Angalin Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 Frosty, when it comes to a crappy book I'm a quitter and I'm proud of it. Why waste more time on one when there are so many good books waiting to be read? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beniowa Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 I'm with you on this Angalin. Sometimes I might try to read the book again later otherwise, if it's really bad, I put it down and don't touch it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellis Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 Well, most of the books i've read in the last year have been recommendations off the board, so even if they weren't quite my thing (cough! Cryptonomicon cough!) compared to other stuff in this thread they've probably been relatively ok. Life of Pi kind of rubbed me the wrong way somehow, and The Alchemist was new-age crap, though fascinating in a what-people-will-read sense. The last truly mediocre SF book I read was Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. Interesting idea, train-wreck and moral values preachy execution. Baba Yaga was fun to cheer for though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazzlebane Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 I read Bernard Cornwall's "Stonehenge". I've seen a lot of people (including GRRM) recommend some of his other books, but Stonehenge was incredibly boring and repititious. It was filled with completely tedious, cardboard characters, and the storyline was quite predictable. Put me off trying to read any of his other books, though I did finish it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 The Historian by Elisabeth Kostova. oh yes, that book was pretty bad. :sick: (not as bad as Congo, though. Jesus H. Kal -- what possessed you to torture yourself like that?!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multaniette Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 the worst book I finished was The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. Like Angalin and others, I am a quitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 (not as bad as Congo, though. Jesus H. Kal -- what possessed you to torture yourself like that?!)It was short, it was there, and I had my other books stolen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 It really annoyed me to do this as I rarely give up on a book, but I'd simply had enough of M. John Harrison's Viriconium. Given the high level of praise lavished on this book by just about everyone, the fact that it didn't work for me was somewhat surprising. I did like the first story with the dwarf charging around in power armour, but the stories in the middle seemed to lack any kind of point whatsoever and I lost the will to carry on. Other than that there have been some books I've been mildly disappointed by (The Bonehunters for one) but it's still not 'bad' per say. I even got through The Da Vinci Code, even if it was utterly brainless corncheese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammerOfGod Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 The Historian by Elisabeth Kostova. Ah, Fuck I just got the audio book of {The Historian} today... Terry Goodkind's Phantom....I haven't read it, but I thought I would throw it out there like red meat to lions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 It really annoyed me to do this as I rarely give up on a book, but I'd simply had enough of M. John Harrison's Viriconium. Given the high level of praise lavished on this book by just about everyone, the fact that it didn't work for me was somewhat surprising. I did like the first story with the dwarf charging around in power armour, but the stories in the middle seemed to lack any kind of point whatsoever and I lost the will to carry on. Unfortunately I'm physiologically unable to quit in the middle of a book and I forced myself through this piece of trash - it took nearly a month for me to complete :sick: , mainly because I had no will to read during my free time (because it was such crap) and would spend that time playing video gaming or reading downloaded comics. Goddamn, was I ever glad when I finished that. I was severely disappointed by Hobb's Forest Mage. Other then that most of what I've read lately has been exceptional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynthesis Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 The worst fiction I recently read was Astra and Flondrix by Seamus Cullen. It is a sort of soft-core porn fantasy novel, featuring male Elves who normally look sexless but develop two long penises when aroused, and Dwarfs who have incredibly long metallic corkscrew penises, along with the male Dwarfs laying eggs which the females then incubate. It was even worse than that sounds. Sounds like a Goodkind plot. I wasn't a fan of Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb. Too little action and strange character development for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat5150 Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 The worst fiction I recently read was Astra and Flondrix by Seamus Cullen. It is a sort of soft-core porn fantasy novel, featuring male Elves who normally look sexless but develop two long penises when aroused, and Dwarfs who have incredibly long metallic corkscrew penises, along with the male Dwarfs laying eggs which the females then incubate. It was even worse than that sounds. Fuck man! What the heck are you reading!?! Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHalfman Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 Well I usually don't have any bad reads. The last book that I ever did not finish was Peter Straub's Shadowland. I like Straub but the book dragged on and became rather uninteresting. I usually force my way through any book like REG said, but I just couldn't on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinDonner Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 Clive Barker's Abarat - I struggled to the end because it was short, even though the main character was called Candy Quackenbush and it seemed like a patronising bowdlerised toning-it-down-for-da-kidz horror story with no plot; I hoped it would have a decent ending. Nope, it turned out to be the start of a bloody series and nothing was wrapped up at the end! Gah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eponine Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 I didn't like A Farewell to Arms at all. And I didn't like Sula (Toni Morrison). It left me feeling very apathetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doppelganger Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 I'm having a really hard time getting into "Anna Karenina". I'm about 200 pages into it, and I'm on the verge of dropping it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint777 Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 It really annoyed me to do this as I rarely give up on a book, but I'd simply had enough of M. John Harrison's Viriconium. Given the high level of praise lavished on this book by just about everyone, the fact that it didn't work for me was somewhat surprising. I did like the first story with the dwarf charging around in power armour, but the stories in the middle seemed to lack any kind of point whatsoever and I lost the will to carry on. Other than that there have been some books I've been mildly disappointed by (The Bonehunters for one) but it's still not 'bad' per say. I even got through The Da Vinci Code, even if it was utterly brainless corncheese. Virconium has been on my to get list for a long time along with Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, and Peake's Gormenghast. I think the main reason I haven't picked these books up is they seem more like work than fun. A book can be erudite and demanding but can also be really fun. I don't pick up any fun vibes with those books. A book I'm reading now, Orphans of Chaos, I believe falls into the demanding to read but fun category. Sorry to here you didn't care for The Bonehunters. That is the other book I've started(about 50 pages in) and enjoy it a bit more than Midnight Tides. The only thing I really liked about Midnight Tides was the Tehol/Bugg character interaction and the entire last 250 pages. Erikson knows how to really end his novels. The end of Deadhouse Gates has the greatest fantasy ending in my book. Memories of Ice and Midnight Tides both end on fantastic final sentences. I think I'll enjoy The Bonehunters because there are too many characters in this book I love(Quick Ben, Kalam{my fav}, Karsa, Fiddler, Cotillion). Even Ammanas has made an appearence thus far. I got about thirty pages into The Reality Dysfunction and stopped. I think I'm in way over my head to start my sc/fi reading with this book. All the Neural-nanonics and nano-neurotics had me reelling. I really loved the combat wasp attack though. I think I need to tackle something a bit less advanced first before I delve back into the Night's Dawn. I have Dune and Starship Troopers I can read. I read the first hundred pages of Dune and the writing has gone down a lot easier for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 The worst fiction I recently read was Astra and Flondrix by Seamus Cullen. It is a sort of soft-core porn fantasy novel, featuring male Elves who normally look sexless but develop two long penises when aroused, and Dwarfs who have incredibly long metallic corkscrew penises, along with the male Dwarfs laying eggs which the females then incubate. It was even worse than that sounds. :sick: :sick: :sick: Gods, that's even worse than the thaumaturgical sex in Melusine, my most recent bad read (and I hesitated to even post that here because the author seems pretty cool, even if her book wasn't.) Worst flaw (of many flaws) with Melusine -- it's literally a 500-page prologue. By the end, nothing really happens, and what might be the actual meat of the story arc is left to the next volume. *headdesk* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd was so incredibly bad that it almost created a sense of horrified fascination. Almost. Instead, I just stopped reading. I'd forgotten how it was possible to create a story that was simultaneously simplistic, unoriginal and yet totally incomprehensible. Bravo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakov Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd was so incredibly bad that it almost created a sense of horrified fascination. Almost. Instead, I just stopped reading. I'd forgotten how it was possible to create a story that was simultaneously simplistic, unoriginal and yet totally incomprehensible. Bravo. I've got this but haven't read it yet, Hereward! (luckily it came as a set of five for £25.) Granted that preferences can often be subjective, if it really had that effect upon you, it always baffles me that some books that, it soon becomes clear, aren't up to much, end up getting published, knowing how tortuous a process it is to try and get published. Just how bad can the stuff that didn't get published be, one wonders, if Stormcaller (and I'm taking your judgement at face value given your terse and intelligent appraisal) really is that bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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