DrownedCrow Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 So over the last six months or so I have been attempting to catch up on some of the SF/F classics that I have never read. This project has not gone well. Ender's Game was decent but nothing special. This actually makes it the best of bunch so far. The Forever War was a good concept horribly executed. A Canticle for Leibowitz was well written but extremely dull. Neuromancer was fucking terrible. The Black Company was the worst thing I've ever read. Or it would be if I hadn't tried to read The Dying Earth (honest to God, it was actually worse that the Sword of Truth...a lot worse;I would not have believed that could be possible, but here we are). This has lead me to wonder what exactly is wrong with science fiction and fantasy. There are a great many brilliant novels in both genres and yet these works are often considered to be classics. Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aimlessgun Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Clearly ser, you have terrible taste.I don't know what to say. Lot of people like the books you mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Bass Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Dracula was excellent for the first couple of chapters, namely Jonathan Harker's time in Dracula's stronghold in eastern Europe. After that, there's some good, but it's soaked in slow-moving parts and 50,000 paternalistic references to how pure and good Mina Harker is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Hat Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Classics become classics either due to quality or historical importance. While I doubt you'll find them a hundred percent to your liking, I've generally found them to be generally respectable. That being said, I did have problems with a few of the ones you mentioned. Dying Earth was clever, but left me with little desire to continue, and The Black Company felt bland and overly episodic.Not on your list, but still somewhat SF and certainly a classic, I read Frankenstein a few days ago and was bitterly disappointed. The concept was interesting, the execution was anything but. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahimsa Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I never could get into Black Company either. One of the few books I've never finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WrathOfTinyKittens Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I bought two anthologies of the Black Company and really enjoyed the first... then the second was a chore that I ended up never finishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Clearly ser, you have terrible taste.I don't know what to say. Lot of people like the books you mentioned. This. I'm baffled. Dying earth worse then SoT.....whhaat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gladius Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 So over the last six months or so I have been attempting to catch up on some of the SF/F classics that I have never read. This project has not gone well. Well, you should read the true classics (mythology/ folklore). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stego Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 The Black Company is, in no way, a classic.The Dying Earth is.... hard to read. The Forever War is sublime, and you should bite your fucking tongue off.The 'classic' A Canticle for Leibowitz is the short story. Neuromancer was important to the genre. It is dated and trite now.You want classics that still pop modern?-The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester-Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson-Dune by Frank Herbert-Davy by Edgar Pangborn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Well, you should read the true classics (mythology/ folklore).Something tells me if he thought Dying Earth was that bad, he's not going to enjoy The Illiad that much. :/The Black Company is, in no way, a classic.Sir, I disagre, and challenge you to fisticuffs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrownedCrow Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 The Forever War is sublime, and you should bite your fucking tongue off.Sublime? At one point the entire population of Earth becomes gay because the government decided that overpopulation was a problem. And then there was the part when they fought with swords.You want classics that still pop modern?-The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester-Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson-Dune by Frank Herbert-Davy by Edgar PangbornWell, Dune and Snow Crash are brilliant so I'll check out the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrownedCrow Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 This. I'm baffled. Dying earth worse then SoT.....whhaat? Goodkind has no discernible talent, but at least SoT doesn't read like a high school student's attempt to write a D&D novelization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Sublime? At one point the entire population of Earth becomes gay because the government decided that overpopulation was a problem. And then there was the part when they fought with swords.Well, Dune and Snow Crash are brilliant so I'll check out the others.The book actually explains the reasoning behind this rather well. It's sad you didn't grasp the concepts. As for the fact that you dislike the book because there is a portion of the tale in which the earth is 'gay', those are you own hangups. This portion i like the most, it really showed the Main Characters distance and place out of time. Made me feel bad for the fucker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aimlessgun Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Goodkind has no discernible talent, but at least SoT doesn't read like a high school student's attempt to write a D&D novelization.I can't tell if this is a joke. Unless you're really saying that Dying Earth is so bad that a high schooler doing a novelization of a magic system derivative of Dying Earth would actually be as good as the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Goodkind has no discernible talent, but at least SoT doesn't read like a high school student's attempt to write a D&D novelization.You know D&D was BASED ON Dying Earth right? That's like complaining about Lord of the Rings being a Harry Potter ripoff. Linear time doesnt work that way.Or I'm being trolled and I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kungtotte Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Welcome to my world, Grack. It's how I feel on an almost daily basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjgambino Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I actually think that, depending on the translation, the Iliad and the Odyssey both hold up really well, even to a "modern" reader... much better than the Dying Earth or even (gasp) Lord of the Rings. I also second that the Black Company isn't a classic.... Also, L' Morte d' Arthur is a pretty awesome classic if you can get past the archaic language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palimpsest. Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I'd have to agree that Canticle for Leibowitz is pretty dull, but Ender's Game and Neuromancer are both OK books (though Ender is way easier to read). Maybe try some other classics? I loved I Am Legend and Flowers for Algernon and liked Left Hand of Darkness and Dr. Bloodmoney very much. They might not all be 'true' classics, but they're all a part of SF Masterworks series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
End of Disc One Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I usually have a problem with classics but I absolutely love The Count of Monte Cristo. Try the Penguin Classics version...I'm sure there are others here who can vouch for it.Dune is awesome too. I never thought of it as a classic but I guess it is becoming one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madking Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Watership Down is my fav classic still holds up today and was my intro to fantasy type books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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