Xray the Enforcer Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Dune -- read 3, gave up because it was a garbled mess. Dark Tower -- just not my steez. I was bored. WoT -- nifty, but quality went downhill SoT -- 'nuff said. Read only WFR, then gave up. When I heard about the chicken that is not a chicken, I knew I had made the correct choice. Kushiel's Hussy -- I'm not sure I'm going to continue this series, Phedre annoys me. Malazan -- I have sworn to read at least through DHG, but I am really not enjoying this series. I guess I like my books at least mildly character-driven. Hidden Family -- I even own the damned books, but I'm having a hard time caring enough to finish book 2. Charlie Stross has great ideas, but his characters are shite. Fionavar -- don't like it, and I really like Kay (Tigana, Lions of al-Rassan). Too precious. There are probably more, I just can't think of them right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Paladin Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I've got a high threshold for pain, so a series really has to be giving me fits to put it down halfway through. However, I've got 1 1/2 candidates for the list. Dune: Read the first three books and gave up. Book of the New Sun: I finished Shadow and Claw, and moved the sequels to the bottom of my "to be read" stack. Unlike Dune, I'll eventually finish it, but only when I really have nothing else to read. Wolfe's writing style just annoyed me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angalin Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 If I liked the first book of a series but further installments didn't thrill me, I get the later books out of the library and skip to the interesting bits. That way I get to find out what happened to the characters I liked without wasting time on the people that bored me. In fact, if the first book itself is lengthy and taking its time, I'll skip to the end of that one too and not bother with sequels at all. (Storm Constantine's Sea Dragon Heir got that treatment.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biter Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I enjoyed the start of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series, but my interest faded after four books or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerol Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Gene Wolfe's Books of the New Sun - made it through the first book and quit right there. The style seemed to be purposefully forbidding and that really put me off. I can take an author not giving away anything through exposition (ala Erikson) but I really felt Wolfe was pulling my chain. Christopher Paolini - stupid dragon series. I read the first chapter, threw up and gave it away. Dune - Book three did me in as well. In retrospect, I wasn't happy with book two either. In further retrospect, even in the first one, Herbert is a far better world-builder and plotter than he is at prose or characterization. Stephen Donaldson - those damn leper books. I just wanted to strangle Covenant's whiny ass. Made it through the first five through sheer will, hoping that the guy would get a clue, some redemption, some shred of humanity, and what do I get. Nada. Brooks - Shannara. So bloody derivative. I can take spinning off LOTR but this was ridiculous. Quit halfway through the 2nd book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doppelganger Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Christopher Paolini - stupid dragon series. I read the first chapter, threw up and gave it away. Is there anywhere I can read a sample chapter of that book? I've heard that it's pure shithouse, and I feel like torturing myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 You know, I did only read book one of Memory, Sorrow & Thorn and of WoT, but I hadn't included them because I haven't decided if I'd ever go back and try the rest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Oh yeah, "Jaxom" reminds me: Dragronriders of Pern -- read the first book, couldn't get past, well, everything about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starving snowman Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 you know, there are a lot of series of have almost given up on, but i usually end up finishing them anyway. I gave up on the WoT on the tenth book. Crossroads of Twilight was one of the worst books i have ever read period. But then the 11th came out...sigh and i gave in. Despite the fact that Jordan had gone so far as to have an entire 150 pages or so devoted to Perrin walking in the woods by himself and thinking about stuff in CoT, book 11, knife of dreams was really good. I actually kinda got back into the series a bit, though its still tough to enjoy the Rand plotline, and there is no way Jordan can finish the series well in one more book. Mat rocks though. uh, and Biter there are only 4 books in Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eurytus Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 The main ones for me would be; Gene Wolfe - New Sun books (basically a book came out in a series I had been waiting for, perhaps Feast for Crows, and since I was only two chapters into Wolfe I abandoned it. But I will get round to it) Donaldson - Covenant (tried twice, once when I was too young and once when I was older. But on neither occasion have I got very far) Elliot - Crown of Stars or whatever its called (actually finished book 2 but having seen nothing happen for 2 books I just had to give up there. I found it to be like Jordan but without the benefit of a couple of good books to start off with before it turned to dreck) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beniowa Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 There was some series... I want to call it the Swan Wars You mean the Swans' War by Sean Russell. The first book was The One Kingdom. I had trouble getting through The Pearl Series by Eric van Lustbader. I've also had trouble reading past the third Dune book and the first Erickson book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starving snowman Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 the funny thing about Dune is that Herbert died before he could finish it anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slurktan Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I generally don't give up on series no matter how long or awful (Star Wars) but there are 2 where I just stopped. I read the First Thomas Covenant Trilogy so I suppose I didn't really stop in the middle there. Anyways those books were so poor and the torture so great I will never touch anything by that authour again. Sword of Truth is the other series I stopped and I'm sure everyone knows why. [ In ASoIaF, the POVs exist where the action is. I'm sorry, not to be offensive or anything but that statement is so laughable as to be not even funny anymore after Feast for Crows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrim Fox Cauthon Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I'm sorry, not to be offensive or anything but that statement is so laughable as to be not even funny anymore after Feast for Crows.I know, I know. And that's what worries me to no end. A Feast for Crows made me hate Brienne's character so much more than Sansa ever could have. And WoT also took a turn for the worse in quality after book 3. :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Jordan is a sellout. Dear God. In another incarnation of the board, this would have as a red flag to a bull, resulting in OsRavan verbally assaulting you for twenty-five pages on end for saying that before getting his ass kicked by Kalbear. Goodkind - obviously. Read first book, assuming it was some kind of comedy. Started second book. Noticed 'borrowings' from Jordan novels. Vomited. Stopped reading. Eddings - got to the start of Book 3 of The Tamuli and suddenly realised I would be moved to needless violence if I continued reading. Stopped. Gemmell - realised the game was up when I couldn't tell half his books apart from one another in my mind. That's about it really. Generally I finish what I start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraken Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Sword of Truth -- I stopped on the 3? 4? book, which I read long before the explosive anti-Goodkind nonsense was unleashed. Malazan -- House of Chains was too horrid for me to continue. WoT -- I stopped 3 or 4 books back. Bloated mess. Gene Wolf's Sun books -- I got a book that contained the first 3(?) books of the series, and I ended up stalling to a halt in the middle of the second one. I can't recall why, exactly. I don't remember it being particularly bad. There's been plenty of other series I began but ended up not buying the next part of the series because I forgot about it or put it off and picked up another book instead. The above four are the ones that made me actively stop. I don't read much epic fantasy anymore, though. It's kind of wierd that ASOIAF, Amber, and LOTR are some of my favorite books period, but I find 98% of epic fantasy terrible, and the non Martin/Tolkien/Zelazny stuff I didn't found terrible was only slight above mediocre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerol Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Oh yeah, "Jaxom" reminds me: Dragronriders of Pern -- read the first book, couldn't get past, well, everything about it. I tried to read the Pern books too and quit after the book one. Years later I came across the best one sentence devastation of the Pern series and why it failed for me: "Dragons aren't little ponies." Anita Blake series - Laurell K. Hamilton My apologies to her fans and I know there are a number of them on this board but by book 6 or 7 the Mary Sue element just became too much. Perfect Anita, all-powerful, so beautiful, not one but two glamorous supernatural beings fall helplessly in love with her. And the endless descriptions of her clothes, her hair, Jean Claude's clothes, his hair, Richard's clothes, his hair...It almost brings me to violence just typing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury Poisoning Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I read the first WOT book in eighth grade, and have never been tempted to pick up book two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashara Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Bakker - read first two, got too disgusted to continue Dune - read the first, no sequels, just not interested in what happens next Salvatore's Drizzt - don't remeber where I stopped, but around Legacy, if it's of any importance Kerr's Deverry - dropped after the first half-book, horrid read Brook's Shanara - dropped ten pages in, a kid's book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alarich Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 Kraken, Gene Wolf's Sun books -- I got a book that contained the first 3(?) books of the series, and I ended up stalling to a halt in the middle of the second one. I can't recall why, exactly. I don't remember it being particularly bad. Funny - something similar happened to me a few months ago. I read the first two books because I found them on the shelf of a friend. Now I'm not sure wether to continue or not. He hasn't got the rest of the series and I don't want to buy just the last volumes but OTOH I'm not sure I want to buy the first volumes to reread them. The writing style wasn't my cup of tea at all, but the world building and characters were actually quite interesting so I'm torn. Probably I'll finish it when I've got more cash availiable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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