbuilding and the characters, but there were things that really bugged me. For example: I am not opposed to strong language, since it's only human and in your story it fits the characters. BUT: Reading the F word more times than there are pages in this book just annoyed me. But in retrospect, I really think Im going to continue with your series, since I really liked the concept. I gave it 2/5.



Rivers of London (or Midnight Riot) - Ben Aaronovic. Okay, why does this pop up here? Looking back, I think that I found it interesting and wanted to go on with the series. I especially liked all those geeky references. But if I remember correctly, sometimes I was really confused with the plot. Don't know if Im the only one or if I just had a few bad days, but sometimes I couldn't follow the story. 3/5.



That's only four. But there really weren't more books I would call "the worst books I've read in 2014." I mean, not even those four (well, maybe Dangerous Women) fit the criteria. But, wth, I hope my 2015 in reading will be as good as this year was.


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I don't remember exactly whether I read the first 3 or so books of the "Rivers of London" series this year or last year. But overall I was disappointed and I am afraid the first book might have been the best. Some very good ideas and a few interesting characters but overall confusing, sometimes implausible and incoherent, way too obsessed with nerdy specialities only vaguely relevant for the plot (Jazz and archtitecture) and, especially the later books, very sloppily edited. It really does backfire when one puts in learned Latin or German bits and then the spelling and/or grammar are often wrong.


Overall they are not terribly bad, I'd rate them probably 2.5-3/5 but do feel like a missed opportunity



The worst book I read this year was probably the last of the Hunger Games/Panem series whatever it is called. My brother and his gf were really fond of the series and lent them to me with recommendations. While the main idea and the first book are pretty good for YA, the 2nd and especially 3rd are rather bad.


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The Dark Defiles ... I kind of liked it, but felt it just sort of.... ended. Both the 2nd and 3rd novels of this trilogy felt like middle novels in a much bigger series.



The Slow Regard of Silent Things... not disappointed, because I thought it would be self-indulgent twaddle based on early reports, and... yep. Self-indulgent twaddle, coupled with embarrassing endnotes.


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5. The Revolutions, Gilman - As someone said upthread, not exactly bad, just disappointing. It's the same story as always with Gilman: interesting premise, marred by poor pacing

4. Tigerman, Harkaway - loved his debut but each subsequent book is worse than the one before. Poorly paced, terribly self-indulgent and just not that interesting.

3. Lie Down In Darkness, Styron - I am not sure what I was supposed to get from this book besides hating everyone. It isn't awful or anything but it was such a slog it took me four months to finish. 2/5 would not lie down in darkness again

2. The Remains of the Day, Ishiguro - Makes its point, then repeats itself for another 200 pages

1. Retribution Falls (Ketty Jay #1), Wooding - this might literally be the worst book I've ever read

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DISAPPOINTING:


Middlemarch, George Eliot - to be fair, I shouldn't have been disappointed since I already knew that I hate British novels about people in gossipy small towns partnering off, but it's such a well regarded classic work that I hoped there'd be something that transcended the minutia of boring people having boring romances. There wasn't.



Southern Reach, Jeff Vandermeer - I loved the Ambergris books and these felt comparatively small and unoriginal.



Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor - the idea was cool, the issues addressed are important, but the plot and characters continually sink to YA cliches.



BAD:


The Stand, Stephen King - it hurts my soul that there are boarders who like this crap.



The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein - I read all three of the "bad" list from the rec list. I can see how someone liked this 30 years ago when they were 12, I guess?



Night's Dawn, Peter Hamilton - but this was just bad. Bad prose, bad plot, bad characters. Bad everything.



DISAPPOINTING AND BAD:


The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz - So far of Pulitzer winning books I've read, I've hated two and thought one was horribly overrated, so I guess I shouldn't be disappointed anymore.



City of the Chasch, Jack Vance - I liked Vance's other stories that I've read. I was surprised at how puerile and bigoted this was.


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The other was Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. This one, I actually kind of hate upon reflection, and for aforementioned reasons, I don't get to read too many books that I hate. What about this book is good? Plot sucks. Characters suck. World-building sucks. Quote at the beginning about time travel sucks or at least sucks once you realize it's not attached to a profound book. Protagonist sucks. Villain sucks. Random reference to rape in the final page sucks. And this was like some award-winning book? Awful.

Who among ye has read this and liked it? Show yourselves. Talk to me like I'm stupid and tell me why I'm wrong.

I liked Anubis Gates. I don't think you are wrong to dislike it, but I liked the plot, most of the characters (particularly the villains), the world building, how the time travel was handled, and how things were wrapped up. The protagonist was pretty meh for me for most of the book, but there was enough other things I liked that keep me engaged the entire time. I like Egyptian mythology, and I liked the atmosphere and all the bizarre stuff in the book. It felt very different, in a good way, than most fantasy books I've read.

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My top 5 most DISAPPOINTING books:

5. Marie Antoinette (re-read)

4. Divergent + Sequels

3. The King's Curse

2. The Other Boleyn Girl

1. A Clockwork Orange

You read Divergent, horrible as it was, then went back twice more?

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There were only two books that I rated 1 star at Goodreads in 2014.



The Broken Crown by Michelle West. The prose was painful for me. Plot moved glacially and didn't care for any of the characters. I have no intention of reading the rest of the series which is rare for me to give up so soon.


Justice by Ian Irvine. A terrible concluding book in a mediocre trilogy.



Glad both of the above were library books.



There were a number of disappointing reads (all 2/5 in Goodreads):


The Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling. It could have been so much more, but the promise was never there.


The Great Gatsby. I wanted to like the book, but didn't care for it. I found it depressing as heck too.


Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont by Joseph Boyden. I had family members (great grandma) and ancestors that were very involved in the Rebellion and knowing that Boyden was a very well respected Canadian writer had me intrigued. Instead, I got a very dry synopsis he did this and he did that. Watching paint dry would have been just as exciting.


The other 2 star reads were: The Red Knight by K.T Davies, Rogues anthology, A Thousand Perfect Things by Kay Kenyon, Allegiant by Veronica Roth, Royal Exile by Fiona McIntosh, Dreaming the Bull by Manda Scott, and the Law of Becoming by Kate Elliott.


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Alright, I'll bite. I usually try to avoid DF's threads, but this seems interesting:



1. Ancillary Justice: I know this was everybody's darling. Just didn't like it. Still don't understand all the love it gets. Is it the gender role issue? I can't like a book for a gimmick alone, especially one that has been handled better in other books. Just wasn't that engaging. Not for me.



2. Monster Hunter Int.: Holy fuck balls! This was one of the most god awful things I've ever read. Seriously. I'm not sure if it should be considered 'disappointing', or just plain offensive. Avoid this shit at all costs.



3. Skin Game: The Dreseden books, like an old marriage, have slid into a slow, grinding, rut. They fail to do anything other take my money, because of some sort of feeling of 'sticking it out'. I should have learned with the WoT books. I need to just let this go.



4. The Barrow: For some reason this site pimped the shit out this book. I mean, it got its own freaking thread from Ran. It was bad, not Orcs, or Monster hunter bad… but pretty fucking bad. Might not have listed it here if it hadn't been so pumped up on the board.



5. Cibola Burn: I dunno. This one just didn't…. pop for me. I loved all the other books, and am a self admitted fan boy of DA and Ty, but this one seemed to meander about, and I felt apathetic (at best) about most of the characters. Can't put my finger on it, but it fits into this category.


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I liked Anubis Gates. I don't think you are wrong to dislike it, but I liked the plot, most of the characters (particularly the villains), the world building, how the time travel was handled, and how things were wrapped up. The protagonist was pretty meh for me for most of the book, but there was enough other things I liked that keep me engaged the entire time. I like Egyptian mythology, and I liked the atmosphere and all the bizarre stuff in the book. It felt very different, in a good way, than most fantasy books I've read.

Seconded. Reading it was fun. Not a deep and enlightening experience, just fun. It wasn't too long or too typical and the pacing of the plot worked for me.

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didn't read enough to have a worst 5 but Flasman 1 was nowhere near as good as I was expecting based on the hype. It probably didn't help that I got Russel Brand's voice in my head when he spoke. That and while it was edgy at the time, there are so many others who have imitated since.


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2. The Remains of the Day, Ishiguro - Makes its point, then repeats itself for another 200 pages

1. Retribution Falls (Ketty Jay #1), Wooding - this might literally be the worst book I've ever read

1. I find reassuring because it sounds terrible and yet people keep loving it and I keep finding myself tempted to read it after all, unfortunately, 2. makes any opinion you've ever had deeply suspect so now I don't know what to think. ;-)

Mine...not sure.It was a rather lackluster year all round.

Mary Gentle's Grunts was a slog. Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, my first Atwood, felt trite. I wasn't impressed with Vendermeer's Annihilation either. The Russian Debutante's Handbook started ok but turned incredibly smarmy and condescending.

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I didn't read anything too bad last year. Ken MacLeod's Descent was possibly the weakest, MacLeod has tended to be inconsistent and he in recent books he has often had fascinating premises that then turn into a plot that increasingly meanders before a lacklustre ending. Descent had those weaknesses but unfortunately was lacking the interesting premise this time even at the end of the book I couldn't quite figure out what the point of the plot was (particularly the subplot about the hidden race of humans genetically different to most of humanity).



Ian McDonald's Planesrunner was also disappointing, as a Young Adult SF novel it was reasonably entertaining but it was largely lacking in any more than the briefest glimpse of how good McDonald's writing has been in some of his adult SF books. I'm not sure I'm interested enough to read the sequels.


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The number one and two spots go to The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss, easily. I decided to give in to the hype and ended up having to slog my way through slowly paced teenage boy wish fulfillment. If he cut out 75% of the stuff at the wizard university, the pacing would've been greatly improved. It reads like something a teenage or adolescent boy would write as their first attempt at epic fantasy or something.



Number 3 is the Science of Discworld IV. Both the science/philosophy bits and the Discworld bits were not nearly as interesting/amusing/good as in previous books of the series.


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